[National River Conservation Directorate, Ganga Action Plan Phase I, National River Conservation Plan, Ganga Action Plan Phase II, Yamuna Action Plan, Gomti Action Plan, Damodar Action Plan, National Afforestation and Eco-development Board, National Afforestation Programme through community Participation, National Action Plan to Combat Desertification]
The National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD)
which functions under the Ministry provides assistance to various State
Governments for implementing the River Action Plans in 29 identified grossly
polluted stretches of various rivers of the country under the National River
Conservation Plan (NRCP). The objective of NRCP is to improve the water quality
of these rivers, which are the major fresh water sources in the country, through
the implementation of pollution abatement schemes. The important works being
taken up under the NRCP include :
- Interception and diversion works to capture the raw sewage flowing into the river through open drains and divert them for treatment.
- Sewage
Treatment Plants for treating the diverted sewage.
- Low
cost sanitation works to prevent open defecation on river banks.
- Electric
crematoria and Improved Wood Crematoria to conserve the use of wood and help in
ensuring proper cremation of bodies brought to the burning ghats.
- River
Front Development works such as improvement of bathing ghats etc.
- Other
minor miscellaneous works.
The first River Action Plan to be taken up under the NRCD was the Ganga
Action Plan. The objective of the GAP Phase-I was to improve the water quality
of the river
-
Bio-chemical Oxygen
Demand (BOD)
- 3mg/1maximum
-
Dissolved Oxygen (DO) - 5mg/l
minimum
-
Total Coliform Count
-
10,000 MPN per 100 ml
- Faecal Coliform Count
-
2,500 MPN per 100 ml
Pollution abatement works under this plan have been taken up in 25 class
I towns (population above 1 lakh in 1985) of which six are in U.P., four in
An amount of about Rs 452 crore has been spent on the GAP Phase-I. The
entire funding has been provided by the Central Government.
It was initially expected that programme would be completed in 6-7 years.
However, it has been delayed considerably due to land acquisition problems,
court litigation and lack of experience in implementing a programme of this
nature and magnitude.
Problem Areas under
- With the completion of the Ganga
Action Plan Phase I, bottlenecks have appeared in respect of operation and
maintenance (O&M) of the assets created under the programme. Expenditure
towards operation and maintenance of facilities like sewage treatment plants and
main sewage pumping stations under Ganga Action Plan Phase-I was fully met by
the Centre upto September, 1989 and thereafter was shared equally with the
respective State Governments from October, 1989 onwards till March, 1997. As
decided during the initial periods of GAP, the responsibility of O&M of
assets created under the GAP thereafter rested with the concerned State
Governments. While O&M of assets is unsatisfactory in
- U.P. and
Impact
on River Water Quality
Out of the total sewage generation of 1,340 mld from 25 class I towns (as
of 1985), it was targeted to intercept, divert and treat 873 mld of sewage under
GAP Phase-I. As against this target, capacity to treat 865 mld has been
commissioned so far.
The water quality of river
Table - 13Summer Average Values for Water Quality on Main Stem of River Ganga under Ganga Action Plan
Station Name Distance Dissolved Biochemcial in Km Oxygen Oxygen Demand (DO) (mg/l) (DO) (mg/l) (BOD) (mg/l) (BOD) (mg/l) 1986 2002 1986 2002
Rishikesh 0 8.1 8.30 1.7 1.10 Haridwar D/S 30 8.1 7.90 1.8 1.60 Garhmutkeshwar 175 7.8 - 2.2 - Kannauj U/S 430 7.2 7.65 5.5 1.17 Kannauj D/S 433 NA 6.50 NA 4.23 Kanpur U/S 530 7.2 6.27 7.2 3.80 Kanpur D/S 548 6.7 6.75 8.6 4.90 Allahabad U/S 733 6.4 13.00 11.4 - Allahabad D/S 743 6.6 8.20 15.5 3.80 Varanasi U/S 908 5.6 10.80 10.1 3.00 Varanasi D/S 916 5.9 7.50 10.6 2.50 Patna U/S 1188 8.4 7.08 2.0 1.88 Patna D/S 1198 8.1 7.10 2.2 1.95 Rajmahal 1508 7.8 7.93 1.8 1.48 Palta 2050 NA 7.25 NA 2.66 Uluberia 2500 NA 5.43 NA 1.94
* Mean value for the months of March to June when the temperature are high and flows are low. NA-Data not available
Water
Quality Monitoring has also been initiated for the rivers vis. Sutlaj in
The Ganga Action Plan model with necessary corrections on the basis of
lessons learnt and experience gained from GAP Phase-I has been applied to the
polluted major rivers of the country under the National River Conservation Plan
(NRCP). Since Ganga Action Plan Phase-I did not cover the pollution load of
The present approved cost of GAP Phase-II, which is a part of NRCP, is Rs.
1498.86 crore and includes the following components :
Yamuna
Action Plan (
Originally, Yamuna Action Plan covered pollution abatement works in 15
towns, break-up being Haryana (six), U.P. (eight) and one in
Works in the additional six towns in Haryana, which are not covered under
JBIC assistance, are in different stages of completion.
Of the 141 schemes of pollution abatement sanctioned under Yamuna Action
Plan, 117 schemes have been completed.
Because of appreciation of Yen against Rupee, a saving of Yen 8 billion
was available in the JBIC assistance package. This was equivalent to about Rs.
300 crore. JBIC agreed to make available these savings for additional works in
the same 15 towns and also agreed to extend the loan agreement upto February,
2003. Keeping in view the rigid time frame of completion, additional pollution
abatement works of short gestation period amounting of Rs. 222.60 crore were
approved in May, 2001 for inclusion under this proposal. The break-up of the
estimated cost is Rs. 22.28 crore for Haryana, Rs. 166.62 crore for
Together with this additional package, the total cost of Yamuna Action
Plan stands at Rs. 732.05 crore.
In order to address further problem of water pollution of river Yamuna,
additional pollution abatement works in the State of Delhi, Haryana and U.P.
have been posed for funding by JBIC under Yamuna Action Plan Phase-II. The total
cost of project is estimated at Rs. 637 crore (15,607 billion in Japanese yen)
for which loan agreement with Govt. of Japan is expected to be signed in
February, 2003 and works scheduled to start in April, 2003 with a completion
period of five years.
In addition to the Yamuna Action Plan of the Ministry, the Government of
NCT of Delhi has also taken up large scale sewerage and sewage treatment plant
works out of its own plan funds. The quality of river Yamuna is being monitored
by the Supreme Court. The Court has issued directions to the Government of NCT
of Delhi to complete all the works
by
The details of the works done/to be done by the Government of NCT of
Delhi are given below :
- The installed capacity of the STP
has been augmented from 1,290 MLD in 1995 to 2,260 MLD. It is targeted to be
increased further to 2,326 MLD by March, 2003. The Sewerage Treatment Capacity
is proposed to be augmented to 3225 MLD by 10th five
year plan. These plants are to be designed to meet better standards i.e. BOD of
10 mg/l, suspended solids of 15 mg/l.
- Desilting the rehabilitation of
trunk sewers :- An action Plan for desilting and rehabilitation of trunk sewers
has been prepared. Works are planned to be completed by September, 2003. 20 KM
of sewers have been desilted/repaired so far.
- Laying of sewer lines in
unauthorized/regularised colonies:- out of 567 unauthorised/regularized
colonies, sewer lines have been laid in 441 colonies. Sewer lines will be laid
in the remaining colonies by year 2004 subject to technical feasibility.
- Laying of sewer lines in
resettlement colonies:- Out of 44 resettlement colonies, sewerage facilities
have been provided in 42 colonies. Sewer lines in remaining colonies will be
completed by 2004.
- Laying of sewer lines in urban
villages: Out of 135 urban villages 93 urban villages have been sewered so far.
Sewerage facilities in all the remaining urban villages are to be provided by
year 2004 except where it is not technically feasible to lay the sewer lines.
- Upgradation of existing STPs :
The existing plants and plants under construction will be upgraded to meet the
latest norms of DPCC/CPCB i.e. BOD (Bio Chemical Oxygen Demand) of 10 mg/l and
SS (Suspended Solids) of 15 mg/l.
- Replacement of under sized sewers
:- A scheme has been prepared to replace 585 KM under sized sewers by 250 mm dia
sewers by the year 2005 at a total cost of Rs. 140 crore out of which 123 KM
length has been replaced.
- Trapping of drains : An action
plan has been prepared for trapping of storm water drains into sewerage system
minimizing flow of untreated wastewater into River Yamuna.
Since it is impossible to achieve this objective the court has been
requested to extend the time to
Gomti Action Plan (GoAP) was approved along with the Yamuna Action Plan
at an estimated cost of Rs.58.11 crore in April 1993. The approved cost
comprises pollution abatement works in
Subsequently, the project was posed for financial assistance to the
Department for International Development (DFID) of the Government of U.K.
However, DFID evinced interest in works at
DFID sanctioned a project in September, 1995 for preparing a detailed
Master Plan of pollution abatement of the river and taking up some emergency
works amounting to Rs.6.81 crore. These works included cleaning of some major
drains, diversion of Gaughat Nalla away from the water intake point and
renovation of a pumping station. All these works were completed in March 1999.
Around the same time, there was a change in the development aid policy of
Government of U.K. with focus shifting to poverty alleviation sector. As a
result, DFID withdrew from this project. It was, therefore, decided to take up
the project from budgetary resources and in two phases. In the first phase,
priority works of GoAP were proposed for implementation within the balance
approved cost of Rs. 40.94 crore (47.75 – 6.81) available for
The issue of selection of technology for treatment of sewage took quite
sometime. The matter was finally resolved in consultation with the Planning
Commission and the Government of U.P. Thereafter, the implementation of the
first phase started from November 2000 onwards. So far, pollution abatement
works amounting to Rs. 26.94 crore have been approved and are under different
stages of implementation. These works include diversion of sewage of five nallas
and a sewage treatment plant of 42 million litres per day (mld) capacity.
An amount of Rs. 23.78 crore has been released to the implementing agency
(U.P. Jal Nigam) against which, an expenditure of Rs. 17.64 crore has been
incurred till data. These works are expected to be completed by March 2003.
Completion of these works will result in addressing about 10% of the total
pollution reaching the river.
In addition to the above works, an important component of the first phase
presently under consideration for approval is diversion of Kukrail Nalla and
balance city sewage to a point downstream of barrage. Undertaking of this work
will ensure that a major portion of the remaining untapped sewage of the town
will be discharged downstream of the barrage and as a result the water quality
of the river in the core area of the city upsteam of the barrage will improve.
These projects are under consideration for approval by the Ministry and will
take about three years to complete after sanction.
The U.P. Jal Nigam has recently submitted the detailed project proposal
of the second phase works amounting to Rs. 280 crore. The project cost is to be
shared in the ratio of 70:30 between Government of India (Rs. 196 crore) and
State Government (Rs. 84 crore). The works in this phase will include two sewage
treatment plants of a total capacity of 375 mld (over the 42 mld capacity being
set up in the first phase), interception & diversion works of sewage of the
remaining drains and other miscellaneous items like river front development,
toilets, plantation, public awareness and participation, land acquisition etc.
The project is presently under consideration of the Government of India for
approval.
Under this Action Plan, pollution abatement works are being taken up in
12 towns. Of these eight are in Jharkhand and four in
Out of the approved cost of Rs. 23.58 crore an expenditure of Rs. 6.43
crore has been incurred under this Action Plan. The work on the scheme has not
yet begun in right earnest due to low priority given by the State Governments to
this Plan.
Pollution abatement works are also being taken up in 59 towns along the
main stem of river
The Plan includes substantial outlay for scheme implementation in the
towns of
Schemes in
In addition to the works
being taken up for pollution abatement of river Ganga and its tributaries,
pollution abatement works are also being taken up in 60 towns along 25 major
rivers in 11 states of the country. Of these four are in A.P., three in
Jharkhand, one in Gujarat, nine in Karnataka, five in Maharashtra, 11 in M.P.,
five in Orissa, six in Punjab, two in Rajasthan and 13 in Tamil Nadu and one in
Goa.
Out of 247 schemes of pollution abatement sanctioned under this Action
Plan so far, 77 schemes have completed. About 2455 million litres per day (mld)
of sewage is targeted to be intercepted, diverted and treated. Out of the
approved cost of Rs 1939.22, the expenditure incurred by States totals to Rs.
331.27 crore.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has recently agreed to
provide technical assistance for taking up a study on ‘Water Quality
Management Plan for river
The programme under NRCP was initially approved on 50:50 cost sharing
between Central and the State Governments. However, considering the difficulties
of the State Government in providing their 50% share of cost, the National River
Conservation Authority (NRCA) chaired by the Prime Minister at its IX meeting
held on 12.07.1997 decided to convert this scheme into a 100% Centrally funded
programme on the lines of GAP Phase-I. This decision was approved by the
Government in November, 1998.
Based on the design criteria for sewage treatment plants the
environmental standards followed by NRCD for treated wastewater are :
-
BOD – 30 mg/litre
-
TSS – 50 mg/litre
Keeping in view the interest of public health, an expert group has
reviewed the water and wastewater standards with special reference to the levels
of microbial load and made the microbial standards in water and treated waste
water stricter. The revised standards for microbial quality are :
(i) River water quality
- Fecal coliform count
of
standards for bathing
MPN 500 per 100 ml
class
(Desirable)
MPN 2500 per 100 ml
(Max. permissible)
Fecal Streptococci : 100
per 100 ml (Desirable)
500 per 100 ml (Max.
permissible)
(ii) Treated wastewater
- Fecal coliform count
of
(for Irrigation)
MPN 1000 per 100 ml
(desirable)
MPN 10,000 per 100 ml
(max. permissible)
The revised river quality
standards for bathing class have been notified by the Ministry through the
Gazette notification dated
Emphasis is being laid on using the treated waste water, to the extent
possible, for irrigation. This will have the following benefits :
- Protect the river by eliminating
the discharge of organic matter into it and, thus, improve its ecology. The
river will no longer be used as a dumping ground to receive wastewater.
- Provide clean and fresh water for
bathers and communities dependent on the rivers.
- Prevent degradation of the soil
by providing the rich organic matter in treated sewage to the fields, thus,
reducing their dependence on chemical fertilizers for crop nourishment.
- Increases agriculture fields by
enabling multiple crops to be raised on the same extent of land by making
available treated wastewater throughout the year for areas which are otherwise
starved of water for irrigation.
- Ensure a proper ecological
balance since organic matter will be taken to its place of origin, namely, land
in the rural areas.
- Promote in-land aqua-culture and
fisheries and, thus help to supplement the income of the rural farmer.
- Helps in recharging the
groundwater table; and
- Avoids the use of power for
exploiting ground water, thus conserving scarce national resources.
The emphasis under NRCP is on adopting wastewater treatment technologies
which are efficient, simple to operate, have low O&M requirements and which
are able to efficiently meet the fecal coliform standards. Waste Stabilization
Pond technology is one such technology, which is being given preference under
NRCP. The waste stabilization ponds can be constructed and maintained by the
local community and are also not power dependent. The waste stabilization pond
technology is recognized to be cost effective technology, capable of killing
pathogens to make the levels of microbial pollution in treated wastewater safe
for agriculture, aquaculture and bathing. Land, however, is the primary
requirement for waste stabilization pond technology. In cases where land is not
available, then conventional technologies followed by polishing pond or other
disinfection technologies are considered. In such cases, the technology option
for a particular location is based on the life cycle cost benefit analysis of
the various feasible treatment options and the most economic option is selected
without compromising the achievement of standards.
Consequent to the introduction of fecal coliform standards, efforts are
being made to introduce new appropriate technologies which meet the new
bacterial standards for locations where adequate land is not available for
construction of waste stabilization ponds. The following new promising
technologies which have been successfully tried out under the NRCP are as under.
In the FAB (Fluidized Aerobic Bed) technology, the sewage after
pre-treatment is introduced to the FAB reactor where bio-mass is grown on small
carrier elements that move along with water in the reactor.
The technology has the following advantages :
- Space requirement is very less ;
- It does not require sludge
recycling:
- Low temperature sustaining
capability
- Sludge handling is easy, the
excess sludge is fully digested and is lower than the technologies
- Fecal coliform removal is very
substantial and as a result a chlorine dose of only 2 to 3 mg/l is sufficient
for the treated effluent to meet the desirable standards of NRCP/WHO standards
(<1000 MPN/100 ml)
A 15 mld STP based on FAB Technology for Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal
Corporation is in operation for more than 6 months. Two STPs of three mld each
have also been commissioned back in
Down Hanging
Sponge (DHS) Bio-Tower
Under the NRCP, UASB followed by a polishing pond has been widely adopted
as a method for treatment of sewage to achieve effluent discharge standards of
30 mg/l BOD and 50 mg/l SS because of its low operational cost and resource
recovery in the form of biogas, excess sludge as fertilizer and effluent rich in
nutrients.
The use of polishing pond with one-day retention time required large land
restricting the adoption of UASB process at locations where availability of
adequate land is constraint. Further, the removal of fecal coliform in the UASB
+ polishing pond is not so high to even achieve the maximum permissible limit of
10,000 MPN/100 ml. To achieve this, generally other disinfection methods like
chlorination and UV Radiation are contemplated. While, UV Radiation is very
expensive, chlorination may sometimes have its associated problem of having
harmful bi-products in the effluent if the chlorine dosage is very high.
In view of the above, a new technology called DHS Bio-Tower has been
tried out on a pilot scale under the Yamuna Action Plan for disinfection of UASB
effluent. The technology, has been developed at
A pilot plant of 1 MLD capacity was constructed at the 40 mld UASB STP at
Karnal and has been in operation since April 2002. The performance of the plant
has been quite good with the effluent of DHS Bio-Tower having BOD of around 10
mg/l, SS of 10 mg/l and fecal coliform of around 3000. The land requirement of
DHS Bio-Tower is only one-tenth of the land requirement for the one day final
polishing pond.
The Tenth meeting of the National River Conservation Authority (NRCA)
under the Chairmanship of Hon’ble Prime Minister was held on
- While river cleaning would need
to be given a much higher priority, it is also essential that resources are not
spread thinly. The focus, therefore, has to be on large towns, which are gross
polluters.
- In case of works already
completed assets need to be maintained and also continuously operated/utilized
for which funds must be earmarked by the States. The States/UTs must meet the
O&M costs which on an average is around 5% of the capital cost.
- A holistic and integrated
approach shall be adopted by addressing not only river pollution but other
components like internal sewage, solid waste disposal, low cost toilets etc.
- The cost of all future works
shall be shared between the Central and State/local bodies, public on 70:30
basis. The public shall contribute not less than 10% of the cost.
- A detailed plan for
recovery/operation maintenance cost shall become part of the project proposal in
future.
- Because of delay in
implementation, there is a cost overrun in many schemes. The Central share in
the total cost will be limited to the ceiling amount approved by the CCEA.
Balance cost, if any, is to be borne by the respective State Government.
- Approved works must be completed
first and where States/UTs have not been responsive enough and such works have
been pending for more than two years because of non-action by States, a
Committee of Secretaries consisting of Secretary of Environment & Forests,
Secretary Finance, Secretary Planning Commission and Chief Secretary of the
concerned State shall review the necessity of such schemes.
-
- Mobilization of resources/funds
will need special attention. Plan outlays would need to be enhanced
substantially so that gap between fund requirements and outlay is bridged.
- Coastal towns would get special
attention because it has been observed that sewage, solid waste, bio-medical
waste and the like are dumped into sea. Prioritization of coastal towns for
taking up such works may be done from the angle of mangroves, promotion of
eco-tourism, cultural and religious importance of the place and the like.
- In order to focus on issues
relating to protection and improvement and cleaning of rivers/lakes, a massive
programme of environment education and awareness is imperative. Centre and
States to launch this campaign through a programme of volunteers called National
Green Corps.
Need for public involvement, awareness and participation was recognized
way back in 1986. The National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD) took steps
in the light of experience gained in the implementation of development
programmes of Ganga Action Plan and guidelines have been re-framed. It is now
recognized that programmes of conservation of water bodies and town improvement
can succeed only if communities are aware that they will be benefited from the
conservation programme and they are willing to provide their share and bear part
of the cost of the programme. The entire programme of river conservation now
will be conceived, formulated, implemented, monitored and evaluated in close
consultation with the stake holding communities and undertake the approach of
participatory appraisal. The Centre and the States may launch this campaign
through a programme of volunteers called National Green Corps. The public
participation is being given high priority by involving local bodies, social
organizations and NGOs through wider publicity and voluntary involvement. The
total expenditure incurred on public participation from 1990-91 to 1998-99was Rs.
97.03 lakhs.
A series of measures have been undertaken to improve the performance of
NRCP. Keeping in mind the experience gained by the implementation of GAP-I, the
following important measures have been taken.
- To avoid diversion of funds by State Governments, it has now been decided to make releases of money directly to the implementing agencies.
- To
minimize slippage on account of delays in land acquisition, the State
Governments have been asked to process the schemes of land acquisition first
before the schemes of sewage treatment plants etc. are approved.
- The
matter of continuous supply of electricity for operation of assets has also been
taken up at the highest levels with the Governments of Bihar and U.P.
Concurrently, on the directions of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB),
the State Pollution Control Board have issued show cause notices to the local
bodies which are responsible for non-operation of assets in Bihar and U.P. under
the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. CPCB has also issued
notices to such local bodies under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
- The
core schemes of STPs and interception and diversion account for the major
expenditure under the River Action Plans. The impact of these programmes on the
public will be visible only when non-point sources of pollution as disposal of
garbage, cattle sheds along the river banks, cattle wallowing in the river and
disposal of dead bodies and animal carcasses are simultaneously tackled by the
local bodies. Necessary directions have been issued to them in this regard.
- A
new criteria has been introduced while examining the project proposals where the
financial status of the local bodies of each Action Plan town is being evaluated
and schemes are approved only when a firm commitment for appraisal and
maintenance is available from them.
- The
State Governments have been asked to ensure regular meetings of the Citizens
Monitoring Committees in the respective river action plan towns to discuss the
problems of operation and maintenance of the assets already created, delay in
implementation of the programme and measures necessary to control pollution from
non-point sources.
- The
environmental standards for river water quality have been synchronized with
those prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board. At the same time, the
standards of levels of microbial pollution in treated wastewater for irrigation
have been prescribed in the interest of public health.
The National River Conservation Authority (NRCA) in its meeting held on
National
A proposal for conservation and management of 10 polluted urban lakes was
put up for consideration of Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in
1997. The CCEA only approved the proposal for Dal Lake Conservation Plan ‘in
principle’ and asked the Ministry to seek external assistance for
implementation of the National Lake Conservation Plan. None of the external
funding agencies viz. The World Bank, JBIC, Government of Netherlands, Norwegian
Government to which National Lake Conservation Plan was posed, evinced any
interest in the project. The detailed project report of Dal Lake Conservation
Plan has been prepared by AHEC, Roorkee and sent to the State Government of
Jammu and
The budget estimates for the 3 approved lakes is as under :
Powai
-
Rs.6.62 crore
Ooty
-
Rs.1.95 crore
Kodaikanal
-
Rs.6.33 crore
The work in respect of Powai and Ooty lakes is already initiated while
the process of bidding for award of work is already completed in respect of
Kodaikanal.
The funding pattern under NLCP was revised to 70:30 cost sharing between
Central and the State Government w.e.f. January, 2002. Under the pattern,
proposal for conservation of 4 lakes in
1)
2) Lakes of Nainital District
Rs. 39.73 crores
(Uttaranchal)
3)
4)
Other proposals submitted to the Ministry are those of lakes Mirik at
In view of a large number of proposals being received from various
States, the scope of NLCP has been enlarged during the X Plan by including the
rural lakes in the programme along with urban lakes. The Plan outlay for X Plan
period is Rs. 220 crore with an annual budget of Rs. 30 crore for 2002-03.
National
Afforestation and Eco-Development Board (NAEB)
The National Afforestation and Eco-Development Board (NAEB) was set up in
August 1992 for promoting afforestation, tree planting, ecological restoration
and eco-development activities in the country. Special attention is being given
to the regeneration of degraded forest areas and lands adjoining forest areas,
national parks, sanctuaries and other protected areas as well as the
ecologically fragile areas like the
- Evolve mechanisms for ecological
restoration of degraded forest areas and adjoining lands through systematic
planning and implementation, in a cost effective manner;
- Restore through natural
regeneration or appropriate intervention the forest cover in the country for
ecological security and to meet the fuelwood, fodder and other needs of the
rural communities.
- Restore fuelwood, fodder, timber
and other forest produce on the degraded forest and adjoining lands in order to
meet the demands for these items;
- Sponsor research and extension of
research findings to disseminate new and proper technologies for the
regeneration and development of degraded forest areas and adjoining lands;
- Create general awareness and help
foster a people’s movement for promoting afforestation and eco development
with the assistance of voluntary agencies, non-government organizations,
Panchayati Raj institutions and others and promote participatory and sustainable
management of degraded forest areas and adjoining lands;
- Coordinate
and monitor the Action Plans for tree planting, ecological restoration
and eco development; and
- Undertake
all other measures necessary for promoting afforestation, tree planting,
ecological restoration and eco development activities in the country.
The major schemes under implementation during the Tenth Plan period are
as under:-
Keeping in view the objective of achieving 25% tree/forest cover as part
of the monitorable target set out for the Tenth Five Year Plan, the Ministry has
launched a very ambitious afforestation programme with people’s involvement
for the sustainable management of the country’s forests. Under this programme,
all afforestation schemes of the Ministry have been brought under a single
National Afforestation Programme being implemented through decentralized Forest
Development Agencies (FDA) set up at the forest division level. The FDAs are a
confederation of Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) at the village level
to provide an organic link between the forest departments and the grass-root
level communities.
During
the Tenth Plan, an amount of Rs 1024 crores is earmarked which will, apart from
generating gainful employment, create community assets for meeting the
requirement of fuelwood, fodder and small timber.
Two hundred and twenty seven projects in 23 States have been
operationalised for treating an area of 3.75 lakh ha for the Tenth Five Year
Plan as on 31.12.2002. An amount of Rs 130 crores has also been released. Of
this, 37 projects are solely for NE States with an outlay of Rs 116 crores for
treating an area fo 68,696 ha. Special emphasis is also given on plantation of
trees in jhumlands in these areas.
A provision of Rs. 215.00 crores has been proposed for the programme
during the year 2003-04 to cover 250 new FDAs for treating an area of 1.25 lakh
ha.
- Community
based approach to development
- Activities
to improve the quality of life of the local communities,
- Awareness
raising,
- Drought
management preparedness and mitigation
- R&D
initiatives and interventions which are locally suited.
- Strengthening
self governance leading to empowerment of local communities.
For the Tenth Five Year Plan, it is proposed to initiate activities that
include, among others, assessment and mapping of land degradation, drought
monitoring and early warning system groups, drought preparedness contingency
plans, and on-farm research activities for development of indigenous technology.
The Ministry of Environment and
As an obligation under the Convention the Second National Report on the
implementation of UNCCD has been prepared and submitted to UNCCD Secretariat in
April 2002. India has participated in the Fifth Asia Regional Meeting of
National Focal Points held at Damascus, Syria from 8-12 July 2002 as well as in
the First meeting of the committee to Review Implementation of the Convention
(CRIC-1) held at FAO HQ, Rome, Italy from 11-22 November 2002.
Fig 58. Tribal girls raising bamboo saplings in a nursery at Mukhali near Silent Valley
World Day to Combat Desertification was Celebrated on
Under UNCCD, a Regional Action Programme for Asian countries has been
formulated to strengthen the existing capacity of the parties and to network
each other for effective measures to combat desertification. The following six
Thematic Programme Network (TPN) have been identified for this purpose.
TPN-1 : Desertification
Monitoring & Assessment
TPN-2 : Agro-forestry and
Soil Conservation in Arid, Semi-arid and Dry Sub-humid Areas
TPN-3 : Range and Pasture
Management in arid areas with particular emphasis in controlling and shifting
sand dunes.
TPN-4 : Water Resources
Management for Agriculture in Arid, Semi-arid and Dry Sub-humid Areas
TPN-5 : Drought
Preparedness and Mitigation in the Context of Climate Change
TPN-6 : Strengthening
Planning Capacities for Drought management and Controlling Desertification
Similarly,
To encourage local
communities in tree planting activities, financial assistance to Non-Government
Organisation (NGOs)/Voluntary Agencies (VAs) are continued to be given under
this ongoing scheme.
During the Tenth Five Year
Plan, all project proposals are required to be forwarded by the office of State
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests after thorough scrutiny and appraisal.
On the advice of Planning Commission, during 2003-04, it is proposed to
dove-tail the Grants-in-aid (GIA) scheme with the proposed Greening India scheme
which focuses on quality planting material and improved technology. An amount of
Rs 10.22 crores has been earmarked.
On the basis of findings of evaluation reports, the schemes have been
restructured during Xth Five Year Plan.
In addition to the monitoring carried out by the State Government
agencies, two kinds of monitoring is done at the Central level:-
- The
State Governments are asked to provide Block and Village level afforestation
data annually. This information is kept in the Library of the Parliament as well
as in the Library of Ministry to enable elected representatives ready access to
the data.
- Every
year 10% (approximately 50) districts of the country are selected, with
appropriate regional distribution, for evaluation of the afforestation
activities taken up in the previous year by autonomous
institutions/NGOs/Regional Centres of NAEB/Retired Forests officials. The
evaluation reports are analyzed in NAEB. A copy of the report is sent to the
concerned State Governments and districts for information and for taking
necessary remedial measure. The reports reveal that :
- People’s participation in the
programme is very good.
- There is delays in receipt of
funds by field level agencies.
- Choice of species planted are as
per local conditions
- Under entry point activities,
community assets are created.
The Board has seven Regional Centres (RCs) located in
Universities/National level Institutions (Annexure II). These Centres help NAEB
in promoting extension of replicable technologies and for dissemination of
research findings. They provide technical and extension support to the State
Forest Department in preparing projects for regeneration of degraded forests and
adjoining lands with people’s participation, and also act as a forum for the
exchange of ideas and experiences amongst the States of the region as well
across the regions. In addition, these centers carry out problem-specific
studies as well as evaluation of NAEB’s programmes in the field, and organise
training programmes and workshops.
During the year, the RCs conducted a number of training programmes on
Joint Forest Management (JFM), interactive workshop on forestry programmes,
micro-planning exercise, etc wherein representatives of State Forest Departments
and NGOs participated. The Centres also conducted problem specific studies as
per the request of State Forest Department.
During 2003-04, an amount of Rs. 2.00 crores has been proposed for the
Scheme.
New technologies and methodologies of participatory management,
eco-development and regeneration of degraded forests are being progressively
developed. In order to share such experiences and technologies widely, NAEB
documents such developments and information and brings out publications, makes
films and shares these with State Governments, NGOs and all those concerned with
these issues.
On the eve of World Desertification Day on June 17, an advertisement was
released to generate popular awareness and also on the eve of ‘Van Mahotsav’
for raising tree cover. During 2003-04 an amount of Rs. 1.37 crore has been
proposed for the Scheme.
The National Afforestation & Eco-Development Board takes up special
studies of important issues relating to policy formulation, programme
implementation, etc. The Board also engages special consultants for taking up a
variety of assignments.
During 2003-04, an amount of Rs. 10.00 lakh has been proposed for the
scheme to undertake studies on the areas like eco-development, Joint Forest
Management, employment generation, reorientation of existing programmes etc.
Eco-Task Force is an on-going scheme. Ecological Task Forces (ETFs) of
ex-servicemen are employed in remote and difficult areas to undertake
restoration of degraded ecosystems through afforestation, soil conservation and
water resource management techniques.
The
proposed provision of the scheme for the year 2003-04 is Rs. 10.00 crores for
maintaining the 4 Battalions already raised.