Minutes of the Sixth Meeting of the Steering Committee on Integrated Watershed Management Programme (Iwmp) Held on 22.09.2009 Un
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
MINUTES OF THE SIXTH MEETING OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE ON INTEGRATED WATERSHED MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME (IWMP) HELD ON 22.09.2009 UNDER THE CHAIRMANSHIP OF SECRETARY (LR) AT NBO BUILDING, NIRMAN BHAVAN, NEW DELHI The 6th meeting of the Steering Committee on Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) was held on 22.09.2009 under the chairmanship of Secretary (LR) at NBO Building, Nirman Bhavan, New Delhi. The list of participants is at Annexure-I. The fifth meeting of the Steering Committee was held on 18.09.2009. The Secretary (LR) welcomed the participants and requested the Programme Officers of the DoLR to present the proposals received from the States to the Committee. The Programme Officers made a presentation on State Perspective & Strategic Plan and Preliminary Project Reports submitted in respect of new projects under IWMP by the SLNAs of Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka . Regarding the presentation on Karnataka, the Programme Officer informed that out of 25940 treatable micro-watersheds in the State, 9172 micro-watersheds have been covered under various watershed schemes. The balance treatable micro-watersheds are 16768 for which the State has prepared a plan to cover these under IWMP during the remaining period of XI Plan and next three Five Year Plans. During 2009-10, the State has proposed to treat 966 micro-watersheds over an area of 4.91 lakh ha against the allocated target of 3.4 lakh ha. During the discussion, the State representative from Karnataka requested the Committee that the central funds under IWMP be released to the District Watershed Development Office (DWDO) instead of placing the funds with ZPs for smooth implementation and monitoring of the programme. The State representative from Andhra Pradesh requested the Committee that the central funds under IWMP be released directly to the District Water Management Agency (DWMA) instead of routing the funds through DRDAs as DWMA which implements the watershed programme in the District, is a registered Society with District Collector as the Chairman. The Chairman suggested that requests from the Chief Secretary of the States to this effect may be forwarded to DoLR for further consideration. Page 1 of 15 Regarding the mandatory certificates, the State representative informed that the authorization letter from the State Govt., for signing all the mandatory certificates would be submitted to DoLR within a week. On the livelihoods issues of Karnataka, the Committee pointed out that value addition to primary produce may be included as an intervention in the proposed project areas. On the expected outcomes from proposed projects, the State representative informed that the single cropping pattern in the project areas is expected to change to double cropping due to resultant increase in moisture retention and moisture availability for a longer duration. Shri Himanshu Kulkarni suggested that the indicators for the outcomes on water quality need clarity and should be in defined units. The State representative informed that this aspect will be kept in view while preparing the DPRs. On the districtwise proposals for Karnataka, the Committee advised that the proposed Chitradurga – II and Tumkur-VII projects should be reframed to make these contiguous with the already treated areas. Further, each of the proposed project may be renumbered according to the priority in the District. Shri Himanshu Kulkarni suggested that the drivers for selection of watershed in a District should also be indicated in Districtwise presentation. The Committee suggested that a State map showing the overall status of watersheds covered and proposed should be included in the presentation. After considering the districtwise proposals, the Committee appraised and approved 119 projects over an area of 491470 ha for the year 2009-10 as proposed by Karnataka. Regarding the presentation on Andhra Pradesh, the Programme Officer informed that out of 26,968 treatable micro-watersheds in the State, 9,518 micro-watersheds have been covered under various watershed schemes. The balance treatable micro-watersheds are 17,450 for which the State has prepared a plan to cover these under IWMP during the remaining period of XI Plan and next three Five Year Plans. During 2009-10, the State has proposed to treat 952 micro-watersheds over an area of 4.75 lakh ha against the allocated target of 4.4 lakh ha. On the issue of Capacity Building the State representative informed that the State is well equipped with its own Capacity Building Centres (District Livelihood Resource Page 2 of 15 Centres & Cluster level Livelihood Resource Centres) manned by trained Course Directors. The Committee suggested that the model of Andhra Pradesh may be studied further for replication in other States. The Committee enquired from the State representative if the State can extend training to other States with Central assistance. The State representative informed that the existing facilities in the State can be utilized for Training of Trainers (ToTs) from other States. The Chairperson requested all State representatives to popularize one-year Diploma course on Watershed Management, being sponsored by DoLR and to be launched by IGNOU in January 2010 among the rural youth so that the skilled manpower is available at the village level. Regarding the livelihood interventions proposed by the State, the Committee suggested that while processing of animal skins and providing a market to the rural targeted population is a good intervention in the tribal areas, the State may also simultaneously make use of animal bones for making handicrafts, bonemeal, etc. Further, the Committee also advised that Information Technology skills should be introduced amongst the rural youth. The State representative informed that the paraworkers in the rural areas are being trained on agriculture and veterinary services and are also being provided with necessary kits for this purpose. Regarding the drinking water problem, it was suggested that the treatment plants for providing safe drinking water to rural population can be set up under EPA in the problem villages. On the districtwise proposals, the Committee pointed out that information on areas of already treated villages within the geohydrological unit proposed as project may also be included. It was pointed out that partly/ fully treated villages should be excluded from the proposed area for treatment. The State representative assured that this information will be submitted to DoLR. After considering the districtwise proposals, the Committee appraised and approved 110 projects over an area of 473441 ha for the year 2009-10, except Anantpur-XII (Dampetla) as the project was planned for treatment during the remaining period of the XI Plan. On the presentation for Himachal Pradesh, The programme Officer informed the Committee that the State had proposed for 293 micro-watersheds over an area of Page 3 of 15 2,41,248 ha against the allocation of 90,000 ha. The State representative informed that the State has indicated the areas covered under the pre-IWMP watershed programmes and areas proposed to be undertaken under IWMP on Block maps as the watershed maps for the State indicating the State Perspective & Strategic Plan are under preparation and these will be submitted to DoLR shortly. During the discussions, the State representative from Himachal Pradesh stated that the fund flow through DRDA is satisfactory and this arrangement may continue for Himachal Pradesh. Regarding the Capacity Building interventions, the Committee suggested that Himachal Pradesh Institute of Public Administration (HIPA) should be included in the list of Capacity Building institutions for the State. Regarding development of cold deserts, the State representative informed that the State would utilize the services of Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE), Manali for this purpose. The Committee agreed to the proposal of the State for enlisting the institutes having expertise in watershed management for providing technical support in DPR preparation. On the livelihood interventions, the health resorts in Palampur area was cited as a possible intervention for upscaling in other such potential areas. On the enquiry regarding the arrangements made for extending the benefits from community property resources (CPRs) to the assetless people, the State representative informed that the State will make conscious efforts to extend the benefits to assetless from CPRs to reduce the gap between farmers and assetless in the project areas. The Committee also suggested to explore the possibility of providing training to rural people in trades like plumbing, knitting, IT, candle making, etc. Dr. Ravi Chopra informed that creation of spring sanctuary is a necessary activity to protect the source of water as the rural population has to depend on natural source of water for drinking purpose for at least 3 to 4 months in a year. The State representative informed that the major focus of the State would be on water harvesting measures like farm ponds, check dams, etc. so that high rainfall areas can benefit from increased storage of water for irrigation and other purposes. Dr. Ravi Chopra suggested that pisciculture can be introduced in such areas to reap added benefits from such interventions. Page 4 of 15 After considering the district wise proposals, the committee agreed in principle to approve all the projects over an area of 2,03,832 ha, except Chamba –II and Chamba-III, proposed by the State which the Committee suggested that these two