Bilaspur district in Chhattisgarh has secured the top rank in the country for revival of rivers and rivulets while Surajpur district has been ranked first in water conservation by the Central government's Water Power Ministry.
The National Water Award would be conferred upon both the districts for conserving and preserving water resources in 2019.
Bilaspur has been selected as the Best District in the country under the East Under Revival of River Category and Surajpur has been picked for the first prize under the East Under Water Conservation category.
These awards would be given away in November.
The government under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, has taken up the task of reviving the rural economy of the state with the vision of ‘Chhattisgarh Ke Chaar Chinhari, Narva, Garua, Ghurva aur Bari, Ela Bachana Hai Sangwari’.
This vision has started to take the shape of reality.
Under Narva Programme, an important part of the Chhattisgarh government’s Suraaji Gaon Yojana, a large number of rivers and rivulets across all districts of the state are being revived and conserved.
Results of this programme are visible as better drinking water availability, development of irrigation resources and groundwater recharge have led to the overall revival of rural economy.
A total of 47 structures have been built on various rivers and rivulets in Bilaspur and water storage capacity of 17.508 million sq meter has been developed.
In addition, 49 small water reservoir schemes are being constructed, which will further expand the water storage capacity by 48.53 million sq meter.
The total length of the 13 main rivers, rivulets and local drains in Bilaspur district is 2,352.56 km, on which the Water Resources Department has constructed one large, one medium and 165 small reservoirs and 117 anicut.
Likewise, in Surajpur district, Dabri Maha Abhiyan was conducted to improve groundwater table and for water conservation. About 7,000 Dabri and 4,200 wells have been built in the last two years. As a result, nearly 18,000 acres of land was irrigated and farmers started taking crops twice a year.
The work of reviving small and large drains has also been started.
