Maharashtra govt forms SPV to revitalize Waghadi river; Isha's Rally for Rivers to partner

Isha Outreach’s Rally For Rivers will support Maharashtra government to revitalize Waghadi river in Yavatmal and offer ground support to government to implement project. Yavatmal district lies in dry and water-stressed Vidarbha region which has witnessed severe agrarian distress for several years.

In March last year, state government passed a resolution accepting  Isha’s Rally for Rivers' proposal to revive river and allocating funding for project. It will be executed through state government’s existing line departments.  'Waghadi Nadi Punarujjeevan Foundation', Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that will oversee project implementation, was recently registered by  Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

project will be facilitated on ground by a team of 40 full-time Rally for Rivers’ volunteers (Nadi Veeras) who have dedicated three years of ir lives to revive river and bring prosperity and wellbeing to farmer community of Waghadi river basin. volunteers come from different parts of country and apart from mobilizing community support for project, y are involved in a range of diverse supportive activities.

unique partnership project that covers a 54 km stretch of river Waghadi includes several components such as promotion of ecomically and ecologically sustainable agri-horti-forestry model, micro-irrigation, soil and water enhancement, animal husbandry and formation of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs). It aims to t only revive river Waghadi but also fortunes of nearly 9500 farmers in region which is expected to have a positive impact on rural ecomy, farmer welfare, and food and water security of close to 47,000 people in region.

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Long-term, short-term impacts

Waghadi river revitalization project is first project with a multi-sectoral approach to river revitalization which will be implemented with participatory convergence of several State Departments.

Designed as an ecomic solution to an ecological problem, project will establish both long-term and short-term impacts. Short-term impact includes better manment of available natural resources through efficient agricultural practices such as micro-irrigation and partial adoption of n-water intensive crops. It will also establish long term ecomic and ecological impact by promoting plantation of high-value timber and horticulture trees.

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