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Rajasthan plan to boost water recharge

By Our Special Correspondent

JAIPUR, NOV. 21. In an attempt to increase water recharge in land, the Rajasthan Government has formulated an action plan to remove hurdles such as constructions, encroachments and mining in the catchment areas of ponds, pools and other water sources.

The action plan has been devised on the recommendation of an expert committee on the subject constituted by the Rajasthan High Court during the hearing of a writ petition recently. Various departments of the State Government were given the responsibility to identify the problems in the catchment areas at a high-level meeting here early this week.

An official release issued here stated that the officials of the Irrigation, Mines, Revenue and other departments were given separate tasks to ensure success of the action plan. The responsibility of identifying the catchment areas and their demarcation has been assigned to the State Remote Sensing Application Centre, Jodhpur, and the Irrigation Department.

The Irrigation Department will also prepare a scheme for demarcation of drainage channels. It was suggested during the meeting that no construction activity be allowed on the irrigation land owned by farmers. If a farmer is willing to take another piece of land in lieu of the farm, the exchange may be permitted.

Engineers will inspect the catchment areas falling under village panchayats and in the urban localities with the cooperation of Patwaris. The Irrigation Department has been instructed to issue no-objection certificates after full investigation of the land so that the catchment areas are not affected.

The release said the NOCs in the catchment areas would not be issued for any date after August 2, 2004. The local self-Government bodies have been asked to construct channels adjacent to the water bodies to ensure permanent flow of water into them. They will also conduct regular examination of water quality and take measures for disposal of waste produced in mines and other areas.

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