Environment ministry releases project reports for rejuvenation of 13 rivers in India

The 13 rivers for which DPRs were released are Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, Sutlej, Yamuna, Brahmaputra, Luni, Narmada, Godavari, Mahanadi, Krishna, and Cauvery. These rivers collectively cover a total basin area of 18,90,110 sq. km representing 57.45% of the geographical area of the country. The length of 13 rivers including 202 tributaries within the delineated riverscapes is 42,830 km.

New Delhi:The Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change, in collaboration with Jal Shakti, released Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) on Rejuvenation of thirteen major rivers through Forestry Interventions, on Monday. The reports were released by the Union Minister for Environment Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, and the Union Minister, Jal Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat along with the Minister of State, MoEF&CC, Ashwini Kumar Choubey.

The 13 rivers for which DPRs were released are Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, Sutlej, Yamuna, Brahmaputra, Luni, Narmada, Godavari, Mahanadi, Krishna, and Cauvery. These rivers collectively cover a total basin area of 18,90,110 sq. km representing 57.45% of the geographical area of the country. The length of 13 rivers including 202 tributaries within the delineated riverscapes is 42,830 km.

As per the Ministry, these rivers along with their tributaries are proposed for forestry interventions in the riverscape under different landscapes namely natural landscape, agricultural landscape, and urban landscape. The different models of forestry plantations including timber species, medicinal plants, grasses, shrubs, and fuel fodder and fruit trees, aim to augment water, groundwater recharge, and contain erosion.

A total of 667 treatment and plantation models are proposed in all the 13 DPRs meant for the proposed forestry interventions and supporting activities, in different landscapes. In all, 283 treatment models have been proposed for the natural landscapes, 97 treatments models in Agriculture Landscapes, and 116 different treatment models in Urban Landscapes.

The official statement of the Environment Ministry states that the proposed cumulative budget outlay of 13 DPRs is Rs. 19,342.62 crores. The DPRs are expected to be executed through the State Forest Departments as nodal department and with a convergence of schemes of other line departments in the states towards the activities proposed in the DPRs and funding support from the Government of India.

The treatments are proposed to be spread over a period of five years with a provision for additional time for the maintenance of plantations. In case of delay in initiation of the project, the proposed outlay of the DPRs shall be adjusted using the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) since the project outlay was worked out as per costs prevailing during 2019-20.

Also, the forestry interventions are expected to increase the cumulative forest cover by 7,417.36 km² across 13 riverscapes. These would help to sequester 50.21 million tons CO² equivalent in 10-year-old plantations and 74.76 million tons CO² equivalent in 20-year-old plantations. It would also help in groundwater recharge to the extent of 1,889.89 million m³ yr-1, and reduction in sedimentation to the tune of 64,83,114 m³ yr-1.

While addressing the gathering, Bhupendra Yadav asserted that these projects will alleviate the growing water stress and held achieve National goals related to climate change and sustainable development.