Expressing concern over the soil erosion of bank of rivers in Chambal - Gwalior Division, Farmers' Welfare and Agriculture Minister Gauri Shankar Bisen informed the House on Tuesday that the State Government is initiating steps to resolve the problem. "The state regime had sent Rs 1,200 crore integrated project to the Centre for the development of the ravines which would stop erosion of bank of rivers and thereby stop submerging of villages and reducing of agriculture land," Bisen said while replying to discussion on the subject under the rule 139.
Bisen said the Centre would bear the cost of 70 per cent while the state government would have 30 per cent of expenses for the project. The Minister said an international conference was held in Rajmata Scindia University in Gwalior from March 7-10 to discuss about the development of ravines and make it suitable for farming. Earlier, participating in the discussion Ramniwas Rawat (Principal Opposition Congress) said the problem prevailed across the state but the Chmbal-Division was the worst affected region. He alleged that state regime was not sincere to sort out the problem. Rawat also suggested that the government should engage the landless and unemployed youths for the development of ravines. Satyapal Singh Sikarwar (Bharatiya Janata Party) said that 1,030 villages in the region were wiped off the map owing to this phenomenon. He urged the government to initiate proper steps to stop this natural calamity. Pointing out the illegal mining of soil and sand on the banks of rivers, Jeetu Patwari (Cong) said that such crime also aggravated the problem. He claimed that the previous Congress regime took several steps for the development of the ravines. Several other members from the treasury and the opposition benches also took part in the discussion.