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Dimapur, May 25 (EMN): People’s Science Institute (PSI) Dehradun and department of Land Resources (DoLR), Nagaland organised an online workshop on springshed management for Nagaland on Tuesday. Anita Sharma, PSI chairing the online workshop, said that the main objective of the workshop was to emphasise the experiences and challenges faced by various departments and agencies working on the watershed management in Nagaland, a DIPR update informed.
It said that the workshop was also formulate a strategy to address the challenges and take the springshed programme in a mission mode at the state level in collaboration with various stakeholders.
Awi Tsuhah, NIEDA sharing her experience on ‘the impact and challenges from 100 rural villages program on spring revival’ said that groundwater in the form of springs is the lifeline for drinking water security and livelihood in the Himalayan region including Nagaland.
She also said that the rejuvenation and sustainability of spring management was extremely critical as it supports the ecosystem, landscape and the ecological function providing not just water but livelihood security to the people and also conserving biodiversity.
Also highlighting the achievements, she said that the spring treatment intervention programme has been implemented in 104 villages and 303 springs inventorised in 100 villages across Nagaland till date. She also stated that through community mobilisation, social, hydro geological and engineering surveys were completed in 100 villages and spring rejuvenation in 94 villages covering 104 springs were also implemented.
She further stated such programmes have greatly strengthened the local institutions mainly on water governance in a sustainable and equitable way. She also highlighted the various challenges such as technical knowhow, land conflict etc faced by the department in the initial stages of implementing the programmes in the state.
“Springs are the main source of water for millions of people as both rural and urban communities depend on springs for drinking, domestic, livestock, and agricultural water needs. Springs themselves can be considered as ecosystems contributing to a range of provisional, supporting cultural and regulating services,” it read.
“There is increasing evidence that springs are drying up as reports suggest that more than three million perennial springs in the IHR States have either already dried up or become seasonal, resulting in acute water shortages across thousands of Himalayan villages. To address the above concerns, NITI Aayog has identified springshed management as a key thrust area of intervention for the region.
Keynote address was delivered by Secretary, RD Nagaland and PSI’s film on springshed management in IHR was also shown.