Union ministry approves DPR to revive Luni river in state
The plan, prepared by Arid Forest Research Institute, will be implemented by the forest department
JODHPUR: The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC) has approved the detailed project report (DPR) prepared for the rejuvenation of Luni River in Rajasthan. The state forest department will implement the scheme.
In a letter sent to the director general of Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) on February 22, the MOEFCC said that the DPR of nine rivers of the country has been approved for rejuvenation through forestry interventions.
The rivers comprise Ravi, Beas, Chenab, Sutlej, Jhelum, Narmada, Krishna and Godavari and Luni. the director general has been asked to direct the concerned states to initiate further action on the DPR.
The Arid Forest Research Institute (AFRI), affiliated to ICFRE, under the centrally-sponsored rejuvenation plan, has prepared the detailed project report to manage bank erosion, support geomorphological functions and maintain ecosystem services of the river.
“The work of rejuvenation of river basins of the country on the lines of Namami Gange project has been initiated by the MOEFCC. The plan will be implemented by the forest department,” said AFRI director Manaram Baloch.
The river is known as Maruganga of Thar Desert in western Rajasthan. It originates from the Naga Hills of the Aravalli Range in Ajmer district of Rajasthan, flows through Nagaur, Pali, Jodhpur, Barmer and Jalore districts, covering a distance of around 511 kms, and disappears in the marshy land of Rann of Kutch in Gujarat. The total catchment area of the Luni river Basin in Rajasthan is 37,363 sq km, which is the second largest river basin of Rajasthan.
“The main goal of this scheme is maintenance of flow and ecosystem services of the river and promotion of the awareness of green civilization,” Baloch added.
Stating the need for a rejuvenation project, project coordinator G Singh said that climatic conditions are indicated by highly variable annual precipitation in this basin ranging from 600 mm in the southeast to almost 300 mm in the northwest. The insufficient amount of moisture causes drought and supports poor vegetation cover.
He said the soil is generally sandy and remains dry throughout the year. In addition to these natural factors, the use of land without considering its capability, overexploitation of vegetation and excessive grazing aggravate the soil erosion on a large scale. “The predominant erosive agent is wind, which causes mass movement of soil throughout the basin areas,” Singh said.
“By its situation in western Rajasthan, this basin is characterised by extreme temperatures, small amount of rainfall, occasional floods, excessive evaporation and strong southwest wind during summer months. These all along with increased air, soil and water pollution make the region vulnerable and the people susceptible to desertification and climatic changes,” he added.
He said that many works will be done under the project. While fulfilling the local requirements, designing the locality and situation based activities of afforestation, reforestation, pasture development for developing green corridor along Luni river and its tributaries and green urban belt in the cities may check blowing of sand particles from the dunes and sandy plains and deposition in the riverbeds, maintain ecological services of the river and help improve urban environment in the basin with overall improvement in social, economic and environmental conditions.
What’s wrong with Luni basin in Rajasthan
About 6% land cover is under forests and these forests are in excessively degraded state. Removal or cuttings of existing trees/vegetation and over-exploitation of village commons followed by increase in soil erosion, sediment transportation, drying up of lakes and other wetlands, loss of surface water sources and lowering of the ground water table cumulatively leading to desertification and loss of soil fertility and productivity in the region. In addition, continuous change in the rainfall pattern, increasing pressure of ever increasing human and livestock populations has led to a decline in vegetation cover throughout the region.
Hundreds of textile and other industrial manufacturing locations dump their effluents into dry Luni and its tributaries as Bandi river by Pali city and Jojari river by Jodhpur city making their water even saltier. A recent study of Bandi river draining itself to the Luni, reveals low water quality due to excessive discharge of effluents from textile industries in Pali. It is reported that the situation of the Luni river basin has been worse due to discharge of industrial effluent containing heavy acidic toxins.