benefit-cost ratio should offer new prospect and opportunity in watershed management . To realize this , low cost technologies which may involve local materials , labour at practically no cost , technologies which are traditional and time tested should be employed to generate more benefits spread over the entire watershed among all the stakeholders .
( e ) Formation of vibrant watershed community with all sections of people ’ s participation beyond the project implementation stage to ensure sustainable watershed management should be a top priority . Only this can ensure progress on a sustained basis overcoming the hydro-geological , socio-political and other uncertainties .
( f ) Many successful watershed management programs -especially in India , have been implemented on a small scale in a few villages by collaborated efforts among the government departments , non-governmental organizations ( NGOs ) and research organizations . They represent sporadic BMPs . Hence there is a need to scale up the watershed management activities over large areas which could include remote and / or difficult terrains , so that many problems affecting our agricultural , rural and forest sectors can be effectively addressed .
Newsletter No . 65 ; IRBMS ( g ) Since there have been no or very few institutions built for research & development on collective management of watersheds , there is a need to build centers of advanced learning employing the modern tools of remote sensing , geographic information systems , decision support systems , computer based planning tools , poverty & socio-economic analysis etc .
( h ) There is a need to preserve and improve common pool resources ( CPRs ) of land , water , fodder , forest , fisheries , wild life and agriculture which significantly contribute towards people ’ s livelihood especially in the rural areas .
( i ) There is a need to minimize migration to urban areas by creating opportunities in agriculture , natural disasters like floods / droughts , forest / mountain economies and by arresting fall in agricultural prices , gap in urban / rural wages , gaps in urban / rural employment opportunities .
At the time when India is facing severe water crisis River basin based watershed management is the only way to overcome this crisis as the total rainfall quantity across India has not changed much all the rainfall pattern has changed .
Editor- Sujit Choudhury , Published by Girija Sankar Chattopadhay , IRBMS , assisted by Nilshikha Das (© Integrated River Basin Management Society )
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Integrated River Basin Management Society