Communities of Mon village participating in construction of recharge structures to revive their springs under the supervision of the Para-Hydrogeologists. (Photo Courtesy: NEIDA)
Kohima, October 30 (MExN): Nagaland being a mountainous state a majority of the population depends on springs for domestic as well as for irrigation purposes. In the recent past there have been reports of springs drying up in many parts of the state.
One of the key objectives of the partners under the multi-stakeholder initiative is to develop a spring rejuvenation model that can be scaled up across the state. Under the spring rejuvenation initiative that aims to revive 100 springs in 11 districts across the State, springshed recharge activities have been initiated in phase two villages.
A press release issued by the North East Initiative Development Agency (NEIDA) stated that under phase 1 a total of 36 springshed recharge activities have been completed which comprises of digging of trenches and recharge ponds, construction of gabion structures and plantation activitiesalong with regular rainfall and spring discharge data collection.
Plantations and constructing such structures minimize the rainwater run off so that groundwater can be rechargedand at the same time increase soil moisture content. This is also expected to control soil erosion.
A total of approximately 50 hectares have been treated so far. Prior to this a team led by para-hydrogeologist from the Land Resources Department along with the participating village communities and Rural Development Department officials carried out hydro-geological surveys in 100 villages to identify the area where rainwater percolates to recharge the spring aquifers.
“This initiative is a collaborative action by Land Resources and Rural Development Departments, the North East Initiative Development Agency (NEIDA) and Tata Trusts,” the release added.
