KASHIRAM RANA CALLS FOR BETTER LAND AND WATER CARE
Shri Kashiram Rana,
Minister of Rural Development said that Land and Water Conservation
is the core of all programmes aimed at developing the natural
resource-poor areas not only for sustainable food production and
enhancing the quality of life but also for maintaining the environmental
and ecological balance. Inaugurating National Workshop on Sustainable
Water Resource Management in Chitrakoot today, Shri Rana said
that the total geographical areas of India is 329 million hectares.
Out of this, area under cultivation is about 173 million hectares.
It is estimated that nearly 50 per cent of the geographical area
of the country is either wastelands or degraded land. The Ministry
of Rural Development has been addressing these problems of land
degradation, wastelands and ground water depletion through implementation
of special area development programmes in drought prone areas,
desert areas and wastelands/degraded lands. These programmes aimed
to harvest water in drought prone, desert and rainfed areas through
participation and close involvement of the users communities.
Shri Rana said
following the 73rd and 74th Amendments to
the Constitution of India, the Ministry of Rural Development is
committed to empower Panchayati Raj Institutions. Under 'Hariyali'
all ongoing area development programmes namely, Integrated Wastelands
Development Programme (IWDP) Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP)
and Desert Development Programme (DDP) are implemented through
Panchayati Raj Institutions.
The Minister
further informed that observations made in the evaluation studies
regarding implementation of watershed development projects in
the country have important policy implications. It is necessary
that these efforts are supplemented with suitable crop production
technologies and appropriate follow-up packages. Once soil conservation
and water availability are ensured in the watershed, there is
a tendency to go for crops like paddy with very high water requirement.
This tendency needs to be discouraged and suitable dryland crop
technology package has to be introduced. Shri Rana said efforts
should be made to utilize the low cost local technologies in watershed
development so that post project management becomes easier for
the local community.
Shri Rana hoped
that suitable mechanisms are evolved for judicious utilization
of water resources both over ground and underground as also for
equitable water sharing.
