The stakeholders’ consultation meeting for the preparation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for rejuvenation of Godavari & Krishna Rivers through Forestry Interventions for Telangana State was jointly organised by Institute of Forest Biodiversity (IFB) and Institute of Wood Science & Technology (IWST) in collaboration with the Telangana State Forest Department. The inaugural session started with welcoming of guests by P.H. Chowhaan, Group Co- ordinator Research, IFB Hyderabad. The proceedings began with a song on river Godavari, tracing its path and its current state.
Lokesh Jaiswal, Addl PCCF (CAMPA) and State Nodal Officer for Telangana, delivered the welcome address and informed the audience that nearly 70% of the rivers are affected by drastic fall in discharge parameters and water quality parameters. The initiative of MoEF&CC and ICFRE to rejuvenate nine major river systems of India is timely and need of the hour. Sri Madan Prasad, Director, IWST, Bangalore spoke on the genesis of DPR preparation for rejuvenation of rivers, which had its roots in the Namame Ganga project. He stressed on the need for different interventions for different landscapes. He spoke on the challenges of deforestation, extensive agriculture, urban sewerage and their effect on river health.He informed that a multi-stakeholder
consultative approach is followed to prepare the DPRs for rejuvenation of Godavari and Krishna. He informed about the riverscape approach and GIS based multi-criteria analysis to identify and prioritize areas for forestry interventions. Using the parameters of erosion, slope and land use, Krishna river scape have been categorised into 5 levels. The Director General of EPTRI (Environment Protection and Training Research Institute) suggested that the DPR should include aspects of climate change and effort should be made to update the Bio diversity registers.
Rajeshwar Tiwari, Special Chief Secretary, Environment, Forests Science and Technology, Govt. of Telangana and the Chief Guest for the meeting, stressed on the need for water quality improvement. He said that the DPR should recommend sustainable interventions rather than temporary measures, and it should involve all stakeholders. He, also, said that nature provides for all our needs but not for our greed.
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