In what way can floods be converted into a sustainable source of irrigation and all-weather inland…

Question

In what way can floods be converted into a sustainable source of irrigation and all-weather inland navigation in India ?

Ghissu Editorial · Accepted Answer

Floods can become a sustainable resource when monsoon surplus is stored in multipurpose reservoirs, transferred between basins, recharged into aquifers and released to keep waterways navigable. The National Waterways Act, 2016 created 111 national waterways, while the Ken-Betwa link (2021) begins inter-basin transfer.

**Introduction**

The Rashtriya Barh Ayog (1980) put India's flood-prone area at about 40 million hectares, while other basins stay dry for months. Storing, diverting and regulating monsoon surplus can serve both irrigation and navigation.

**Harnessing Floodwater for Irrigation**

1. **Multipurpose storage**: Reservoirs such as the Damodar Valley Corporation's, built on the TVA model, hold flood peaks and irrigate the rabi crop; the CWC monitors 161 major reservoirs with 182.4 BCM of live storage (Ministry of Jal Shakti, 2025).
2. **Inter-basin transfer**: The National Perspective Plan (1980) proposes 30 links, and the Ken-Betwa link (approved 2021) is the first under way.

FIGURE: map-geography-p33-0 | River interlinking links that carry surplus flood flows to deficit basins

3. **Floodwater into aquifers**: IWMI's Underground Taming of Floods for Irrigation pilot in Rampur and Delhi's Palla floodplain ponds recharge groundwater for dry-season wells, as do Gujarat's Bhungroo systems.

**Turning Floods into All-Weather Waterways**

1. **Assured depth**: Barrages with navigation locks, like Farakka, and regulated releases keep lean-season depth on National Waterway-1.
2. **Waterway network**: The National Waterways Act, 2016 created 111 national waterways, and the Jal Marg Vikas Project built terminals at Varanasi, Sahibganj and Haldia.
3. **Brahmaputra corridor**: National Waterway-2 from Sadiya to Dhubri turns the flood-heavy Brahmaputra into a freight lifeline for the North-East.

**Way Forward**

1. **Basin planning**: Combine flood control, irrigation and navigation in single basin master plans.
2. **Ecological safeguards**: Protect environmental flows, floodplains and the rights of displaced people.

**Conclusion**

Floods become a resource only when water is stored, recharged and regulated across whole basins. Done with ecological care, this extends irrigation, cuts freight costs and builds climate resilience.

In what way can floods be converted into a sustainable source of irrigation and all-weather inland navigation in India ?

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