ACTION PLAN FOR REJUVENATION OF DAMODAR RIVER IN JHARKHAND JHARKHAND STATE POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD, DHURWA, RANCHI, JHARKHAND-834004 CONTENT CHAPTER I ❖ BACKGROUND ❖ INTRODUCTION ❖ PHYSIOGRAPHY ❖ WATER RESOURCES & RAINFALL ❖ ANNUAL RAINFALL ❖ DEVIATION OF RAINFALL ❖ SEASONAL RAINFALL ❖ RAINFALL TREND IN RABI SEASON ❖ AVERAGE MOTHLY RAINFALL ❖ MOVING AVERAGE OF THE RAINFALL ❖ EXTREME EVENT ANALYSIS ❖ SURFACE WATER RESOURCES ❖ GROUND WATER RESOURCES ❖ DRAINAGE SYSTEM AND MAPS CHAPTER II DAMODAR RIVER BASIN RIVER COURSE AND MAJOR TRIBUTARIES CHAPTER III- SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE ❖ WATER RESOURCES AND ITS USES ❖ MINING AND INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITIES ❖ NATURAL AND ANTHROPOGENIC HAZARDS ❖ IDENTIFIED STRETCHES FOR REDUCING POLLUTION CHAPTER IV- ACTION PLAN ❖ ACTION PLAN- SHORT TERM AND LONG TERM ACTION AND THE IDENTIFIED AUTHORITIES FOR INITIATING ACTIONS AND THE TIME LIMITS FOR ENSURING COMPLIANCE ❖ SHORT TERM AND LONG TERM ACTION PLANS FOR REJUVENATION OF RIVERS AND THE IMPLEMENTING AGENCIES RESPONSIBLE FOR EXECUTION OF THE ACTION PLANS AND THE TIME LIMITS ARE GIVEN IN TABLE AS BELOW ❖ PROPOSED ACTION PLAN BY VARIOUS DEPARTMENT OF GOVT. OF JHARKHAND ❖ PROPOSED ACTION PLAN FOR RESTORATION OF JHARKHAND RIVERS ❖ ACTION PLAN AT VILLAGE LEVEL ❖ TIMELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF MODEL RESTORATION PLAN in 2019- 2020 and 2020-2021 Chapter-1 JHARKHAND & ITS WATER RESOURCES 1.1 BACKGROUND:-Hon’ble National Green Tribunal passed the following orders in OA No. 673/2018 & M.A. No. 1777/2018 titled News item published in “The Hindu “authored by Shri Jacob Koshy titled “More river stretches are now critically polluted: CPCB on 20.09.2018 as per excerpts below. “The issue taken up for consideration in this matter is abatement of pollution in 351 river stretches in the country, identified as such by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The said river stretches 2 are not meeting the prescribed standards of the water quality in terms of Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD). Existence of polluted river stretches is evidence to show that the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) have failed to perform their statutory obligation to take appropriate action to achieve the objects of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. Having regard to the importance of the issue and in the light of judgments of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in M.C. Mehta Vs. Union of India & Ors.1, M.C. Mehta Vs. Union of India And Ors.2 (Calcutta Tanneries' Matter), Vellore Citizen’ Welfare Forum Vs. Union of India3, S. Jagannath Vs. Union of India & Ors.4, And Quiet Flows The Maily Yamuna5, Tirupur Dyeing Factory Owners Association Vs. Noyyal River Ayacutdars Protection Association & Ors.6 and TechiTagi Tara Vs. Rajendra Singh Bhandari & Ors.7 and of this Tribunal in Manoj Mishra Vs. Union of India8, M.C. Mehta Vs. Union of India9, Mahendra Pandey Vs. Union of India &Ors.10, Sobha Singh & Ors. Vs. State of Punjab & Ors. 11, Nityanand Mishra Vs. State of M.P. & Ors12, Stench Grips Mansa’s Sacred Ghaggar River (Suo-Moto Case)13, Doaba Paryavaran Samiti Vs. State of U.P. & Ors.14, Arvind Pundalik Mhatre Vs. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change & Ors.15, Meera Shukla Vs. Municipal Corporation, Gorakhpur & Ors.16, Amresh Singh Vs. Union of India & Ors.17, Sudarsan Das Vs. State of West Bengal & Ors.18, Satish Kumar vs. U.O.I & Ors.19, this Tribunal noted 1 (1987) 4 SCC 463 ¶14 & (1988) 1 SCC 471 2 (1997) 2 SSC 411 3 (1996) 5 SSC 647 4 (1997) 2 SCC 87 5 (2009) 17 SSC 720 6 (2009) 9 SSC 737 7 (2018) 11 SCC 734 8 O.A. No. 6/2012, 2015 ALL(I) NGT REPORTER (1) (DELHI) 139 9 O.A No. 200 of 2014, 2017 NGTR (3) PB 1 10 O.A. No. 58/2017 11 O.A.No. 101/2014 12 O.A. No. 456/2018 13 O.A. No. 138/2016 (TNHRC) 14 O.A. No. 231/2014 15 O.A. No. 125/2018 16 O.A. No. 116/2014 17 Execution Application No. 32/2016 in O.A. No. 295/2016 18 O.A.No. 173 of 2018 19 O.A No. 56 (THC) of 2013 3 the need for steps to check discharge of untreated sewage and effluents, plastic waste, e-waste, bio-medical waste, municipal solid waste, diversion of river waters, encroachments of catchment areas and floodplains, over drawal of groundwater, river bank erosion on account of illegal sand mining. There is need for installation of Effluent Treatment Plants (ETPs), Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs), Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), Solid Waste Treatment and processing facilities etc. It was also noted that BOD was required to be less than 3.0 mg/l, Dissolved Oxygen more than 5.0 mg/l and Faecal Coliform bacteria less than 500 MPN/100 ml” 1.2 Introduction The State of Jharkhand was created as the 28thState of the Indian Union by the Bihar Re-organization Act on 15th November 2000, the birth anniversary of the legendary Bhagwan Birsa Munda. It comprises of the forest tracts of Chhotanagpur plateau and Santhal Paragna. It is bounded by Bihar on the North, Orissa on the South, Chhattisgarh on the west and West Bengal on the East. Topography of the State is mostly undulating, hilly and sloping with mountains, forests, river basins and valleys. It has a rich endowment of forests and mineral resources. It has some of the richest deposits of coal and iron ore in the world. It is the largest producer of coal, copper, kyanite and mica in the country. It is blessed with rich fauna and flora. The State is home to nearly a tenth of the country’s Scheduled Tribes1, who constitute 28% of Jharkhand’s population. Another 12% of the population is from Scheduled Castes. Jharkhand is mostly rural, with 77.77% of the State’s population in villages. The State has 24 districts, 38 sub- divisions, 260 blocks, 4118 panchayats and 32620 villages. For safeguarding and protecting the interest of the Scheduled Tribes and for ensuring equity and social justice in the planned process of development, the State is following Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) approach in 12 districts fully and 2 districts partly, covering 112 blocks. With an area of 79714 km2 which accounts for 2.42% of the country’s area, Jharkhand supports a population of 32.97 million (2011) which constitutes 2.72% of the country’s population. South Bihar, as it was called in the earlier dispensation, is a hill state comprising ethnic groups (tribals), Hos, Mundas, Santhals and others ; The state needs intensive development initiatives. Jharkhand, literally meaning a forested region, is landlocked and is an integral part of the north- eastern portion of the Peninsular Plateaus of India. As part of ancient Gondwanaland, Jharkhand has rock formations ranging from the earliest Archean Era to the latest Post-tertiary period. It is a region 1 The main tribes in Jharkhand are Asur, Birhor, Birjia, Chik Baraik, Korba, Lohara, Mahali, Mal Paharia, Kumarbhag Paharia, Souriya Paharia, Savar, Santal, Oraon, Munda, Ho and Kharia. of diverse physical features consisting of a succession of plateaus, hills and valleys, drained by several large rivers such as Damodar, Barakar, Subarnarekha, Koel, Brahmani, Baitarani and Mahanadi. The northern part of Jharkhand adjoining Bihar broadly comes under the Gangetic river basin. The State has a sub-humid climate with average annual rainfall of 1,350 mm. However, due to high variability of monsoon rains, low moisture holding capacity of soils, absence of developed aquifers due to the hard rock substrate and high run-off due to the undulating terrain, agriculture is fraught with high risks2. Paddy, the principal crop of the State sown over 1.3 mha in 2001-023 had an average yield of only 1.11 ton/ha4. Maize, minor millets and pulses are the other principal crops and together occupy about 25% of the net sown area, with similar low yields. Oilseeds production is negligible. Horticulture and floriculture is undeveloped in spite of a suitable climate. Jharkhand is a mineral rich state, contributing 40% of the nation’s mineral wealth. Yet, it had little impact on local livelihoods outside the industrial enclaves. Even in the most industrialized districts, such as East Singhbhum, Bokaro, Ranchi and Dhanbad, the proportion of main workers engaged in mining and industry is less than 3%. Agriculture remains the principal source of livelihoods for an overwhelming majority of the population. About 48% of the State’s geographical area is cultivable. However, the net sown area is only about 23% (all India 47%) of the geographical area and more than half of the cultivable land remains fallow. Subsidiary farm-based activities like dairy, poultry, etc. generally follow growth in agriculture. These have not developed in the State in spite of increasing demand for the products. The State has a large population of scrub cattle, kept principally for draught power and manure. In the last 13 years, since the creation of the State, the Government has done effective work in extending primary education in the rural areas. Government’s priority to spread road network in the rural areas is very important. Similarly, the health sector also needs serious attention in the rural areas. Health services in rural areas need improvement, the people are traditionally dependent on traditional medicine men. In terms of potential opportunities, some of the considerations which require action to reduce poverty and enhance food security are: 2 As per the categorization by Indian Meteorological Department, Jharkhand figures in the "drought corridor” of the country, which also includes Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh (drought prone districts of Rayalaseema and Telengana regions), West Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh (including Chhatisgarh), Bihar and parts of West Bengal adjoining Jharkhand. 3Planning Commission, ibid.