Revitalization of Rivers in India Draft Policy - Isha Guru Jaggi Vasudev

Revitalization of Rivers In India
Draft Policy Recommendation
been unaccounted for and therefore has become a large contributor
to pollution into rivers. The main agricultural water pollutants
are nitrates, phosphorus, and pesticides. In September 2016, The
Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare signed a Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) with Ministry of Water Resources, Water
Development and Ganga Rejuvenation to promote organic farming
on the banks of river Ganga. Under the Namami Gange project,
organic farming will be developed under the Paramparagat Krishi
Vikas Yojana (PKVY) in clusters in 1657 gram panchayats situated
along the course of river Ganga starting from Uttarakhand to West
Bengal. 8 Similar programs need to be supported on all riverbank
agricultural lands.
• Activities such as housing, religious, commercial and industrial
buildings need to be prohibited and regulated to ensure that river
banks, river bed and floodplains are not encroached upon from now on.
• To avoid the misuse of riverbeds through unsustainable sand mining,
the Sustainable Sand Mining Guidelines issued in 2016 by MoEFCC
should be operationalized. The Ministry had tasked the District
Environment Impact Assessment Authority with monitoring sand
mining. The building and construction regulations can mandate the
use of alternatives to sand for construction work on areas larger than
a prescribed size. Some of the alternatives that have emerged, and
which are being promoted by the Bureau of Indian Standards are
fly ash, slag, waste from steel industry/thermal power plants/clay
brick and tile industry, and quarry dust. Use of manufactured sand or
M-sand should also be promoted. Architects and engineers need to
be trained on the use of these alternatives. 9
Rivers are not bound by political boundaries of states or countries.
It is necessary that when any regulation or legislation regarding rivers is
made, it is done in consultation with the State Governments. There are
many laws and regulations in India that govern water bodies. The most
relevant ones to rivers are as follows:
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