Amit Shah proposes linking Brahmaputra, Godavari, Cauvery

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, chairing the 31st meeting of the Southern Zonal Council in Chennai, proposed linking major rivers such as the Brahmaputra in the northeast with the Godavari and Cauvery in peninsular India. He said such a project could ensure that India faces no water shortage for the next 100 years.

Shah said protecting the interests of individual states was not wrong, but questioned why some states remain deprived of water for years while surplus water elsewhere flows into the sea. He argued that river-linking could help overcome such situations and also create multiple waterways, reducing fuel consumption, benefiting the environment, and providing a cost-effective transport system.

On inter-state water disputes in the north, Shah said five of eight ongoing issues had persisted since the pre-British era.