Monday, Apr 19, 2004
THRISSUR, APRIL 18. Kerala can
become a `water power' if social organisations, activists, local
self-Governments and farmers are mobilised in a big way for water conservation
activities such as rainwater harvesting, according to experts.
Participating in a two-day seminar
on water harvesting organised by the Centre for Science and Technology for
Rural Development (Costford) here, they said that by building `rain farms' all
over the State, Kerala could become a water-surplus State.
The seminar, which concluded on
Saturday, has chalked out State-level programmes for scientific management of
water, rainwater harvesting and watershed management.
The seminar recommended the
Government to draft a water policy and form an integrated watershed development
programme with the participation of the three-tier local bodies.
To lead the water conservation
activities, a committee has been formed under the leadership of Costford.
Social organisations and individuals involved in water harvesting and watershed
management activities are members of the committee.
Costford will organise similar
workshops and seminars at various parts of the State to mobilise like-minded
organisations and local groups.
On the second day of the seminar, N.
Saifuddin, professor, Kerala Agricultural University, presented a paper on the
Natural Resources Information System (NRIS) for watershed management. The paper
discussed the use of remote-sensing tools in watershed management. V.A.
Sudhakaran, of Costford presented a paper on technical models of rainwater
harvesting. T.N. Ramadas, former Assistant Director of Agriculture, presented a
paper on rainwater harvesting and watershed management.
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