Centre to soon take up linking of Godavari and Cauvery:

The Centre would soon take up a major project to link rivers Godavari and Cauvery that would resolve water issues between four southern states, Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari announced here Monday.

The objective of the project, expected to cost upto Rs 60,000 crore, was to make good use of about 1100 tmc ft of Godavari water that currently drained into the sea, he said, addressing a meeting of BJP workers here.

"The detailed project report for linking rivers Godavari-Krishna-Pennar-Cauvery is ready. We will soon present it to the Cabinet for approval.

Thereafter, we will raise finances for the project either from the World Bank or the Asian Development Bank as the project cost is about Rs 50,000 crore to Rs 60,000 crore," Gadkari said.

The Godavari water would thus be taken to the tail end of Tamil Nadu, he said.

"Every year, about 1,100 tmc ft of Godavari water is going waste into the Bay of Bengal while there is a dispute between Tamil Nadu and ...