the Supreme Court (sc) has asked the Union government to consider linking the country's rivers within 10 years, advancing the government's own deadline. Earlier, the Union ministry of water resources had filed an affidavit stating that this project, which it claimed would control flood and drought conditions, would be completed by 2043. The apex court reacted on October 31, 2002, directing the Union government to explore ways to achieve the target by 2012 and to constitute a task force in this regard.

In its affidavit, the ministry has listed four major constraints facing the project