Ken-Betwa Link
Ken Betwa Link Project proposes to divert the surplus waters of river Ken through Ken-Betwa link canal to river Betwa for meeting water requirements in the water deficit Betwa basin. The proposal includes construction of a dam across the Ken river upstream of the existing Gangau Weir, for storing and transferring of the waters through a link canal from Ken river to Betwa river. The quantity of water proposed to be diverted from Ken basin, after considering inbasin demands and downstream commitments (viz. 1375 Mm3 for Madhya Pradesh and 850 Mm3 for Uttar Pradesh), is 1020 Mm3. The proposed Ken-Betwa link project envisages the following works:
- A dam at the Daudhan 2.5 km upstream of the existing Gangau weir with FRL of 287.0 m and gross storage capacity of 2775 Mm3.The maximum height of the dam is 73.80 m. The total length of the side channel spillway is 326 m. 15 gates of 18 m x 18 m size are provided to pass the design flood of 45104 cumecs.
- A 2 km long tunnel followed by about 230 km long link canal for transferring 1020 Mm3 of water from Ken river. Out of 1020 Mm3,659 Mm3 (after meeting enroute irrigation requirements) will be released into Betwa river upstream of Parichha weir by utilising the existing BarwaSagar as terminal reservoir. The link canal will offtake from the tail race of Power House No.2 with FSL at 259.0 m.
- Two power houses, one at the foot of the dam and other at the end of 2 km long tunnel. The installed capacities of powerhouse No.1 and powerhouse No.2 are 3×20 MW and 2×6 MW respectively.
- The existing outlet (i.e. waste weir on the extreme right side) of BarwaSagar shall be used to drop the link canal water into Betwathrough Barwariver.
- Diversion of 659 Mm3 of water to Betwa basin upstream of Parichha weir will be utilised by way of substitution to provide annual irrigation to 1.27 lakh ha (CCA 1.02 lakh ha) of drought prone areas of Upper Betwa sub-basin. This irrigation will be provided through four projects identified by the Water Resources Department, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh namely Barari, Richhan, Neemkheda and Kesari.Annual irrigation to an area of 47000 ha enroute of the Ken-Betwa link where the level of irrigation is less than 30% of the Culturable area.
- Annual irrigation to an area of 3.23 lakh ha (C.C.A. 2.41 lakh ha) as envisaged under “Ken Multi-purpose Project” earlier proposed by Madhya Pradesh State Government.
- A provision of 11.75 Mm3 for drinking water supply to the villages and towns enroute of the link canal. This would cater to the needs of about 3.3 lakh people at a rate of consumption of 100 lpcd.
- The canal is designed as a trapezoidal section with rounded corners and lined for the entire length. The full supply depth and bed width of the canal at its head are 3.56 m and 12 m respectively with 1 in 10,000 bed slope. The side slopes of the canal are 1.5 (H): 1 (V).
The command envisaged in the earlier proposed Ken Multipurpose Project (KMPP) by Madhya Pradesh State Government is also to be irrigated from this project. Apart from drinking water facility & enroute irrigation of 47000 ha in Chhatarpur&Tikamgarh districts of Madhya Pradesh and Hamirpur& Jhansi districts of Uttar Pradesh, provision for downstream commitments of 1375 Mm3 for M.P. and 850 Mm3 of water for U.P. has also been kept.
The total cost of the link project has been estimated as Rs. 1988.74 crore (1994-95 price level) comprising Rs. 991.07 crore for Main Project (Unit-I: Head works Rs. 367.92 crore, Unit-II: Canals Rs. 572.44 crore and Unit-III: Power Rs. 50.72 crore). The cost of canal system is Rs. 554.11 crore for Ken command (i.e. KMPP) and the estimated cost of four projects is Rs. 443.55 crore for Betwa command. The schedule of construction of the link project is planned for a period of 9 years including pre-construction year.
The annual benefits accrued from the project are estimated to be in the order of Rs. 449.79 crore(1994-95 price level).The Benefit-Cost ratio for the Ken-Betwa link project as a whole has been computed based on the corresponding annual costs and annual benefits from this project, which comes to 1.87. The internal rate of return (I.R.R.) of the project works out to 13.00%.
