Chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat took cognisance of a report on Rispana and Bindal rivers by the National Institute of Hydrology (NIH) Roorkee and sought a clarification through officials on the Rs one crore budget sought by NIH Roorkee for further steps to revive the dying streams of Doon valley.
He also acknowledged the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) declaration of Rispana and Bindaal as part of the Ganga river basin, said members of a student activist group who called on him in this regard.
Addressing the media at the Press Club, Making a Difference by Being the Difference (MAD) founding head Abhijay Negi said that the group renewed its long standing demand of visible and genuine government efforts to revive Rispana, Bindal and Suswa rivers in Dehradun.
He informed that a day ago, a four-member delegation of the group had met the chief minister at his residence to brief him at some length about the plight of Dehradun's dying streams - given the constant encroachment and public apathy they face in the city today. MAD members shared with Rawat a copy of the expert report prepared by NIH Roorkee wherein scientists had marked Rispana as a perennial stream and had also stated that Bindal carried water in all seasons till the 1980s. They also pointed out that Rispana and Bindal had been specifically earmarked as a part of the Ganga river basin by the MoEFCC. Showing photographs of the current state of the two streams, MAD urged the chief minister to personally intervene and promised all possible support from the student activist group in any government effort undertaken to revive the dying streams.
Negi said that in his interaction with the delegation, the chief minister made specific note of the NIH Roorkee report and sought a clarification on the budget sought by the institute for further steps to revive the dying rivers. He also acknowledged the MoEFCC declaration of Rispana and Bindal as part of the Ganga river basin and promised full and detailed consideration of the documents submitted to him by the group, added Negi.
MAD has made four specific demands from the Chief Minister, which include a request to sanction Rs one crore to NIH Roorkee to continue with the revival plan chalkled out by the institute, declaring no construction zones and conservation zones from the stretch between Kelaghat and Makrait to save Rispana river, safe and comprehensive rehabilitation of slum dwellers from riverbeds and making MAD a recognised stakeholder in this revival plan.
Group coordinator Swati Singh, members Karan Kapoor, Vishwas Pandey and Vijay Pratap Singh were also present on the occasion.