The distribution of rainfall in India is highly uneven and seasonal. The Himalayan rivers are perennial while the peninsular rivers are seasonal. During rainy season, much of the water is lost in floods and wasteful flow into the sea. But in other seasons there is scarcity of water.
Even in India some parts get more rainfall and some other parts get very low rainfall. Consequently there are floods in one region and drought and famine in other regions in the country. The problems of floods and drought can be minimized through the inter-river linkages or through national water grid, under which water from one river basin can be transferred to another river basin for optimum utilization.
The inter-link would consist of two parts, a northern Himalayan River Development component and a southern peninsular river development component. The northern component would consist of series of dams built along the Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers in India, for the purposes of storage, canals would be built to transfer surplus water from the astern tributaries of the Ganga to the west. The Brahmaputra and its tributaries would be linked with the Ganga and the Ganga with the Mahanadi river. This part of the project would provide additional irrigation and generate electricity.
