Bhubaneswar: Learning a lesson from Chhattisgarh government over Mahanadi water dispute, the Forest and Environment department has decided to plant saplings along the Mahanadi embankments.
“We are planning to plant saplings along the 500 km stretch of Mahanadi river embankment for conservation and ground water recharge of the river,” Forest and Environment Minister Bijayshree Routray told reporters here Wednesday.
After the construction of barrages in Chhattisgarh, the flow of the river has witness a drastic fall, he said, adding, “The retention of the water in the river is also very less. So we are planning to plant trees covering around 1 km in breadth alongside the river.”
Nearly three crore saplings will be planted in next two to three years. A jungle can be formed which will help retain the water in the river and conserve the longest river of the state, the minister pointed out.
“The plantation work will be carried out as per the procedure followed by Madhya Pradesh government along the river Narmada. A team of our government recently visited the state to have a field experience and submitted a report to me. A detailed roadmap for the plantation programme will be chalked out soon,” Routray said.
The main intention is to develop it as a green valley as scientifically it has been proved that afforestation helps in conservation of the river, retention of water in the river, recharge of ground water and prevention of soil erosion, he stated.
This proposed plan is likely to be flagged off next year with the support of Agriculture department, which would plant trees on government lands while private land owners will be encouraged to crop vegetables on their river side land with the help of directorate of horticulture, he added.
When asked about fund flow for the mega project, the minister said, “There will be no fund crunch for the project. We will get it from Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Generation Scheme (MGNREGS) and Orissa Environment Fund. Besides, we will approach the industries, which are drawing water from the river to plant trees under corporate social responsibility (CSR) fund.”
The Madhya Pradesh government has created a world record by planting six crore saplings July 2 on the banks of river Narmada.
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