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Context is everything.
Detailed stories on technology startups, business and economic current affairs.
Detailed stories on technology startups, business and economic current affairs.
The promises of the Ken-Betwa river interlinking project lay in the folds of the future, but the past record of water management projects is sketchy at best.
Editor's note: At the heart of Indian agriculture’s perennial problems lies one commodity: water. Since irrigation infrastructure doesn’t exist in a large section of the crop-growing area, most Indian farmers are completely dependent on the monsoon rains. But rain patterns have started to change over the last decade or so with global warming. And it is not just about deficient or excessive rains. Even in the years when we have a normal monsoon, the gap between rainfall in different regions is so big that it is often counterproductive to agriculture. It, therefore, makes complete sense to ramp up the irrigation infrastructure. It is in this light that the Indian government’s approval for the Rs 44,600 crore Ken-Betwa interlinking project, which intends to move “surplus” water from one of the tributaries of the Yamuna to the other via a 121-km long link canal, should be seen. Apart from providing water for irrigation in this extremely dry region of Bundelkhand, which spans the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, the project is also expected to help generate electricity and meet the drinking water …
Even if (a big if) the forecast turns out to be accurate, multiple other factors could play spoilsport for agriculture.
The Gandhi Sagar sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh has been selected as the second home for cheetahs in India. But a closer look shows that the reserve is ill-prepared to welcome the big cats.
Looked at over the last decade, it will be fair to say that GMV-chasing venture firms ended up doing more harm than good to Indian agriculture.
