meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Short Wave

How An Ambitious River Rerouting Plan Could Change India's Weather

Short Wave

NPR

Daily News, Nature, Life Sciences, Astronomy, Science, News

4.7 β€’ 6K Ratings

πŸ—“οΈ 19 July 2024

⏱️ 16 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

More than a hundred years ago, a British engineer proposed linking two rivers in India to better irrigate the area and cheaply move goods. The link never happened, but the idea survived. Today, due to extreme flooding in some parts of the country mirrored by debilitating drought in others, India's National Water Development Agency plans to dig thirty links between rivers across the country. It's the largest project of its kind and will take decades to complete. But scientists are worried what moving that much water could do to the land, the people β€” and even the weather. Host Emily Kwong talks to journalist Sushmita Pathak about her recent story on the project.

Read Sushmita's full story here.

Interested in more science stories like this? Email us at [email protected].

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

When voters talk during an election season, we listen, we ask questions, we follow up, and we bring you along to hear what we learned.

0:09.0

Get closer to the issues, the people, and your vote at the NPR Elections Hub.

0:13.6

Visit NPR.org. slash elections.

0:19.0

Just a heads up, there is a brief mention of suicide in this episode. If you or someone you know is struggling, call 988. That's the National Suicide and Crisis Line.

0:27.0

You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.

0:40.0

Planet Earth, our one and only home is about 70% water, most of it, ocean, but speckled and traced across the land masses

0:45.0

are lakes and river systems.

0:47.0

And those river systems don't always cover the land equally.

0:51.0

A lot of times what happens is you have flooding in one part of the

0:55.6

country and you have water scarcity in the other part. This is Shushmita Patak, a journalist based in Delhi.

1:03.7

The second largest river in India, the Yumuna, runs through Delhi, and in 2023, flooding

1:09.7

from the river caused the city to evacuate thousands of people. But there are also

1:14.1

erred regions of India, like Bengaluru, a tech hub in the south. It's one of the biggest

1:18.9

cities in the country, but it doesn't really have a river close by.

1:23.1

So what they have to do a lot of times

1:26.0

is get river from the Kaveri River, which is about 100 kilometers away.

1:32.2

But sharing the water has caused a lot of conflict.

1:35.6

And as Bengaluru's population increases,

1:38.4

Shishmida says they're facing water shortages.

1:40.9

Because they've had to like bring water from so far away.

1:45.0

In tankers, there's actually been a so-called Potter mafia that's come up in that city actually.

1:50.0

In rural areas, farmers can go into massive debt because of crop failure due to these water shortages.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright Β© Tapesearch 2025.