ApnaBundelkhand.com, New Delhi:After being opposed tooth and nail by the opposition parties, Rahul Gandhi's Bundelkhand package is now facing reservations from within the government.

A major portion of the Rs 7,000-crore project is aimed at linking the Ken and Betwa rivers to provide irrigation facilities in the backward regions that spread across 14 districts of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

The plan first drew flak from Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, as well as Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Now, the Union Ministry of Environment and forests is opposing it. Water experts, too, have criticised it.

The river-linking project -- comprising the Daudhan dam and reservoir on Ken river, a 231- km canal, and two power houses -- has been stalled on environmental grounds.

Besides, water experts have pointed out that the project itself is not feasible because of insufficient water in the "surplus" Ken basin.

Another major cause for concern is that given the current alignment of the Daudhan dam on the Ken river, the water will submerge 4,600 hectares of the the Panna tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh. This aspect has come in for criticism from the standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife as well as the National Tiger Conservation Authority.

Based on these observations, Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh -- who has not hesitated in opposing any project found to be eating into tiger areas -- has expressed reservations about Rahul's project.

"We have written to the water resources ministry stating that the submersion of the Panna tiger reserve is not acceptable. We have asked them to find some alternative alignment for the Daudhan dam and reservoir on the Ken-Betwa link, one which does not submerge the Panna tiger reserve," Ramesh said.

Last year, there was an uproar after it was found out that the tiger population at Panna had been wiped out. Three tigers have since been translocated to the reserve, which is also home to leopards, elephants and sambar deer.

While Ramesh has focused on the Panna angle to oppose the project, locals and water experts point out that the link will not help the Bundelkhand region, which already has a large concentration of dams.

"Rahul's prescription for the region is flawed. The Ken-Betwa link needs at least 60 per cent of the funds for the Bundelkhand package, but the basic proposition of this project is itself wrong," Himanshu Thakkar, a dam expert and coordinator of the South Asia network on dams, rivers and people, said.

Thakkar's organisation had carried out a detailed analysis of the Ken and Betwa river basins and come to the conclusion that it was wrong to identify the Ken basin as "surplus" and the Betwa basin as "deficit". According to him, the rainfall, meteorology, land pattern and agricultural development of the two basins were the same.

"Both rivers run through the Bundelkhand region and when one is in flood, the other also overflows. When one is facing drought, the second also goes through it. There is no basis for the proposition that Ken is surplus and Betwa is deficit," Thakkar said.

Thakkar said the best option for the Bundelkhand region was a revival of the network of tanks and lakes that served it right up to 1947.

"The Bundelkhand package visualises rainwater harvesting and tank revival for most of the region, while only a small portion will be served by the expensive Ken-Betwa link. The point is, if such a network of lakes and tanks is good for most of Bundelkhand, why should it not be extended to the areas that will be covered by the Ken- Betwa link as well?" he asked.