By IANS,
New Delhi : While interlinking river systems could help expand the area under irrigation, there was need to exercise caution due to the danger of causing irreparable environmental damage, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday said.
“The interlinking of river systems is something which can help in expanding the area under irrigation. But there are also environmental concerns and various differences of opinion among experts about how far we can go to use the interlinking of river systems to provide water security to our people,” Manmohan Singh said at the annual HT Leadership Summit here.
Manmohan Singh said a few projects were under preparation and an experimental project would soon be launched.
“Two or three projects are under preparation, project designs are now available. There is one area where we are going to experiment with the linking of river systems, there are one or two other projects.
“We will have to move with caution in expanding the scope of linking of our rivers because environmental concerns and related issues are something which have to be carefully attended to or otherwise there is a danger that we will do irreparable damage to ecology and environment,” he added.