Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 28 Oct: The State Level Executive Committee (SLEC) of the Spring and River Rejuvenation Authority (SARRA) held its fourth significant meeting today, which was chaired by Secretary, Watershed Management, and Chief Executive Officer, SARRA, Dilip Jawalkar. During the meeting, the committee approved three action plans with a total financial outlay of Rs 3.82 crores to strengthen water conservation and river restoration across Uttarakhand.
Among the sanctioned projects, a major allocation of Rs 2.07 crores has been approved for groundwater aquifer recharge in the districts of Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar. Additionally, a project worth at Rs 1.74 crores has been sanctioned for the rejuvenation of the Chandrabhaga River in Chamoli district under the scheme for the restoration of rain-fed rivers.
During the meeting, several key instructions were issued by Secretary Jawalkar to accelerate implementation and ensure effective coordination. Jawalkar emphasised the need for immediate submission of documentation from all district-level events held during the state’s Silver Jubilee celebrations. The departments have been directed to strengthen inter-departmental coordination among agencies involved in river rejuvenation and water resource management to ensure cohesive execution.
Jawalkar also directed that regular meetings of SARRA committees at the district level must be convened, and the outcomes should be compiled into proposals for presentation in the next SLEC meeting. He also stressed on the importance of involving local communities in all water conservation efforts and instructed the prompt formation of Dhara-Naula Protection Committees at the Gram Panchayat level for on-ground supervision and monitoring.
In this regard, each district has been directed to prepare its watershed-based Action Plan following the principle of ‘One District, One River,’ to maximise rainwater harvesting, conservation, and augmentation. The secretary also instructed that technical teams from the executing line departments associated with SARRA be trained to ensure the scientific and effective implementation of the projects. He called for the immediate identification and mapping of traditional dharas (springs) and naulas (reservoirs), which form part of the State’s invaluable water heritage, for their systematic revival.
Further, Jawalkar directed the organisation of specialised training programmes for para-hydrologists at the village level within watershed areas of approved projects to build local capacity in sustainable water management. Emphasis was also laid on capacity building and workshops to enhance public participation in all rejuvenation efforts.
During the session, Additional Chief Executive Officer, Kahkashan Naseem, presented detailed action plans exceeding Rs 1 crore and highlighted the necessity of collaborative work among line departments. She stressed that all departments should focus on a single watershed area to ensure the long-term rejuvenation of that particular region
