NEWS

Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has proposed the rejuvenation of 13 major rivers across the country

WHAT IS PROPOSED

• Rivers identified in 24 states and two Union Territories
• Rejuvenated through “forestry interventions’’
• Identified rivers & tributaries – Jhelum has 24, Chenab has 17, Rabi has 6, Brahmaputra has 30, Mahanadi has 7 and Krishna has 13
• Funded by the National Afforestation and Eco-development Board under the Ministry
• DPRs have been prepared by the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Dehradun (ICFRE)
• Other issues which will be tackled through the project include reversal of desertification, the preservation of biodiversity and the protection of wildlife in these areas
• Largest outlay has been sanctioned for the Yamuna
• There are three major landscapes along the rivers – natural, agricultural and urban – and plans have been created specifically for these different landscapes including specific plans for each river
• Issues troubling rivers
  • Expansion of the road network
  • Construction of hydroelectric projects
  • Expansion of agriculture
  • Reduced water flow
  • Deforestation in the catchment area
  • Fragile ecology, bank and soil erosion
  • Siltation and shifting cultivation
    • These issues in turn affects agricultural productivity, livelihood security, public health and aquatic systems
  • The different models of forestry plantations including timber species, medicinal plants, grasses, shrubs and fuel fodder and fruit trees are aimed to augment water, ground water recharge and contain erosion
  • Site specific treatments in terms of soil and moisture conservation and plantations of grasses, herbs, forestry and horticultural trees have been proposed for treatment of prioritized sites in the riverscape supported by GIS techniques.
  • Direct benefits from the project include an expected increase in cumulative forest cover by 7,417.36 sq km across 13 riverscapes, sequestering of 50 million tons CO 2 equivalent in 10-year-old plantations and 74.76 million tons CO 2 equivalent in 20-year-old plantations
  • The proposed interventions in 13 riverscapes will help in ground water recharge of 1,889.89 million cubic meters annually and a reduction in sedimentation to the tune of 64,83,114 cubic meters.

WHAT IS REJENUVATION – River rejuvenation is the renewal of the erosive activity of the river