Regional review meeting of NE States on Springshed Management held in Kohima

October 23, 2023 18 Views No Comment

DIMAPUR, OCTOBER 23 (MExN): A workshop on Springshed Management & Review Meeting on the implementation of WDC-PMKSY 2.0 in the NE States was held on October 18, 19 and 23 in Kohima.

A press release from the media cell, Directorate of Land Resources informed that officials of the Government of India, Ministry of Rural Development, Department of Land Resources headed by the Joint Secretary, Nitin Khade, IAS chaired the meeting. He was accompanied by senior officers and staff from the Watershed management Division. Altogether, 14 states from across the Country and renowned agencies working in springshed management such as National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), NER, Guwahati, Advanced Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (ACWADAM), Pune and People’s Science institute (PSI), Dehradun participated in the springshed workshop and shared their experiences on Springshed management works.

By and large, people living in the Indian Himalayan Region including Nagaland are dependent on natural springs for their domestic and agricultural water requirement. These springs are fed by underground aquifers which are depleting at higher rate than being recharged. This necessitated Springshed management to recharge the underground aquifers by employing appropriate engineering and vegetative measures in the recharge zone of the spring.

It may be mentioned that NER states viz, Sikkim, Meghalaya and Nagaland are some of pioneering states implementing Springshed related works. Nagaland is the first state in the Country to implement Springshed development works under PMKSY-WDC 1.0 project.

On the second day, the participating delegates visited a springshed management pilot project site at Thizama, Kohima to learn from theactual field implementation. Two hydrogeologists, Mukesh Patil from ACWADAM Pune and Shyam Yawale from PSI Dehradun provided field demonstrations on spring type, rock types, geological formations and identification of recharge zone for most effective spring rejuvenation measures. The participants had very fruitful interactions with the hydrogeologists and had gained good insight into the importance of accurate hydrogeological studies for planning and implementation of springshed management works. It was followed by a visit to Chaüchaliekie spring which was rejuvenated during 2017-18 and the water being used for irrigation as well as for drinking purpose.

The ministry officials also reviewed the progress on the implementation of Watershed Development Component (WDC 2.0) works of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) in the North Eastern Region.

Detailed review on the progress of the NER states was conducted on status of fund utilisation, Management information system (MIS), Land Resource Inventorization (LRI), Farmers Producers Organisation (FPO), Amrit Sarovar, and Horticulture and Plantation crops

All the NER states presented brief PowerPoints on the status of the works completed so far against the targets planned in the DPRs. The Joint Secretary commented on the commendable progress made by the NER states and encouraged the states to further ensure that the targets set are met within the timeline.