Turning river silt into highway fill is a good example of the circular economy in infrastructure. Critically evaluate the MoRTH–Bihar 'Nadi Sanjivani' model and whether other States should adopt it.

The 'Nadi Sanjivani' MoU between MoRTH and the Government of Bihar links scientific desilting of rivers with the use of suitable silt as fill in National Highway (NH) projects [1]. It turns a flood-causing waste into a construction input. The idea is sound circular economy, but its ecological safeguards are weaker than its ambition.

Merits: circular economy at work

• Waste to resource: About 243 lakh m³ of silt is committed for 16 ongoing NH projects. Another 835 lakh m³ is proposed for 27 future projects [1].
• Economic gain: Using silt means less fresh earth has to be dug. This cuts project costs, speeds up construction and spares fertile farmland soil [1].
• Flood and water benefits: It restores the carrying capacity of rivers that rise in Nepal. It also helps recharge groundwater and clears post-flood silt from farms [1].
• Disposal problem solved: The Mittal Committee found large-scale desilting unworkable partly because there was no land to dump the silt [3]. Highway embankments now absorb it.
• Cooperative federalism: It builds on the earlier use of Amrit Sarovar silt in NH works [5].

Limitations

• Little flood relief: Desilting only marginally reduces floods and is not a permanent solution [3]. Rivers from Nepal bring fresh sediment every monsoon [1].
• Highway demand drives extraction: The State nodal agency is the Road Construction Department, not the Water Resources Department [1]. Fill demand may exceed what the river can spare. This would breach the Chitale Committee rule that desilting should not exceed the deposition rate [2].
• Ecological harm: Indiscriminate desilting damages river ecology and flow [2].
• Cover for sand mining: The agencies doing the work also run the safeguards, such as joint measurement and digital records [1]. The CAG found that no performance evaluation had been done of flood projects in Bihar [4].
• Uncertain scale: The 835 lakh m³ for future projects depends on approvals [1].

Should other States adopt it? Yes, with conditions:

• Water-resources agencies should certify silt limits from annual sediment budgets before highway orders are placed [2].
• Desilting should sit within basin plans that include catchment-area treatment [2].
• Site-wise reconciliation data should be published and brought under CAG audit [4].
• States should copy the disposal model, not the volume targets.

Overall, Nadi Sanjivani shows that infrastructure can absorb a river's waste, which is a real circular-economy advance. Flood-prone States should copy it, provided the river's sediment budget, not road length, sets the limit. Designed this way, it advances SDGs 6, 9 and 12 and the Chitale Committee's view of desilting as one part of integrated river management.