Sot River, as soon as the lifeline of Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, misplaced its pure stream because of a long time of encroachment. Here is how IAS Manish Bansal, together with officers and locals, revived the 110-km stretch, restoring water stream and eliminating waterlogging.
Roughly 50 years in the past, the Sot river – a tributary of the mighty Ganges – was a lifeline for the residents of the Sambhal district in Uttar Pradesh, with farmers relying on its water for irrigating their lush inexperienced paddy and peppermint crops.
Nonetheless, the river that passes by way of 71 gram panchayats in 5 growth blocks disappeared from the district because of large-scale encroachment and neglect. In 2022, when the newly-appointed district Justice of the Peace IAS Manish Bansal visited the sector, he discovered there was hardly any water within the river.
“I noticed that the river was virtually non-existent. We may solely see small puliya (culverts) that have been as soon as remodeled the river. At a number of factors, farmers had began rising crops contemplating it to be vacant land. The streak of the river was not fully linked,” he says.
“At some locations, the world was coated in small puddles. The river was encroached to the extent that it misplaced its path of pure stream downstream. Resulting from this, close by areas would stay waterlogged throughout monsoon. Earlier, the Sot river acted as a pure drainage system for the world,” he provides.
Along with this, the groundwater desk had drastically lowered within the space as farmers grew to become depending on borewells, which additional exacerbated the water downside within the area. “Even hand pumps, as deep as 50 toes, began changing into non-functional due to the receding water desk,” says Manish.
That’s when the IAS officer determined to rejuvenate the river. In dialog with The Higher India, he shares how the district administration revived the river to its outdated glory.
The masterplan behind the river rejuvenation
Spearheaded by Manish, the Sambhal district carried out a survey of the size of the river. The outcomes confirmed that the Sot river, which gave the impression to be non-existent, was truly a 110 km lengthy stretch ranging from the Amroha district within the North and flowing in direction of Budaun within the South.
Firstly, the administration carried out a survey to know the pure alignment of the river. This was adopted by bodily demarcation of the area to be taught in regards to the size and breadth of the river. The third step was to clear the unlawful encroachments.
“One of many main challenges was to take away the encroachments alongside the river. Utilizing the income land data, we understood that there have been enormous encroachments on the river space which had turn into flat at some factors. Though there was no everlasting development, individuals began utilizing it to develop crops. Because it was unlawful utilization, we sought the assistance of the income land data workforce to clear encroachments,” says Manish.
The fourth step was desilting of the river to take away tremendous silt and sediment collected within the river and restore it to its pure capability. As a part of this, the district administration roped in MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi Nationwide Rural Employment Assure Act) staff to scrub and dig the riverbed afresh.
Began in December 2022, the undertaking was accomplished in six months by June 2023. Over the past monsoon, the river captured the rainwater and was revived to its outdated glory. The area was additionally free from waterlogging.
“Each river has a catchment space. The pure stream of water in an space can be in direction of the river, so runoff water from close by areas flows in that path. If the stream is hindered, then water will get logged within the space however this time, this water was directed in direction of Sot,” Manish provides.
This growth was additionally adopted by an enormous plantation drive alongside the river financial institution. As many as 10,000 bamboo saplings have been planted to forestall future soil erosion.
Sustaining the river’s restored glory
After the undertaking completion, it was noticed that the seasonal Sot river acquired ample water within the monsoon and remained rejuvenated for the subsequent two and a half months. As a part of the undertaking, a number of micro verify dams have been additionally constructed on the river to gradual the runoff within the channel.
Apparently, this work was lauded by the Prime Minister in his month-to-month radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’ in September 2023. “This proved to be very encouraging for all of the officers and gram panchayats related to the undertaking. Impressed by this, the districts of Amroha and Budaun additionally undertook the undertaking of reviving the Sot river downstream and upstream, respectively,” shares Manish.
Manish credit the success of the undertaking to the native individuals, gram panchayats, MGNREGA staff, and district officers. In June 2024, he was transferred to Saharanpur district however this didn’t have an effect on the success of the undertaking.
Ram Ashish, the District Improvement Officer of Sambhal, tells The Higher India, “We hold monitoring for encroachments and make sure that the river stays rejuvenated. Put up monsoon, the soil erodes into the river. So, we’re engaged on a plan to organise desiltation and proceed the work began by Manish sir.”
He provides that whereas some downstream areas at present have water, they anticipate to see the river stuffed to the brim in a few days when it rains.
In the meantime, IAS Manish was reached out to by residents of Saharanpur to duplicate the work seeing the success of the undertaking in Sambhal district. “Saharanpur has a number of seasonal rivers akin to Kali and Hindon rivers. They originate from Shivaliks and go by way of the district. Over time, their space has contracted. We intention to work on these rivers subsequent,” he says.
Nonetheless, Manish believes that the administration can solely play the function of a facilitator, however it’s only when the neighborhood turns into the protector of its rivers that they will stay rejuvenated.
For Manish, the Sot river rejuvenation undertaking throughout his tenure in Sambhal was extraordinarily fulfilling. “This undertaking was very near my coronary heart. Tasks akin to river rejuvenation take a backseat as they aren’t all the time a precedence amongst different routine works. But when we don’t rejuvenate these rivers, individuals will face the brunt of a water disaster. Fortunately, the State Authorities has additionally been actively specializing in the surroundings by reviving water our bodies and establishing Amrit Sarovar tasks,” he provides.
Edited by Khushi Arora; All images: Ram Ashish.
