River linking can be achieved only through consensus : Soz

New Delhi, Apr 25 (UNI) Union Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz today said the river linking project in the country can be achieved only through a consensus.

Chairing the 22nd Annual General Meeting of National Water Development Agency (NWDA), which is entrusted with the task of studying Inter Basin Water Transfer proposals in the country, Prof Soz said a broad understanding and consensus were required for tackling the water related problems.

''Water is a precious natural resource and have to be shared in a way to benefit all,'' he said adding that the country has to move towards ''convergence.'' He also reminded the NWDA about the historic tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Preadesh in the presence of Prime Minister for preparation of a detailed project report on Ken-Betwa link.

He said the Feasibility Reports of 14 links of Peninsular Component were posted on the official website of NWDA (www.nwda.gov.in) and efforts were on to bring out these reports in regional languages also.

He said it was important to involve Non-Government organisations to spread the message of water conservation and a massive campaign in local languages to motivate the public opinion at the grassroot level for creating a conducive atmosphere in villages.

An agenda pertaining to progress of works and status of studies, efforts made by NWDA for evolving a consensus among the concerned states came up for discussion at the meeting.

The meeting was attended by Water Resources Secretary J Harinarayan, Central Water Commission Chairman R Jeyaseelan, Chairman Central Ground Water Board Mr Saleem Romani and other top officials of Indian Metereological Depaqrtment, Central Electricity Authority, Ministry of Environment and Forests and Planning Commission.

Irrigation experts from various states like Andhra Pradesh, Asom, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Orissa, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Tamil Nadu also attended the meeting.

UNI MCN YA RK1745