The interlinking of revivers can provide viable solutions to the multi-dimensional inter-related problems of droughts, floods and interrupted navigation. Critically examine.

The case made for linking

• Surplus-to-deficit transfer could, in theory, shave Ganga–Brahmaputra flood peaks and refill dry Peninsular tanks.
• A long navigable contour would cut diesel trucking, a logistics argument the question names as interrupted navigation.
• Ken–Betwa is sold as Bundelkhand drought relief plus a dam that also claims hydropower and tourist water.

Why floods, droughts, and boats are not one pipe

• Flood and drought can occur in the same basin in one year. A canal does not cancel cloudbursts or a failed monsoon on the receiving side.
• Himalayan rivers are silt-heavy and seasonal; Peninsular rivers are monsoon-pulse. Linking unlike hydrographs needs storage that submerges forests and villages.
• Navigation needs assured draft, terminals, and low silt. Interlinking is a water-transfer project first; inland waterways (IWAI, National Waterways) can proceed without a subcontinent-wide plumbing grid.

Ecological and social critique

• Ken–Betwa threatens the Panna tiger and vulture landscape and a dry deciduous ecology that is not ‘wasted surplus’.
• Delta shrinkage, reduced environmental flows, and the Ganga–Brahmaputra sediment budget are climate-sensitive. Yesterday’s surplus is not a treaty with 2050 glaciers and a wilder monsoon.
• Displacement, interstate disputes (Sutlej–Yamuna, Cauvery memories), and huge capital cost fail a least-cost test against watershed, aquifer recharge, crop shift, and urban storm drains.

Critical verdict

• Some local links and storage may help. A pan-India grid as the viable solution to three distinct problems oversells engineering.
• Viable packages: floodplain zoning plus reservoirs for floods; rainwater and Atal Bhujal-type groundwater work for drought; dedicated waterways on already navigable stretches for boats.