Clean Ganga: DPR on forestry intervention on Mar 22

The Detailed Project Report (DPR) on forestry intervention for a Clean Ganga, which envisages extensive plantations in natural, agricultural and urban landscapes as also mass awareness drives to boost efforts for protecting the river, will be released here next week. 

Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Uma Bharti, will release the DPR on March 22. A day-long workshop has also been planned on the matter, which will be attended by Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, an official statement said.

The government had entrusted Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun, to prepare the DPR in April last year aiming to achieve an increase in the river’s water flow.

The FRI submitted the draft DPR to the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)on February 16 this year. The final report, prepared after incorporating suggestions and comments by NMCG and other officials, will now be released by Bharti.

FRI has designed four sets of field data formats to obtain site-based information on proposed forestry plantations in natural, agricultural, and urban landscapes along the river course and other conservation interventions.

More than 8,000 data sheets were obtained from five states along the river course. The institute also developed software to collate, analyse and report generation on potential plantation and treatment models. Extensive plantations in natural, agricultural, and urban landscapes besides conservation interventions such as soil and water conservation, riparian wildlife management, wetland management and supporting activities such as policy and law interventions, concurrent research, monitoring and evaluation, and mass awareness campaigns have been envisioned in the DPR.