Critically analyse the issue and challenges in interlinking of rivers as a measure to overcome water crisis in India.

Answer: Sir Arthur Cotton had originally proposed the networking of rivers more than a century ago. All interlinking schemes are aimed at transferring of water from one river system to another or by lifting across natural basins.

In India, NITI Aayog’s Composite Water Management Index claims that “India is facing its ‘worst’ water crisis in history.” A water crisis of this magnitude will adversely affect India’s economy and productivity.

This is where river interlinking raises the notion of using India’s abundant yet scarcely used resource. At its core, river interlinking takes excess water from one place and diverts it to ....