By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, February 8, 2016 : Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharati on Monday exuded confidence that there would be a consensus on interlinking of Mahanadi and Godavari rivers will be reached in the next six months after the joint committee’s report is examined.

Presiding over the eighth meeting of the special committee for Inter-Linking of Rivers (ILR) in New Delhi, the minister said she would discuss the plan in detail with Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik after studying the committee’s report.

“When I had a discussion with the CM of Odisha, he accepted my suggestion that there should be a team comprising officials of the State and Central governments to discuss all the issues about Godavari-Mahanadi link. We decided that the report will be submitted within six months after which I will have a meeting with the CM and then we will reach a consensus on Mahanadi-Godavari link,” Bharati said.

The union minister was here last week and met the chief minister to take the project forward.

Underscoring the importance of ILR, she said, “The interlinking of rivers is very important for enhancing water and food security of the country and would be very helpful in providing water to water-scarce, drought-prone and rain-fed farming areas. The Government of India is committed to implementing the interlinking programme with cooperation of the State governments. In its judgment in on 27 February 2012, the Supreme Court (SC) has held interlinking programme to be of national interest and has asked for its early implementation.”

Officials said the linking of Mahanadi-Godavari Rivers would facilitate irrigation of 4.43 lakh hectares of land, including 3.52 lakh hectares in the southern districts and generate about 445 MW electricity. It will also help control flood.

The project proposes to divert Mahanadi water to Godavari through Nayagarh, Khurda, Ganjam and Gajapati districts by storing surplus water in a reservoir contemplated at Manibhadra near Nayagarh and four barrages at different places from where water finally flows into the Mahanadi.

Manibhadra reservoir will submerge 63,003 hectares of land, including 9,520 hectares of forest area, and affect around 79,000 persons, the sources added.