The Brahmaputra is a huge river which car­ries a discharge of 3,500 to 5,000 cusecs even during the dry season. Much of this water is beyond the requirement limit of its basin and is wasted. On the other hand there is scarcity of water in the lower Ganga basin especially during dry months. Hence, the diversion of excess water from the Brahmaputra to the Ganga may meet this water deficit and may lead to the economic development of the area.

The project involves the construction of a diversion barrage at Dhuburi (in Assam) and a 320 km. long feeder canal linking the Dhuburi barrage to the Farakka barrage. A portion of this feeder canal will lie in Bangladesh for which an international agreement between India and Bangladesh has to be signed.

The scheme would also be beneficial to Bangladesh where a portion of the water may be utilised for irrigation or it may augment the flow level in the Padma River during the lean months of the year. Besides, the link canal would provide cheap inland navigation facility to both the coun­tries. Preliminary studies have indicated that it is possible to divert 1,150 cusecs of water from Brahmaputra at Dhuburi whose transporation to Farakka would require pumping at suitable interme­diate sites, the total lift being 10 m to 15 m.

Due to lack of concurrence from Bangladesh and involvement of huge financial expenditure the scheme is yet to see the light of the day. If started it will open a new feeling of co-operation and goodwill between these two neighbouring coun­tries.

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3. The Narmada Link Canal to Gujarat and Rajasthan

Under the Sardar Sarowar Project there is a proposal to build a terminal storage dam across the Narmada River near Navagam and a diversion canal linking this place to the regions of Gujarat (Kachchh) and western Rajasthan. The total lift involved may be about 150 to 250 m. The Ganga-Kaveri Link

Canal will further augment the water supply in this scheme.

4. The Chambal Link Canal to Central Rajasthan

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A 500 km long canal linking the Chambal River with the Indira Gandhi Canal would provide water to the Central parts of Rajasthan. It will in­volve a lift of 200 to 250 m.

be utilised for irrigation. The Periyar Diversion Scheme constructed several decades ago is a typical example of such model scheme where the surplus water of the west flowing Periyar River has been collected in a barrage and diverted through a tunnel across the Sahyadri so as to meet the water needs of the drought prone areas of the east. Similar schemes

5- Links from the Western Ghat Rivers to the East

The rivers of the Sahyadri carry huge quantity of water during rainy season (south-west monsoon period). Due to steep gradient and narrow coastal plains much of this water is wasted to the sea This water may be diverted to the rain shadow areas of the Western Ghats through diversion canals where it can may also be executed in case of other western rivers of the Ghats