River interlinking: Neighbours' apprehensions misplaced, says govt

India on Monday said any apprehension in the minds of its neighbouring countries on interlinking of rivers is misplaced as these proposed linkages have been put on the backburner and work will start only after MoUs are worked out.

"There is nothing formalised about the interlinking of rivers. Our neighbours have nothing to apprehend. Any apprehensions in their minds are misplaced. I will try to allay their fears.... The proposed linkages are on the backburner," Water Resources Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal told reporters in Delhi.

He said of the 30 proposed projects, only five are under process. These too are in peninsular India and not in international waters.

Bansal said interlinking work would begin only after MoUs and Development Project Reports (DPRs) are prepared.

Referring to the River Interlinking programme mooted by the erstwhile NDA government, Bansal said five priority areas were earmarked by then Minister Suresh Prabhu. He said "good work" had been done at that time but the whole thing was wound down later.

Some progress had been made only on Ken-Betwa rivers, he said.

Pointing out that interlinking of rivers was "a long drawn process", Bansal said though the project is in the country's interest, many issues related to environment, forests and the like had to be sorted out first.

Bansal announced that the government has decided to hold an International Water Week annually starting from this year. The programme for 2012 would be inaugurated tomorrow by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.