Nagaland not utilising much of rural infra: NABARD Chairman

June 14, 2022 50 Views No Comment

Morung Express News
Kohima | June 14

Chairman of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Dr GR Chintala, who is on a visit to the state capital, said Nagaland is not utilising much of the rural infrastructure unlike other neighbouring Northeast states.

Speaking at the sidelines of a programme on June 13 at Thizama (Chüziema), Dr Chintala who met the Nagaland Chief Minister, other Ministers and financial institutions said the state should put in place a mechanism to get as much funds as possible, as NABARD offers a very concessional rate.

During his meeting, he said they also discussed issues like creation of livelihoods in a much bigger way and also issues related to banking. He said the CM and others were pleased with the discussions.

NABARD, he said has many schemes and programmes under its umbrella and that the state should also come up with feasible programmes in order to avail the same.

Best springshed watershed development
NABARD springshed based watershed development in Chüziema has been described as the best springshed based watershed development in the state.

Dr Chintala who was in the village to inspect the project urged the people to take advantage of the current project being implemented in the village, and come out with new viable and realistic projects to benefit the people as a whole.

Presenting a power point highlighting the project, Dr Menuosietuo Tseikha said the project was initiated in 2019 to revive and rejuvenate the springs of the area which were in critical stage.

Under this NABARD project, he said more emphasis is given on recharge of ground water, rejuvenation of the springs and soil and moisture conservation. With this, Tseikha said 12 critical springs in the vicinity of the village have been identified and different soil and moisture conservation and engineering works have been carried out to rejuvenate the springs.

For this purpose, he explained that engineering works like staggered contour trenches and dug-out ponds and afforestation have been taken up in the recharge area of the spring.

The village has no piped water connection and the water that is accumulated in this water harvesting pond is pumped up to the village which is about 1.62 kms away. Today, the water harvesting pond not only supplies drinking water for the village, but the excess run-off is being utilised for agricultural purposes for irrigation of the bench trenches.

TVC chairperson, Viletuo Pienyü said earlier the spring dried up during the lean season, but after intervention, the discharge at the spring has significantly improved and led to a more self-sufficiency even during the dry spell.

Source: https://morungexpress.com/nagaland-not-utilising-much-of-rural-infra-nabard-chairman