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Meet on interlinking rivers: `no' to foreign dignitaries

By Gargi Parsai

New Delhi March 4. Despite the priority accorded to the ambitious Rs. 5,60,000-crore project for the interlinking of rivers, the Government has shot down a FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) plan to hold a wide-ranging debate on the issue, involving diplomats from the neighbouring countries and representatives of the State Governments. The idea was to discourage any possible dissidence on the project.

The FICCI was reportedly "advised'' to keep the foreign dignitaries from Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, and State-level politicians out of the National Conference on Interlinking of Rivers, scheduled for tomorrow. They will now be ``involved'' at a later stage. The Himalayan Rivers component of the interlinking envisages the construction of storage reservoirs on the tributaries of the Ganga and the Brahmaputra in India, Nepal and Bhutan, which involves the consent of the neighbouring countries. The theme of the conference is to discuss interlinking of rivers in the next 10 years and "try and arrive at a viable and feasible strategy for better implementation of the project.'' The FICCI has not only lent its platform to the Task Force on Interlinking of Rivers to "create awareness'' on the project, but has also fallen in line with the manner in which to go about it and on who to invite.

So, the list of participants at the conference includes the galaxy of members who have been recently nominated on the Task Force and those who might be on it. The Conference will be inaugurated by the chairman of the Task Force, Suresh Prabhu, and the keynote address will be delivered by the Minister of State, Bijoya Chakravarty.

The pruned list includes R. K. Pachauri, member of the Task Force, A.K. Goswami, Secretary, Water Resources, R.K. Sharma, Commissioner (Projects), A.D. Mohile, former chairman, National Water Development Agency, Z. Hasan, Former Secretary, Water Resources, C.D. Thatte, member-secretary of the Task Force, V.B. Patel, chairman, Water Management Forum, and B.G. Verghese of the Centre for Policy Research.

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