Indian rivers to be interlinked

by Guest Mon Feb 27, 2012 3:08 am

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/SC-directs-Centre-to-implement-interlinking-of-rivers-project/articleshow/12054102.cms

by Merlot Daruwala Mon Feb 27, 2012 4:21 am

Wonderful. This is what we wanted. A bunch of unelected judges who instruct the executive on precisely what projects should be implemented and how. And just to ensure their writ is not ignored, they will also supervise the implementation. Nice. Bliss must be this dawn for those cheerleaders of suo motu interventions and such other judicial landgrab.

The only issue is that this new set of rulers, while supposedly guarding our most important freedom of speech, brook no criticism of their own actions. Wonder how the champions of MIFS reconcile their bliss with this intolerance.

by Guest Mon Feb 27, 2012 4:24 am

Merlot Daruwala wrote:Wonderful. This is what we wanted. A bunch of unelected judges who instruct the executive on precisely what projects should be implemented and how. And just to ensure their writ is not ignored, they will also supervise the implementation. Nice. Bliss must be this dawn for those cheerleaders of suo motu interventions and such other judicial landgrab.

The only issue is that this new set of rulers, while supposedly guarding our most important freedom of speech, brook no criticism of their own actions. Wonder how the champions of MIFS reconcile their bliss with this intolerance.

what is MIFS?

by Merlot Daruwala Mon Feb 27, 2012 6:07 am

Most Important Freedom of Speech

by Guest Mon Feb 27, 2012 7:30 pm

Merlot Daruwala wrote:Wonderful. This is what we wanted. A bunch of unelected judges who instruct the executive on precisely what projects should be implemented and how. And just to ensure their writ is not ignored, they will also supervise the implementation. Nice. Bliss must be this dawn for those cheerleaders of suo motu interventions and such other judicial landgrab.

The only issue is that this new set of rulers, while supposedly guarding our most important freedom of speech, brook no criticism of their own actions. Wonder how the champions of MIFS reconcile their bliss with this intolerance.

i spoke to a few people on this issue. One view is that this will help solve the water problem because often there is one drought in some part of India while simultaneously there are floods in other parts of India. Another view is that the pollution of some rivers, including the Ganges, will be transported all over India.

by MaxEntropy_Man Mon Feb 27, 2012 7:42 pm

Rashmun wrote: Another view is that the pollution of some rivers, including the Ganges, will be transported all over India.

this was my first thought. the thought of all the human and cow carcasses from vAranAsi mixing with the waters of the kAvEri is quite disgusting. it is preferrable that it is isolated and kept within the confines of where the ganges currently flows.

by Guest Mon Feb 27, 2012 8:25 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:
Rashmun wrote: Another view is that the pollution of some rivers, including the Ganges, will be transported all over India.

this was my first thought. the thought of all the human and cow carcasses from vAranAsi mixing with the waters of the kAvEri is quite disgusting. it is preferrable that it is isolated and kept within the confines of where the ganges currently flows.

the decision seems to have already been made. i think the floods and droughts problem gets priority over the pollution problem. After all, modern equipment can get rid of of pollutants in the water.

by Merlot Daruwala Mon Feb 27, 2012 8:52 pm

Rashmun wrote:
MaxEntropy_Man wrote:
Rashmun wrote: Another view is that the pollution of some rivers, including the Ganges, will be transported all over India.

this was my first thought. the thought of all the human and cow carcasses from vAranAsi mixing with the waters of the kAvEri is quite disgusting. it is preferrable that it is isolated and kept within the confines of where the ganges currently flows.

the decision seems to have already been made. i think the floods and droughts problem gets priority over the pollution problem. After all, modern equipment can get rid of of pollutants in the water.

Carcasses apart, this business of connecting the mega-rivers is one of those utopian ideas. It is not only a highly complex and expensive undertaking but will also displace millions of people, submerge thousands of square miles of land and damage local ecologies in a zillion places. Just one Narmada dam raised so much ruckus with the environmentalists and the Medha Patkars. The reactions to this will be 100X that.

by Hellsangel Mon Feb 27, 2012 8:53 pm

Merlot Daruwala wrote:
Carcasses apart, this business of connecting the mega-rivers is one of those utopian ideas. It is not only a highly complex and expensive undertaking but will also displace millions of people, submerge thousands of square miles of land and damage local ecologies in a zillion places. Just one Narmada dam raised so much ruckus with the environmentalists and the Medha Patkars. The reactions to this will be 100X that.

You place too much faith in them that they can even execute a project of this magnitude.

by Guest Mon Feb 27, 2012 9:33 pm

Merlot Daruwala wrote:
Rashmun wrote:
MaxEntropy_Man wrote:
Rashmun wrote: Another view is that the pollution of some rivers, including the Ganges, will be transported all over India.

this was my first thought. the thought of all the human and cow carcasses from vAranAsi mixing with the waters of the kAvEri is quite disgusting. it is preferrable that it is isolated and kept within the confines of where the ganges currently flows.

the decision seems to have already been made. i think the floods and droughts problem gets priority over the pollution problem. After all, modern equipment can get rid of of pollutants in the water.

Carcasses apart, this business of connecting the mega-rivers is one of those utopian ideas. It is not only a highly complex and expensive undertaking but will also displace millions of people, submerge thousands of square miles of land and damage local ecologies in a zillion places. Just one Narmada dam raised so much ruckus with the environmentalists and the Medha Patkars. The reactions to this will be 100X that.

All good points. Here are some points in favor of the project:

The Bench said: “This is a matter of national benefit and progress. We see no reason why any State should lag behind in contributing its bit to bringing the inter-linking river programme to a success, thus saving the people living in drought-prone zones from hunger and people living in flood-prone areas from the destruction caused by floods.”

It said: “The NCAER report clearly opines that the interlinking of river projects will prove fruitful for the nation as a whole and would serve a greater purpose by allowing higher returns from the agricultural sector for the benefit of the entire economy. This would also result in providing varied benefits like control of floods, providing water to [the] drought-prone States, providing water to a larger part of agricultural land and even power generation. Besides … benefits to the country, it will help the countries like Nepal etc., uplifting India's international role. Importantly, they also point to a very important facet of interlinking of rivers, i.e., it may result in reduction of some diseases due to the supply of safe drinking water, and thus serve a greater purpose for humanity.”

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2937800.ece

by charvaka Mon Feb 27, 2012 9:55 pm

Merlot Daruwala wrote:Wonderful. This is what we wanted. A bunch of unelected judges who instruct the executive on precisely what projects should be implemented and how. And just to ensure their writ is not ignored, they will also supervise the implementation. Nice. Bliss must be this dawn for those cheerleaders of suo motu interventions and such other judicial landgrab.

Like every other body of powerful people, this Supreme Court is getting carried away with its own power of ordering things to make them happen. Hopefully there are enough checks and balances in the system to limit the court's overreach. I am deeply uncomfortable about this idea of the Supreme Court directly supervising what should be executive action. It is one thing to ask the executive to act if it finds that inaction is hurting the legitimate, legally protected interests of a group of citizens. In this case, I don't see why the court needs to step in to link up rivers. National integration, perhaps!

Merlot Daruwala wrote:The only issue is that this new set of rulers, while supposedly guarding our most important freedom of speech, brook no criticism of their own actions. Wonder how the champions of MIFS reconcile their bliss with this intolerance.

Those who defend freedom of speech ought to defend it whenever it is under attack -- even from the courts of the land.

by charvaka Mon Feb 27, 2012 9:57 pm

Merlot Daruwala wrote:
Rashmun wrote:
MaxEntropy_Man wrote:
Rashmun wrote: Another view is that the pollution of some rivers, including the Ganges, will be transported all over India.

this was my first thought. the thought of all the human and cow carcasses from vAranAsi mixing with the waters of the kAvEri is quite disgusting. it is preferrable that it is isolated and kept within the confines of where the ganges currently flows.

the decision seems to have already been made. i think the floods and droughts problem gets priority over the pollution problem. After all, modern equipment can get rid of of pollutants in the water.

Carcasses apart, this business of connecting the mega-rivers is one of those utopian ideas. It is not only a highly complex and expensive undertaking but will also displace millions of people, submerge thousands of square miles of land and damage local ecologies in a zillion places. Just one Narmada dam raised so much ruckus with the environmentalists and the Medha Patkars. The reactions to this will be 100X that.

This project of linking India's rivers is a nonstarter. The real water challenge for India is the melting of the Himalayan glaciers with global warming, and the potential changes to the monsoon that climate change will bring. Linking a bunch of rivers that are at risk of collectively drying up risks becoming a colossal waste of money.

by MaxEntropy_Man Mon Feb 27, 2012 10:57 pm

charvaka wrote:
This project of linking India's rivers is a nonstarter. The real water challenge for India is the melting of the Himalayan glaciers with global warming, and the potential changes to the monsoon that climate change will bring. Linking a bunch of rivers that are at risk of collectively drying up risks becoming a colossal waste of money.

not to mention there are other great technological options like reverse osmosis (http://www.hindu.com/pp/2004/03/06/stories/2004030600070100.htm) and rain water harvesting. this river linking business sounds like a major boondoggle.

by Guest Mon Feb 27, 2012 11:05 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:
charvaka wrote:
This project of linking India's rivers is a nonstarter. The real water challenge for India is the melting of the Himalayan glaciers with global warming, and the potential changes to the monsoon that climate change will bring. Linking a bunch of rivers that are at risk of collectively drying up risks becoming a colossal waste of money.

not to mention there are other great technological options like reverse osmosis (http://www.hindu.com/pp/2004/03/06/stories/2004030600070100.htm) and rain water harvesting. this river linking business sounds like a major boondoggle.

reverse osmosis is too expensive--at this point of time-- and rain water harvesting does not yield sufficient water.

by MaxEntropy_Man Mon Feb 27, 2012 11:07 pm

it's obvious i meant for drinking water. the RO process is power hungry, so india is better off investing in massive solar energy projects and offshore wind (this is particularly good for the southern coastline) to power RO instead of wasting money on linking up rivers. that's a better use of taxpayer money. the carcasses can stay in vAranAsi.

by Guest Mon Feb 27, 2012 11:09 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:it's obvious i meant for drinking water. the RO process is power hungry, so india is better off investing in massive solar energy projects and offshore wind (this is particularly good for the southern coastline) to power RO instead of wasting money on linking up rivers. that's a better use of taxpayer money. the carcasses can stay in vAranAsi.

don't funeral cremations take place in the waters of the Cauvery and don't you have carcasses in the Cauvery as well?

by MaxEntropy_Man Mon Feb 27, 2012 11:10 pm

not to my knowledge, but i'll wait for you to google and dig up the one carcass that someone photographed seventy years ago.

by Guest Mon Feb 27, 2012 11:16 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:not to my knowledge, but i'll wait for you to google and dig up the one carcass that someone photographed seventy years ago.

something to consider:

http://www.hindu.com/2007/12/13/stories/2007121353050300.htm

http://www.hindu.com/2007/06/05/stories/2007060516790100.htm

by The Absolute Zero Tue Feb 28, 2012 8:57 am

Rashmun wrote:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/SC-directs-Centre-to-implement-interlinking-of-rivers-project/articleshow/12054102.cms

Earlier it was only the Ganges that was polluted. Now we can gleefully tell the whole world that we intend to pollute all the rivers including small tributaries and finally the Bay of Bengal. Has anyone seen the pictures of Taiwan? A country one tenth of the size of India with huge population can keep their country very clean whereas India is a dustbin with a huge sewer flowing next to it.

by Hellsangel Tue Feb 28, 2012 10:28 am

The Absolute Zero wrote:

Earlier it was only the Ganges that was polluted. Now we can gleefully tell the whole world that we intend to pollute all the rivers including small tributaries and finally the Bay of Bengal. Has anyone seen the pictures of Taiwan? A country one tenth of the size of India with huge population can keep their country very clean whereas India is a dustbin with a huge sewer flowing next to it.

Sad but true. Every temple town in the cow belt is a pile of filth.

by Sponsored content

Indian rivers to be interlinked

Indian rivers to be interlinked

Re: Indian rivers to be interlinked

Re: Indian rivers to be interlinked

Re: Indian rivers to be interlinked

Re: Indian rivers to be interlinked

Re: Indian rivers to be interlinked

Re: Indian rivers to be interlinked

Re: Indian rivers to be interlinked

Re: Indian rivers to be interlinked

Re: Indian rivers to be interlinked

Re: Indian rivers to be interlinked

Re: Indian rivers to be interlinked

Re: Indian rivers to be interlinked

Re: Indian rivers to be interlinked

Re: Indian rivers to be interlinked

Re: Indian rivers to be interlinked

Re: Indian rivers to be interlinked

Re: Indian rivers to be interlinked

Re: Indian rivers to be interlinked

Re: Indian rivers to be interlinked

Re: Indian rivers to be interlinked