DM WWF PHOTO AND PRESS NOTE 16-5-2013

 

Villagers of Sikandarpur Patti, Moradabad Pledges to Conserve the Ramganga

Sikandarpur Patti Village becomes the first village of Moradabad to embrace

 Ramganga Conservation Campaign

 

May 16, 2013, Moradabad: Continuing with the block and district level meetings in Moradabad, District Administration along with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-India) organized a village level meeting in Sikandarpur Patti village. The aim of the meeting was to map the threats to the river and the potential strategies to address these. This meeting was inaugurated by Shri Sanjay Kumar, District Magistrate Moradabad.

 “We need people from both urban and rural set-up to come together to bring back life to our Ramganga river. I am glad that Sikanderpur Patti has become the first village of the Moradabad city to participate in Ramganga conservation activities. This village holds potential to inspire other neighboring villages to actively participate in Ramganga’s revival. District Administration feels it is imperative to engage with young adults, villagers, local community members in restoring our Ramganga. The participation only requests for few minutes of your time during the day to talk about the various ways for river’s conservation to others and spread the word in your circle of influence. A small act of banning the use of polythene bags would also immensely help save our Ramganga. For the issues related to receiving guidance in eco-friendly agricultural practices, fish breeding, water borne diseases, and poor quality of ground water, experts for various departments would be deployed  along with seeking  help from WWF-India in finding appropriate solutions. Lets all pledge today that we will become Ramganga Mitras and support the river’s revival!” said Mr. Sanjay Kumar, District Magistrate Moradabad.

 

The Block Development Officer (BDO), Mr. Shailaish Vyas also addressed the meeting.A detailed discussion on the threats was spearheaded by Dr. Sandeep Behera, Associate Director, River Basins & Water Policy, WWF-India. He highlighted that Sikandarpur Patti village is struggling with multiple water related issues, with flooding of the area during monsoons, lack of drinking water, polluted ground water and water borne diseases creating havoc in villagers’ lives. He added, “Village plans need to be based on participatory threat mapping and river conservation strategies need to be integrated into this.”

 

The meeting also saw multiple speakers including the village sarpanch and other villagers of Sikanderpur Patti highlighting the issue of pollutants being carried by Karulla Nala into the river. They pledged and assured their support to District Administration and WWF-India for the planned river’s conservation activities. Mr. Suresh Babu, Director, WWF-India while concluding the meeting added, “In the past, WWF-India has successfully worked with diverse set of stakeholders by inspiring and providing knowledge support (on sustainable water, agriculture and biodiversity conservation) to the Ganga river conservation activities in different villages across Ganga basin and is keen to take forward its expertise in the Ramganga basin. Ramganga for Life, life for Ramganga campaign hopes to reach out to thousands of other villages in the Moradabad district to inspire action towards restoring the Ramganga.”