People from Ramganga Basin come together to Discuss
Assessment of Environmental Flows for the River
Environment Flows workshop attended by representatives from Badaun, Hardoi, Shajahanpur and Moradabad districts to discuss aspirations of local stakeholders in regard to flows in Ramganga
June 11, 2013, Moradabad: World Wide Fund for Nature- India (WWF-India) organized a workshop on assessing ‘Environmental Flows (also known as E-Flows) for Ramganga’ in the city of Moradabad. The purpose of the workshop was to present the general concept of Environmental Flows, to discuss the role of multiple stakeholders in assessing the E-Flows across the river basin, ascertain aspirations of the local stakeholders in regard to flows in the river and to identify critical locations to be considered for E-Flows assessment in future.
The workshop was inaugurated by the District Magistrate Moradabad, Shri Sanjay Kumar (IAS) who reiterated the need for involving riparian communities in managing the river. Other participants of the workshop included senior Government Officials of the District Administration of Moradabad, including the Chief Development Officer, Shri. Faizal Aftab, Block Development Officer and several other officials of the Uttar Pradesh (UP) Irrigation and Agricultural Department. The workshop also saw active participation by subject experts, senior officials of WWF-India, members of the civil society and local community members from Badaun, Hardoi, and Shajahanpur districts.
E-Flows are defined as the flows required for the maintenance of the ecological integrity of rivers, their associated ecosystems, and the goods and services provided by them and to fulfill the aspirations of the people. With the rapid urbanization, expanding industrialization and increase in agricultural activities in the Ramganga basin, the demand for water has increased manifold. Ecological degradation of Ramganga is also being attributed to the lean flows due to large scale abstractions for irrigation and increasing pollution of the river from multiple sources. This has been impacting the state of aquatic biodiversity present in the river along with the health of the local community members staying across the basin. WWF-India had organized this multi-stakeholder workshop to introduce the concept of E-Flows in the basin, and to discuss aspirations of local stakeholders in regard to flows in Ramganga
“The District Administration of Moradabad is keen on engaging with the local community members in assessing the E-Flows and to work towards devising strategies for the revival of Ramganga river. It is critical to involve local community members in order to increase their awareness regarding the multiple challenges being faced by the river. We need to jointly work towards Ramganga’s restoration. It is also decisive to restore local ponds and lakes to ensure regular recharge of ground water levels, thereby ensuring flows in the river. I am very positive that officials of WWF-India, Government and local community members would work together is a participatory manner to show positive results in the river’s conservation,” added Shri Sanjay Kumar, District Magistrate, Moradabad.
The discussions at the workshop revolved around the proposed usage of Ramganga’s water, local communities’ vision for their river and providing assistance to the key players (senior Government officials) to implement the discussed decisions at the workshop. Shri Ravinder Kumar, retired SWARA official, Dr. Omveer Singh, Deputy Director Agricultural Department and Mr. Pramod Kumar from the Flood Division of UP Irrigation Department addressed the gathering. Mr. Nitin Kaushal from WWF-India presented WWF’s work in E-Flows in the upper Ganga region and highlighted the process involved. WWF – India conducted the E-Flows assessment for Upper Ganga (Gangotri to Kanpur) during 2007 to 2010. It was a holistic/multidisciplinary approach adopted in assessing the E-Flows. As part of Sustainable Water Management under WWF-India’s ‘Rivers for Life’ programme, it has been envisaged that, the E-Flows assessment for the Ramganga will be conducted and WWF-India will initiate E-Flows assessment from September 2014 by engaging Ramganga Mitras who would comprise local community members residing acrpss the basin.
“WWF – India has always believed that, E-Flows assessment is a social as well as technical process. We consider this workshop at the stepping stone for engaging with local community groups in assessing Environment Flows for Ramganga as we strongly believe that the discussion on E-Flows starts from what the stakeholders want their river to be!” added Shri Suresh Babu, Director River Basins & Water Policy, WWF-India.
*WWF-India’s Rivers for Life programme is supported by HSBC Water Programme.
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