Narmada Seva Mission has been launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the conservation of Narmada River. The river is lifeline of Indian state Madhya Pradesh.
A road map of steps to be taken for the conservation of river Narmada has been released by PM. The roadmap visualising the Narmada conservation efforts has been taken after consultations with several stakeholders that include river conservation experts, environmentalists, and others.
The Narmada Seva Mission launch event took place at Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh’s Anooppur district. This launch event also marked the conclusion of “Namami Devi Narmade Sewa Yatra”.
What is “Namami Devi Narmade Sewa Yatra” river conservation campaign?
On December 11, 2016, Namami Devi Narmade Sewa Yatra campaign was launched from Amarkantak, the place of origin of the River Narmada. A distance of 3344 km was covered by the yatra, which includes passing through more than 1100 towns and villages and was concluded on May 15, 2017.
The yatra became one of the biggest river conservation campaign of the world with public participation.
About River Narmada:
1. Narmada river originates from Maikal hills, Chhattisgarh and flows 1,312 km before draining through the Gulf of Khambhat into the Arabian Sea.
2. Tapti, Narmada, and Mahi are the three major Indian rivers that flows in the direction, east to west.
3. Narmada provides drinking water to over 4 crore people and is the source of irrigation to almost 17 lakh hectares of land.
4. The river also acts as a source to generate power, more than 2400 megawatts, from hydropower plants situated on the river.
The Indian Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has observed that in three stretches of water quality, Narmada River is not fit for bathing.
Also, Rs 2095.31 crore has been allocated by Madhya Pradesh state government in its 2016-2017 budget estimate for the development of the Narmada valley. Over 700 Narmada seva committees have been registered in the state, with more than 74000 Narmada sevaks to protect the river.
