Kosi-Mechi link project

Kosi-Mechi link project

Subject :Geography

Section : Indian Physical Geography

Context: The Patna High Court has directed the Centre and Bihar government to set up Kosi Development Authority and interlink Kosi and Mechi rivers to tackle annual floods often caused due to excess water discharged from Nepal.

Concept:

• The judgment is path-breaking, as it gives a direction and substance to the Indo-Nepal treaty on Kosi river to ensure that Center-state and Indo-Nepal cooperation and joint effort come to the rescue of the people of Bihar
• Central government has suggested 60:30:10 formula that means 60 per cent Central grant, 30 per cent central loan and 10 per cent state share

Kosi-Mechi link project

• The project will irrigate about 69,000 hectares in Araria district, about 69,000 hectares in Purnea district, 39,000 hectares in Kishanganj district and 35,000 hectares in Katihar district.
• Kosi-Mechi project is designed to divert part of the Kosi River surplus water through the existing Hanuman Nagar Barrage by way of a 117 km long link canal to the Mechi River in the Mahananda Basin.
• The Kosi-Mechi link project will benefit Araria, Kishanganj,Purnia and Katihar districts
• It is known that approval has already been received from the state cabinet to start the work of Kosi-Mechi link project. In May 2022 itself, the state government had approved administrative and expenditure of about Rs 2.78 crore for DPR formation, survey and exploration work.
• The state government has approved budgetary provisions in the form of 60 percent central share and 40 percent state share, including this project in the national project by the central government.
• However, the state government continues to demand 90 percent central share and 10 percent state budgetary provision for the Kosi-Mechi link project on the lines of Madhya Pradesh’s Ken-Betwa link project.
• A total of about 1397 hectares of land is required under this project, out of which 632 hectares is already acquired, while 765 hectares of private land is to be acquired.

Kosi

Origin: Confluence of three streams: Sun Kosi, Arun Kosi and Tamur Kosi from Tibet forms Kosi (other major tributaries: Indrawati, Likhu, Dudhkoshi, and Tama, from west to east ,all 7 tributaries together forms sapthakosi)

Mouth:  Ganges near Kursela in Katihar district.

Transboundary river flows through China, Nepal and India.

Barrage : Sapta Koshi,Kosi Barrage/Bhimnagar Barrage

• It rains the northern slopes of the Himalayas in Tibet and the southern slopes in Nepal.
• From a major confluence of tributaries north of the Chatra Gorge onwards, the Kosi River is also known as Saptakoshi,salso called sorrow of bihar.
• The river basin is surrounded by ridges which separate it from the Yarlung Tsangpo River in the north, the Gandaki in the west and the Mahananda in the east.
• It passes through the steep and narrow Chatra Gorge in Nepal.
• Catchment covers six geological and climatic belts varying in altitude from above 8,000 m (26,000 ft) to 95 m (312 ft) comprising the Tibetan plateau, the Himalayas, the Himalayan mid-hill belt, the Mahabharat Range, the Siwalik Hills and the Terai. The Dudh-Koshi sub-basin alone consists of 36 glaciers and 296 glacier lakes.
• Peaks located in the basin include Mount Everest, Kangchenjunga, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu and Shishapangma.
• Protected areas: Sagarmatha National Park, Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve(both in Nepal)

Mechi

Origin: Mahabharat Range in Nepal

Mouth: Mahananda River. Trans-boundary river flowing through Nepal and India.

Special Features:

• It flows through the Indian state of Bihar to join the Mahananda in Kishanganj district
• It’s a tributary of Mahananda river