 "Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at a Make in India event at BKC in Mumbai on Wednesday, Feb 17, 2016 Picture by Suryakant Niwate")
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has once again decided to try out the time-tested tactic of holding a yatra to promote Narmada conservation.
Earlier last year, he had embarked upon a 'Swabhiman Yatra' or March for Self-respect to convince citizens across the state that it was he who blew the lid off the Vyapam scandal and that he had done everything possible to bring the guilty to book.
The proposed yatra, named as Narmada Sewa yatra will roll from November 11 to 8 March 2017 covering a distance of 2,930-kilometre distance and substantial swathes of the state.
"The Chief minister will start his Yatra on November 11, the object is to conserve of Narmada by motivating people that the mighty river has persistently contributed to the state economy and its culture, which is why everyone should conserve it. The Yatra is an endeavour to scale up efforts in conserving the river which is main artery of the state," Ashok Barnwal, principal secretary to chief minister told BS, "It would promote and encourage people how to conserve the river by checking pollution, planning more trees, cleanliness and adopting organic farming particularly in those areas contiguous to the river banks." The key activity during the proposed yatra will be identifying source of pollution to the river and plantation on either sides of the river.
A website on the proposed 'Narmada Sewa Yatra' has also been launched with an appeal to attract commoners to join the yatra.
"Anyone, after registering on the designated website, can join the yatra, wherever and whenever he likes during the schedule. A core group consisting of fifty experts from various strata will also join Yatra. They will include members of non-government organization, river conservationists, environmentalists, agriculture and forest experts," another officials in the state government said.
The villagers, settled on the banks of the river, will host choupal, meetings to highlight cultural and religious importance of the river in daily-life of the local people. "State would also incorporate suggestions of local villagers to conserve the river," the official said.
On financial front state is arranging funds on clean Narmada drive under National River Conservation Plan through its Urban Development department. The plan envisages sewage management in towns developed nearby Narmada river and its tributaries. Also the plan seeks to augmenting water supply in these towns.
As many as 54 towns are settled near Narmada river banks and need nearly Rs 1,350 crore for necessary sewerage or waste management. The plan, which has yet to come out of drawing board, is to cover 24 towns developed on a 10-km strip on the either side of the river while the second phase was to cover 30 towns of 50 km stretch.
State has so far received an assurance for a fund of 116 million US dollar from World Bank and 50 Million Euro from KfW Bank, Germany. The KfW is a German government-owned development bank based at Frankfurt. The Central government would also fund at 50 percent of grant under Amrut (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) towns.
The first phase of the plan will augment water supply in Sewda, Burhanpur and Khargone towns while sewage management will be undertaken in Maheshwar, Shajapur, Chhindwara, Mandsaur and Nasrullaganj towns.
In second phase, water supply augmentation project will be introduced in Morena, Bada-Malhara, Alot and Patera towns, while sewage treatment plants will be set up in towns of Dindori, Amarkantak, Budni, Shahganj, Bhedaghat, Mandleshwar, Omkareshwar, Katni, Singrauli, Shahdol, Chitrakoot (settled at Mandakini river), Nemawar and Dharampuri towns.
The project cost under World Bank would reach Rs 1,330 crore approximately. Earlier after investing some fund in creating infrastructure in few towns, Madhya Pradesh government had sought funds for Narmada conservation under National River Conservation Plan.
The Narmada river flows westward covering a distance of 1,312 kilometres. It rises near Amarkantak range of mountains and is the 5th largest river in the country that traverses Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat and drains into Gulf of Khambat.
Yatras have been key tactic to the BJP's rise. In 1990 party' s patriarch LK Adwani embarked upon a Rathyatra to support construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya. Prime minister Narendra Modi, when he was Gujarat Chief minister, also emulated the same through his Gaurav Yatra in 2002 to restore "pride of Gujarati people." In 2012 he organised another "Vivekananda ViKas Yatra" to walk across Gujarat.
