The Chief Minister's Office of Uttar Pradesh, citing Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, announced on Sunday, June 21, 2026 that the Ken-Betwa Link Project is progressing towards completion and will fully resolve the water crisis in Bundelkhand once finished. In the post, CM Yogi stated: 'Ken-Betwa link pariyojana poornata ki or agrasar hai' ('The Ken-Betwa Link Project is moving towards completion. When the work of this project is completed, the water problem in Bundelkhand will be completely resolved.')

Context

The Ken-Betwa Link Project is India's first operational river-interlinking initiative under the National Perspective Plan. It proposes to transfer surplus water from the Ken river to the Betwa basin through a 221-kilometre canal and two dams, addressing chronic water deficits across the drought-prone Bundelkhand region that straddles Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Bundelkhand has historically faced recurrent droughts, with water shortages severely affecting agricultural output and drinking water availability for millions of households across both states.

Policy Backdrop

The project's roots lie in the National Perspective Plan for interlinking rivers formulated in 1980, with detailed project reports prepared by the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) — the nodal body under the Ministry of Jal Shakti — through the 1990s and 2000s. The Union Cabinet granted in-principle approval to the project in 2018, followed by full sanction in December 2021 at an estimated cost exceeding Rs 44,000 crore. The project requires sustained coordination between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on land acquisition, wildlife clearances, and cost-sharing arrangements. CM Yogi Adityanath, who has held office since 2017, has repeatedly cited the Ken-Betwa project as a cornerstone solution for Bundelkhand's long-standing water insecurity in state-level addresses and policy communications.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries are Bundelkhand's farming communities and drought-affected households, who have endured water scarcity across multiple districts in both states for decades. The project is designed to provide irrigation water to parched agricultural land and improve drinking water access in the region. The broader National River Linking Project, of which Ken-Betwa is the first concrete step, represents a long-term central government strategy to redistribute water across river basins to address regional imbalances. Successful execution of Ken-Betwa is widely seen as a proof-of-concept for future interlinking initiatives.

What's Next

Key milestones to watch include progress on dam construction at Daudhan and Makodia, the pace of canal excavation, and any updated cost-sharing or inter-state agreements between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. If the project reaches completion as indicated, it would mark a landmark moment in India's decades-long effort to engineer water security through inter-basin transfers — and set a precedent for the many interlinking proposals still on the drawing board.