Ken-Betwa river linking project will hamper tigers in Panna, says former director of Project Tiger

Veteran conservationist and former director of Project Tiger Hemendra Singh Panwar has critiqued the ambitious Ken-Betwa river linking project for the impacts it will have on tigers and Ken River's biodiversity in a strong letter written to the environment ministry. Hitting out at the project's environment impact assessment (EIA) report and DPR, Panwar has termed it 'deficient, inconsistent and misleading'.

Panwar recently sent the letter to the expert appraisal committee of the environment ministry, which considered the project for environmental clearance on October 26, and he also spoke to dna on his concerns about Panna Tiger Reserve's (PTR) wildlife and Ken River.

The primary purpose of the river-link project, proposed during NDA-I, is to irrigate 6.35 lakh hectares of land and divert water from Ken, Madhya Pradesh to Betwa in Uttar Pradesh. It involves construction of a dam that will submerge forest inside Panna Tiger Reserve (PTR) and will also divide the contiguous tiger habitat. The project has faced stiff opposition from conservationists, hydrologists and even R Sreenivasa Murthy, PTR's former director, had opposed the project before his contentious transfer to Kuno wildlife sanctuary.

In his letter, Panwar, who was also the first field director of Kanha national park, has said, "My professional conscience impels me to make this submission, challenged as it is by the reliance on half-truths and misinformation by the project proponents to justify environmental and wildlife clearances for Ken-Betwa River Linking Project (KBLP) from the State and Union governments." He adds, "Inconsistency and suppression of information mark this EIA report. Information on land is misleading and report suppresses that two protected areas are impacted."

In his critique of the EIA, Panwar has elucidated how the endangered population of vultures found along the 30-km long Ken River gorge will be threatened by the project. "Near 400 live nests and a rock nesting vulture population of around 1000, give an invaluable ecosystem attribute to PTR. This entire length of gorge will be submerged and with it the crucial vulture habitat", Panwar has said.

While speaking to dna about on the project's viability, Panwar said, "When you examine the hydrological impact of river linking and the project's impact on Ken river's biodiversity, tigers, vultures and other fauna, major doubts arise on the project's viability."

Panwar went on to add, "Panna had already lost its tigers in the past. This project will bifurcate their habitat, hampering movement of tigers and their prey. The habitat is also important for water security of the neighbouring areas, which will ironically be under threat due to river-linking".

As a way to compensate for the habitat loss of PTR Uttar Pradesh government decided to include Ranipur and Mahavir Swami wildlife sanctuaries as satellite core of Panna, while Madhya Pradesh government agreed to convert 60 sq.kms of PTR's buffer area into core zone.Panwar though said that this is not adequate. "This is good independently as a conservation measure but not as compensation." The ace conservationist has thus asked the environment ministry to reconsider the deficiencies in the EIA before granting it environmental and wildlife clearance.