Workshop on Preparation of Plans for Rejuvenation of Mahanadi, Narmada and Godavari River Systems

Institute of Forest Productivity, Ranchi under ICFRE, Government of Chhattisgarh organized a one-day workshop on preparation of plans for rejuvenation of Mahanadi, Narmada and Godavari river system at Aranya Bhavan, Raipur today. Dr Nitin Kulkarni, IFP, Ranchi informed that special guest Mr. AK Shukla, PCCF (WL), Chief Guest Mr. R Chaturvedi, PCCR Chhattisgarh will address the house on the preparation of DPR of peninsular rivers.

All Additional PCCFs and DFOs of Chhattisgarh Forest Department, Mr. V Shrinivas Rao, CEO, CAMPA, MR. R Jouhari, CF, IFB, Hyderabad, Mr. SZ Siddiqui, and Mr. Prabir Day, Ecological and GIS consultants, Dr. Dheeraj Gupta, Scientist, TFRI, Jabalpur, Mr. Saroj Mahapatra, PRADAN NGO and many other representatives from various organizations such as Watershed, Agriculture Department, MNREGA, Universities, NGOs of Chhattisgarh State will participate in the workshop. The rivers are the major source of surface water on the planet Earth and carry water and nutrients to downstream areas. The holistic approach for rejuvenation of rivers, wherein water management and environment management are taken together for implementation to restore the list ecology of the polluted stretches of the rivers. The theme and objectives will be discussed in detail by Dr. Nitin Kulkarni, Director, Dr Sharad Tiwari, Coordinator and Mr. Sanjeev Kumar, Scientist of IFP, Ranchi.

Objectives of the workshop include finding out existing situation of Mahanadi and Godavari River Basin along with the major tributaries/distributaries, exploring the past river management practices, projects of departments/institutions/organizations/agency concerned and the lessons learned, to collect the information on forestry activities with regard to the river management programme for regeneration, improvement, and restoration of forest catchments, and to identify and prioritize critical areas for implementation of plan, choice of appropriate species and development of site-specific models in Riparian, agrarian and urban landscapes. Based on the information collected from the forest department and other related agencies, detailed project report will be prepared for rejuvenation of the rivers.