Chief Minister Harish Rawat has stressed on the need for development in catchment areas in order to revive the dying rivers and water bodies in Dehradun and elsewhere across Uttarakhand. He also stressed on the need for integrated efforts with broad-participation above political and other lines.
CM said this while speaking at a discussion on the environment organised on Sunday evening at his residence by local student activist group Making a Difference by Being the Difference (MAD) to mark five years of the group’s existence.
Speaking at the environmental discussion, the CM stressed on the need for ensuring environmental protection in order to enable life security. He averred that Uttarakhand is the first State in India providing conditional monetary bonus to people for planting and nurturing trees. Plantation of broad leafed forests will not only help in improving the condition of forest ecology but will also help facilitate livelihood opportunities for the public.
He stressed on the need for maintaining efforts following the start of positive initiatives for environmental conservation. He said that the Government had managed to succeeded in improving the condition of about 60 lakes in the state in addition to which efforts are also being undertaken to construct small trenches and develop smaller water bodies to retain water in the mountainous and forested areas.
Such efforts for retention and conservataion of water will also prove helpful in improving the conditions of rivers, he said. Pine needles will have to be utilised as part of measures to retain rain water in the forests, for which all the departments concerned with water related works will have to come forward.
The State Government has also facilitated conditional payment of bonus to people for conservation of water. The absence of farming activity in the rural areas has affected the retention of weter to tackle which efforts are being aimed at ensuring sowing in farms so that the water retention is facilitated and water sources are developed.
The CM also expressed concern acknowledging that encroachment and unplanned constructions have not been controlled as required. The Chief Minister also emphasized the necessity to forge consensus across party lines on matters of environmental policy.
Earlier, representing the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, its State spokesman Munna Singh Chauhan also stressed on the need for working towards raising environmental awareness and utilisation of traditional practices for water conservation and other such aspects.
He outlined the need to co-opt indigenous practices in order to restore the Bindal and Rispana rivers to their earlier condition. For effective water conservation, he stressed on the need for encouraging plantation especially near the river sources. Both the leaders also signed MAD’s pledge, to revive the dying streams of Doon Valley.
MAD’s founding president Abhijay Negi urged both leaders to incorporate environment conservation in their manifestos. Other members of the group including Sammanika Rawat, Saksham Pradyot, Dhruv Joshi, Ashish Garg, Karan Kapoor and Himalaya Ramola among others were also present on the occasion.