5
Conservation of
Water Bodies
Annual Report 2006-2007
National River Conservation Directorate
✦
The National River Conservation Directorate
(NRCD), functioning under the Ministry is
engaged in implementing the River and Lake Action ✦
Plans under the National Lake Conservation Plan
(NLCP) and National River Conservation Plan ✦
(NRCP) by providing assistance to the State
Governments.
✦
National River Conservation Plan (NRCP)
Objectives
The objectives of NRCP are to improve the
water quality of the rivers, which are the major fresh
✦
water sources in the country, through the
implementation of pollution abatement schemes to
the level of designated best use. So far a total of 34 ✦
rivers have been covered under the programme.
These are:
Interception and diversion works to capture
the raw sewage flowing into the river through
open drains and divert them for treatment.
Setting up Sewage Treatment Plants for
treating the diverted sewage.
Construction of Low Cost sanitation toilets
to prevent open defecation on river banks.
Construction of Electric Crematoria and
Improved Wood Crematoria to conserve the
use of wood and help in ensuring proper
cremation of bodies brought to the burning
ghats.
5
River Front Development works such as
improvement of bathing ghats.
Afforestation and Public Awareness and
Participation.
The present approved cost of NRCP projects
as a whole stands at Rs. 4736 crore covering
pollution abatement works in 160 towns along
polluted stretches of 34 rivers spread over 20 States.
The river-wise details of all the 160 towns of NRCP
are given at Annexure-V. Some of the important
programmes are detailed below.
S. No River
S. No River
1.
Adyar
2.
Betwa
3.
Bhadra
4.
Brahmani
5.
Cauvery
6.
Cooum
7.
Chambal
8.
Damodar
9.
Dhipu & Dhansiri 10.
Ganga
11.
Godavari
12.
Gomati
13.
Khan
14.
Krishna
15.
Kshipra
16.
Mahanadi
17.
Mandovi
18.
Mahananda
19.
Musi
20.
Narmada
21.
Pennar
22.
Pamba
23.
Rani Chu
24.
Sabarmati
The first River Action Plan, taken up under
the NRCD was the Ganga Action Plan. A sewage
treatment capacity of 865 MLD under Phase-I has
been created under the programme at an
expenditure of about Rs. 452 crore. Additional
works are also being taken up in 60 towns
(including river Mahananda approved from the
savings of West Bengal along the main stem of river
Ganga at an approved cost of Rs. 652.89 crore.
25.
Satluj
26.
Subarnarekha
Yamuna Action Plan
27.
Tapti
28.
Tunga
Activities undertaken and Progress
Ganga Action Plan
Government of India through the Ministry
29.
Tungabadra
30.
Tamrabarani have received financial assistance of Yen 13.33
billion from the Japan Bank for International
31.
Vaigai
32.
Vennar
Cooperation (JBIC) for implementation of Yamuna
33.
Wainganga
34.
Yamuna
Action Plan (YAP) Phase II, which is part of the
The important works being taken up under National River Conservation Plan (NRCP).
The project has been approved at an estimated
the NRCP include:
119
Ministry of Environment & Forests
Fig 49. Sewage Treatment Plant at Chandan Nagar,
West Bengal
Phase-II at Lucknow is Rs.263.04 crore. The project
cost is to be shared in the ratio of 70:30 between
Government of India and State Government. The
works in this phase will include two sewage
treatment plants of a total capacity of 375 MLD
(over and above the 42 MLD capacity being set up
in the first phase), interception & diversion works
of sewage of the remaining drains and other
miscellaneous items such as river front
development, toilets, plantation, public awareness
and participation, and acquisition of land. Out of
30 Projects works on 24 projects have been taken
up.
cost of Rs. 624 crore for abatement of pollution of Other River Action Plans
river Yamuna in Delhi, UP (nine towns) and
Pollution abatement works are also being
Haryana (eight towns) under YAP-II. Works have taken up in 64 towns along 29 other rivers in 14
started since December 01, 2004.
States.
The cost of works under YAP-II is to be
Out of 344 projects of pollution abatement
shared between Government of India and State sanctioned so far, 202 projects have been completed.
Governments in the ratio of 85:15 i.e. Rs. 530 crore About 3154 million litres per day (MLD) of sewage
Central share and Rs. 94 crore State’s share.
is targeted to be intercepted, diverted and treated.
The main components to be implemented A total of 950 mld sewage treatment capacity has
been created.
under the project are:
Delhi
—
STP (135 mld capacity new and
324 mld capacity rehabilitation)
Rehabilitation/replacement of
trunk sewers (30.82 kms)
UP
—
STP (54 mld capacity new)
Sewer lines (70.57 kms)
Rising Main (5.25 kms)
Haryana —
Details of Projects Approved/Completed
Details of projects completed between April
1, 2006 and September 30, 2006 are given in
Annexure-IV. The list of projects sanctioned
between April 1, 2006 and October 31, 2006 are
given in Annexure-III. It was targeted to create 252
mld capacity through commissioning of Sewage
Treatment Plants (STPs) during the year 2006-07.
Sewer lines (73 kms) and
improvements in efficiencies of
existing STPs.
YAP-II project also includes preparation of
DPRs for projects in the three States which are
proposed to be undertaken under YAP-III with
JBIC assistance. Emphasis has also been given on
public participation, capacity building etc. in order
to ensure better utilisation of assets and long term
sustainability of the project.
Gomti Action Plan
The sanctioned cost of Gomti Action Plan,
120
Fig 50. Millenium Park – River front development,
Kolkata
Annual Report 2006-2007
Water Quality Management Plan for River Ganga number of monitoring stations presently are 158
in 10 rivers which include 27 stations set up in the
The water quality of river Ganga is being
monitored at 27 locations from Rishikesh in upper reaches of Ganga and 32 stations of Chennai
Uttarakhand to Uluberia in West Bengal by Waterways.
institutions such as Pollution Control Research
Institute (Hardwar), CPCB Zonal Office Lucknow,
Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, Patna
University and Bidhan Chandra Krishi
Vishwavidyalaya, Kalyani. As a result of the projects
completed under GAP Phase-I, the water quality
of river Ganga shows a general improvement. The
summer average values of two important river water
quality parameters viz. Dissolved Oxygen (DO) and
Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) for some of
the important monitoring stations on river Ganga
is given in Table-15.
National Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP)
Introduction and Objectives
Government of India under National Lake
Conservation Plan (NLCP) approved a programme
for conservation and management of polluted lakes
in May 2001. The objective of the scheme is to
restore and conserve polluted and degraded lakes
and other similar bodies namely tanks/talabs etc.
The implementation of NLCP results in
improvement of lake ecology and add to the
aesthetic and tourism value. The beneficiaries of
the scheme are the State Governments, local bodies
and the local population.
5
The water quality monitoring has also been
undertaken for rivers namely, Yamuna, Western
So far works on 42 lakes have been taken up
Yamuna Canal, Gomti, Hindon, Satluj (Punjab),
Cauvery (Tamil Nadu), Tunga, Bhadra, Tungbhadra in 12 States at an estimated cost of Rs.508 crore.
in Karnataka and Waterways of Chennai. The During the year, four lakes namely, Kundawada
Table-15. Summer Average Values for Water Quality on Main Stem of River Ganga under
Ganga Action Plan
Station Name
Distance
in Km
Dissolved Oxygen*
(mg/l)
1986
2006
Rishikesh
Hardwar D/S
Garhmukteshwar
Kannauj U/S
Kannauj D/S
Kanpur U/S
Kanpur D/S
Allahabad U/S
Allahabad D/S
Varanasi U/S
Varanasi D/S
Patna U/S
Patna D/S
Rajmahal
Palta
Uluberia
0
30
175
430
433
530
548
733
743
908
916
1188
1198
1508
2050
2500
8.1
8.1
7.8
7.2
NA
7.2
6.7
6.4
6.6
5.6
5.9
8.4
8.1
7.8
NA
NA
8.3
8.1
7.7
7.4
6.5
6.2
3.9
7.1
8.5
8.7
8.7
7.4
8.1
7.2
7.0
6.5
Biochemical Oxygen Demand*
(mg/l)
1986
2006
1.7
1.8
2.2
5.5
NA
7.2
8.6
11.4
15.5
10.1
10.6
2.0
2.2
1.8
NA
NA
1.0
1.3
2.1
1.1
4.2
6.8
6.8
4.9
3.2
2.1
2.3
2.1
2.3
2.0
2.6
2.6
*
Mean value for the months of March to June when the temperatures are high and flows are low.
NA — Data not available, U/S — Upstream, D/S — Downstream, mg/l — milligram per litre
121
Ministry of Environment & Forests
on thrust areas of research. This scheme is dealt by
Conservation and Survey Division of the Ministry.
Activities Undertaken
Fig 51. Changu Lake (Tsomgo Lake) at Sikkim
Lake(Karnataka), Rani Talab(Madhya Pradesh),
Kote Tavarekere (Karnataka), Rankala Lake
(Maharashtra), with an approved cost of Rs.19.02
Crore have been included in the programme.
The main activities under the Programme are
data collection and survey, identification of
problems, mapping of wetlands, landscape
planning, hydrology, control of encroachments,
eutrophication and abatement, aquatic weed
control, wildlife conservation, fisheries
development, environmental awareness and
research on various aspects of wetland processes and
functioning and organization of workshops and
training programmes
Progress and Achievements made during the year
Progress and Achievements made under the
programme is as follows:
✦
Financial assistance released for the
conservation of the identified wetlands.
Introduction and Objectives
✦
The scheme on conservation and
management of wetlands was initiated in 1987 with
the following objectives:-
Identification of new wetlands under this
Programme.
✦
Capacity building exercises in terms of
workshops/training programmes organized.
✦
to lay down policy guidelines for
implementing programs of conservation and
management of wetlands in the country,
✦
Terms of References in terms of evaluation
of on-going schemes, under operation for
more than five years.
✦
to undertake priority wetlands for intensive ✦
conservation measures,
Draft report on regulatory framework in the
country for wetland conservation.
✦
to monitor implementation of the ✦
Programme of conservation, management
and research, and
✦
to prepare an inventory of Indian wetlands.
Number of wetlands under Wetland
Conservation Programme increased from 71
in 2005 to 94 in 2006 increasing the
involvement of States from 22 to 24.
National Wetland Conservation Programme
With the above objectives, a National
Committee on Wetlands was constituted. Based on
the recommendations of the National Committee
on Wetlands in different meetings, 94 wetlands have
been identified so far for conservation under
National Wetland Conservation Programme
(Annexure-VI A). The National Committee also
reviews and monitors the progress of activities under
the scheme. A Research sub-committee on
Wetlands has also been constituted to identify more
wetlands of national importance and to supplement
management action plan for intensive conservation
122
Fig 52. Renuka wetland, Himachal Pradesh
Annual Report 2006-2007
✦
Guidelines for the preparation of
comprehensive management action plans for
identified wetlands have been formulated for
the use of user agencies.
✦
Management Action Plans have been
prepared for 40 wetlands.
✦
During the year, Management Action Plans
in case of 16 wetlands have been approved
and financial assistance sanctioned. New cases
of 23 more M.A.Ps. for newly identified
wetlands are under process.
✦
Four more research projects have been
approved to supplement management action
plans of identified wetlands in the country.
✦
Twelve regional workshops held in various
parts of the country to sensitize people about
values and functions of wetlands.
✦
A National Training Programme for
Integrated Water Resource Management &
Wetland Conservation has been organized
from August 7-11, 2006 by Chilika Training
Authority with the financial support from
Ministry. More training programmes are
proposed to be organized at different regions
of the country are in pipeline.
✦
Terms of Reference have been made for
independent evaluation of wetlands of
national importance.
✦
National Environment Policy talks about
setting up of a legally enforceable regulatory
mechanism for identified valuable wetlands
Fig 53. Panyong tsar wetland/lake, J&K (Ladakh)
to prevent their degradation and enhance
their conservation, formulate conservation
and prudent use strategies for community
participation, eco-tourism, integrated wetland
conservation including conservation of village
ponds and tanks into sectoral development
plans for poverty alleviation and livelihood
improvement. Several legislations in this
regard have been enacted which have
relevance to wetland conservation. These
include Forest Act, 1927, Forest Conservation
Act, 1980, the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972,
the Water (Prevention & Control of
Pollution) Act, 1974, the Water (Prevention
& Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977 and
the Umbrella provision of Environment
(Protection) Act, 1986.
✧ Notification declaring the coastal
stretches of seas, bays, estuaries, creeks,
rivers and back waters which are
influenced by tidal action in the
landward side upto 500 meters from the
high tide line and the land between the
low tide line and the high tide line as
the Coastal Regulation Zone
Notification, 1991 under the provision
of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
This proposes graded restriction on
setting up and expansion of industries,
operations and processes including
pressures from human activities.
Environment (Protection) Act also
specifies protection of ecologically
fragile areas which includes number of
wetlands including Ramsar sites for
notification.
✧ Since there is no legal framework
exclusively for wetland conservation in
the country, an attempt is now being
made to set up a Regulatory Framework
for wetlands on the basis of their
weightage and categorization where
regulation could be held at Central/
State/local levels in the country. So far,
nine meetings to discuss Regulatory
Frameworks for Wetlands have been
held in the Ministry. Various parameters
5
123
Ministry of Environment & Forests
are being evolved for regulations of
several activities at different levels. Draft
notification has been prepared and is
under finalization.
✦
India has been nominated on Board of
Directors of Wetland International and on
request from India, meeting of Board of
Directors of Wetland International was held
in New Delhi at Manesar during 19-20
October, 2005. About 23 countries
participated. India chaired one of the sessions
and efforts made by India in Wetland
conservation were highly applauded by all the
participating countries.
✦
India also participated in the panel discussions
of CoP-9 meeting, jointly organized by
Wetland International, IUCN, Bird
International, WWF, etc. During these panel
discussions, India stressed the need to
monitor Ramsar sites already declared and
review their ecological status instead of adding
more to the list. Stress was also laid on
involving participation of the communities
in the conservation process and find ways to
upgrade livelihood of people living around
wetlands. Role of environmental awareness
was also stressed upon.
✦
India also chaired a session on Himalayan
initiative jointly organized by Ramsar
Secretariat and other Asian countries.
✦
India organized a capacity building workshop
on High altitude wetlands in Himalayas at
New Delhi during June, 2006.
✦
India participated in the meeting of Boards
of Directors of Wetland International during
November, 2006.
✦
Four research projects were recommended
during the year.
Ramsar Convention
The achievements under Ramsar Convention
are as follows:
✦ Six monographs on Ramsar Sites in
collaboration with WWF India and 19 fact
sheets on 10 Ramsar sites have been published
for use of user agencies.
✦ India is also a member of Convention on
Climate Change, Biodiversity, Migratory
Species, World Heritage and inter-linkages
among these Conventions are frequently
discussed in the inter-Ministerial and intraMinisterial meetings to develop
comprehensive plans on actions for their
implementation.
✦ The Memorandum of Understanding has
been signed by India with Iran, Kazakhstan,
Pakistan and Russian Federation for
conservation of Siberian cranes. Action has
also been initiated for conservation of marine
turtles. Project Elephant and Project Tiger are
also under operation for conservation of these
species.
✦ Twelve regional workshops on Wetlands were
organized in different regions of the country
on various aspects related to wetland
conservation and management under capacity
building exercise.
✦ Twenty five sites have already been designated
as Ramsar sites in India till date (AnnexureVI B).
Table-16. Comparison of progress in compared to previous year
S. No
Name of Items /activities
Previous year
2006-07
1
2
3
4
No of identified wetlands
No of new entrant states
Budget allocated
Organization workshops and
training programmes
Research projects sanctioned
MAPs sanctioned
71 wetlands
22 states
6.70 cores
94 wetlands
24 States
7.70 crores
10 Nos
44 Nos
32 MAPs
12 Nos
48 Nos
40 MAPs
5
6
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