REJUVENATION OF NON-GLACIAL RAIN-FED RIVERS OF THE KUMAUN REGION

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1 REJUVENATION OF NON-GLACIAL RAIN-FED RIVERS OF THE KUMAUN REGION A Workshop Report J.S.Rawat November, 2014

for NRDMS Kumaun, Department of Geography Kumaun University, SSJ Campus Almora Date: 6 th August, 2014 A view life line of Almora, Khairana,

2 WORKSHOP ON REJUVENATION OF NON-GLACIAL RAIN- FED RIVERS OF THE KUMAUN REGION Venue: Uttarakhand Centre on Climate Change, Department of Forestry Kumaun University SSJ Campus Almora Organized Jointly by: Department of Forest, Kumaun Division, Uttarakhand & Centre of Excellence for NRDMS Kumaun, Department of Geography Kumaun University, SSJ Campus Almora Date: 6 th August, 2014 A view life line of Almora, Khairana, Betalghat, Garjia and Ramnagar, viz,, the so called mighty Kosi River at 100m downstream of Almora drinking water lift scheme at Kosi (photo by J.S.Rawat).

Workshop on REJUVENATION OF NON-GLACIAL RAIN- FED RIVERS OF THE KUMAUN REGION Summary A workshop on rejuvenation of non-glacial rain- fed rivers of the Kumaun region was organized jointly by the

Uttarakhand Centre on Climate Change, Almora.

3 Workshop on REJUVENATION OF NON-GLACIAL RAIN- FED RIVERS OF THE KUMAUN REGION Summary A workshop on rejuvenation of non-glacial rain- fed rivers of the Kumaun region was organized jointly by the Department of Forest, Kumaun Division and the Centre of Excellence for NRDMS in Uttarakhand (COE NRDMS),Department of Geography, Kunaun University, SSJ Campus Almora on 5 th August 2014 at the Uttarakhand Centre on Climate Change, Almora. The Conservation of Forest, Kumaun Division circulated a notice (Annexure-I) to the District Forest Officers of Nainital, Almora, Ranikhet, Bageshwer, Champhawat and Pithoragarh Divisions of the Kumaun region to participate in the workshop. Thirty three participants from the Forest Department and Kumaun University participated in the workshop (Annexure-II). The workshop was organized in three different sessions. In the inaugural session, the participants were briefed about the fast dwindling nature of summer discharges of the non-glacial rain-fed rivers of the Uttarakhand State and about the objective of the workshop, i.e., development of a road map for rejuvenation of rain-fed rivers of the Uttarakhand State. In the first technical session, by illustrating example of rain-fed dying Kosi river, a detailed presentation was given to the participants by the Centre Prof.J.S.Rawat, Director,COE NRDMS that how the dying Kosi river system can be rejuvinated by using mechanical treatment measures in its recharge areas. In the third sessions feedback was taken from the participants and with the help of deliberations and discussion, recommendations were drawn which may be helpful for the State Government for developing a coordinated strategy for rejuvenation of dying and dead rain-fed rivers of the Uttarakhand State, and also for developing permanent mechanism for rejuvenation of rain-fed river system by constituting River Regenerating Authority of the Uttarakhand State. Inaugural Session The workshop was started by lighting the lamp before Sarswati Pratima followed by welcome address by Prof. Vijaya Rani Dhaundiyal, Co-Coordinator of the Uttarakhand Centre on Climate Change. Prof. J.S.Rawat briefed the participants about the objectives of the workshop and informed that a large part of the Uttarakhand State is drained by nonglacial fed rivers network (such as Kosi, Gagas, Gomati, Panar, Ladhiya, Gaula, Western Ramganga Nayar and many others) and their summer discharge is depleting very fast. In case of the Kosi river in district Almora, Prof. Rawat informed that the summer discharge of this river has been dropped down 10 times low, i.e., 78 l/sec in 2014 compare to the summer discharge of 1992,

to demonstrate river rejuvnative mechanical measures with special reference to the Kosi river; and to develop a road map for rejuvenation of the dying Kosi river system in district Almora. Mr.

adversely affected resulting phonological changes in Rhododendron flowering and degradation of oak forests due to loss in soil moisture storage and its replacement by pine forests, consequently the

The rainfall behavior has changed, frequency of cloud burst is increasing and despite of increase in forest cover in Uttarakhand State in recent years up to 72% against 61%, there is no marked

4 i.e., 790 l/sec. He said that the fundamental objective of the present workshop is to sensitize the Officers of the Forest Department regarding the fast dwindling of summer discharge of non-glacial rain-fed rivers; to demonstrate river rejuvnative mechanical measures with special reference to the Kosi river; and to develop a road map for rejuvenation of the dying Kosi river system in district Almora. Mr.Vivek Pandey, Conservator of Forests, South Kumaun Circle (additional charge of North Kumaon Circle) and Chief Guest of the workshop said that due to climate change, the hydrologic cycle is being adversely affected resulting phonological changes in Rhododendron flowering and degradation of oak forests due to loss in soil moisture storage and its replacement by pine forests, consequently the spring fed non-glacial river discharge is decreasing year by year. The rainfall behavior has changed, frequency of cloud burst is increasing and despite of increase in forest cover in Uttarakhand State in recent years up to 72% against 61%, there is no marked positive effect in summer water discharge of rivers, Mr. Pandey informed. Mr. Pandey further said that in view of such conditions, now there is an urgent need to adopt mechanical treatment measures in the forest areas for rejuvenation of rivers by increasing groundwater storage and river discharge during summer season. In this matter a meeting for rejuvenation of dying rivers of Uttarakhand was held on 16 th July, 2014 at ATI Nainital under the Chairmanship of Sri Indu Kumar Pandey, Economic Advisor to the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand (Annexure-III) and the present workshop is a follow-up action of that meeting, Mr.Pandey informed. It is hoped that the outcome of this workshop shall help in developing a road map for rejuvenation of dying rivers in Uttarakhand and for establishing Uttarakhand River Rejuvenation Authority to save the rain-fed rivers of Uttarakhand. In his presidential address, Prof.R.S.Pathni, Director, SSJ Campus Almora said that water is the basic need, therefore, saving rivers is the most challenging task for environmentalists, resource conservators and scientists, and appreciated this pioneer joint effort of the Kumaun University and the Forest Department in this regard. The efforts of this workshop should reach up to the ground for saving the dying rivers of Uttarakhand, Prof. Pathni hoped and suggested to involve local people, NGOs, scientists and peoples representatives in the river rejuvnative programmes through out the State. At the end of the Inaugural Session Prof. Anil Yadav, Head of the Department Forestry extended vote of thanks to all the participants and did appreciate this joint efforts of the Kumaun University and the Forest Department for rejuvenation of dying rivers of Uttarakhand and said that the various mechanical treatment measures for river rejuvenation, besides groundwater augmentation, shall also increase soil moisture storage which will help in improving the quality of forest by natural regeneration. Technical Session I River Rejuvenation Action Plan: A Demonstration from the Kosi Watershed, District Almora The perennial streams network of the Kosi river in district Almora are transforming in to non-perennial streams. Five decades back the length of perennial streams in the Kosi watershed, district Almora was about km (Fig.1A) and at present the length of perennial streams stands at 41.9 km only (Fig.1B). The perennial streams are disappearing steadily from their origin places from the headwater recharge regions. The Kosi originates from the reserved forest Dharpanidhar Hill which lies in the North West of the Kausani town. The aquifer of this hill gives birth to as many as 11 tributary rivers (Fig.2A) to different directions, viz., Kasaulya Ganga, Rudra Ganga, Penath Ganga and Dev Gad (tributaries of the life line of the Almora Town -Kosi River); Jantarya Gad and Gagas (tributaries of the life line of Ranikhet-Gagas River); Chhataria Gewar, Kalyani Gad and Totapangar (tributaries of Western Ramganga); and Garur Ganga and Sarod Gad (tributaries of the Gomati River).

At present, all these 11 tributaries become dry during the summer season (Fig.2B).

directions. The distribution of these all 14 recharge areas is presented figure 1C.

5 At present, all these 11 tributaries become dry during the summer season (Fig.2B).This indicate that the groundwater level of the perched aquifer of the Dharpanidhar Hill drops down below the origin points of all 11 tributaries, hence, these streams become dry normally during summer seasons. Similar to the Dharpanidhar recharge area, there are 13 other hills or recharge areas in the headwater region of the Kosi watershed from where as many as 90 tributary streams originate to different directions. The distribution of these all 14 recharge areas is presented figure 1C. Similar to the 11 streams of Dharpanidhar, 90 tributary streams (Table-1) which originate from 13 other recharge areas, become normally dry during summer season. Due to drying up of tributary streams from their origin place to downstream areas in order to 1 to 3 kilometers in entire the Kosi watershed, the summer discharge of the Kosi River is dwindling very fast. The minimum annual discharge hydrograph (Fig.3) postulate this fact that the summer discharge of the Kosi river has fast dwindling trend. This annual minimum water discharge hydrograph reveals that during the last two decades the minimum summer discharge has been drooped down about 10 times, i.e.,790 l/sec in 1992 to 78 l/sec in If this trend continues and no river rejuvnative mechanical measures were taken immediately, the entire perennial streams network shall be disappeared and the mighty Kosi river shall be converted in to seasonal river in near future. Fig.1: About 5 decade back the perennial stream network (in green colour) was about 223km in the Kosi watershed in district Almora (A) and at present it is only 41.5km (B). Distribution of 14 recharge areas and their seasonal streams in red lines which all were perennial (C). The above diagrammatically illustrated information was demonstrated by Prof. J.S.Rawat in this technical session. How the dead and dying tributary streams can be rejuvnated? Where should be done river rejuvnative works? What types of river rejunative works should be done? Prof. Rawat also diagrammatically demonstrated answer of these questions. To regenerate the so called Mighty Kosi river, there is and urgent need to do river regenerative works in all 14 recharge areas (Fig.1C) in the Kosi watershed, Prof. Rawat suggested. In these recharge zones, to infiltrate and percolate the rainwater down to the perched aquifers, mechanical treatment measures such as construction of network of infiltration holes (Fig 4A), construction of infiltration trenches (Fig.4B),construction of series of bio-percolation tanks of pine needles across ephemeral streams (Fig.4 B to F) and construction series of check dams across intermittent streams have to be done in all 14 recharge areas of the Kosi watershed, Prof. Rawat further suggested. The quality of forest may be improved within short span of time by plantation of Napier grass in the forest area (Fig.4G), Prof.Rawat added. Fig.2: The pearch rainfed aquifer, viz., Dharpanidhar in reserved forest hill gives birth to the 11 tributary streams of the Kosi, Gagas, Ramganga and Gomati rivers (A). Due to depletion of groundwater in Dharpanidhar aquifer now all these 11 Rivers now become almost dry during summer season (B).

6 Fig.3: Minimum summer discharge and its trend (red line) of the Kosi river at Kosi near Almora drinking water Pump House. At the end of his presentation, Prof. Rawat said that similar to the Kosi river, the summer discharge of other non-glacial fed rivers of Uttarakhand such as the Western Ramganga, Nayar, Gagas, Suyal,Gaula, Gomati, Panar, Ladhiya and Saryu are dwindling very fast and suggested that it is need of the hour to constitute a permanent organization for river rejuvenation, viz., Uttarakhand State River Rejuvenation Authority -USRRA by which the non-glacial rain-fed rivers of Uttarakhand could be saved. The USRRA should be solely accountable for rejuvenation of rain-fed dead and dying streams/rivers of the Uttarakhand State, Prof. Rawat suggested. Technical Session II Discussions and Feedback from the participants Mr. Ramesh Chandra, Divisional Forest Officer, Soil Conservation Division, Ramnagar appreciating objectives of the Kosi River rejuvenation action plan said that this workshop has proved very educative for us as we have learned several new things from this workshop which are very useful for rejuvenation of dying rivers. For the successful completion of the river rejuvenation plan, Mr. Chandra stressed on the need of peoples participation in river rejuvenation activities and suggested that the Gram Panchyats should be directly involved in the river regenerative activities in recharged areas. Local inhabitants and peoples representatives (i.e., M.L.As., M.Ps. and Block Pramukh etc) should be made aware on drying nature of rivers through simple presentations, Office Staff should be given proper training on river regenerative measures, there should be coordination among different departments regarding river rejuvenation activities, and to complete this work Officers should be selected based on their abilities, Mr. Chandra further suggested. In case of the Western Ramganga River, the river rejuvenation work shall be started soon based on micro watersheds, Mr.Chandra informed. To complete all these activities and to reach up to the logical culmination of rejuvenation of dying rivers, River Rejuvenation Authority in Uttarakhand State should be constituted, Mr. Chandra added. Appreciating the proposal of the Kosi River Rejuvenation Plan, Mr. Prem Kumar, Divisional Forest Officer Almora said that I am associated With Prof. J.S.Rawat in developing the Kosi River Rejuvenation Plan since the last two years. Based on this proposal which Prof. Rawat has demonstrate today in this workshop, our Department has received funds worth of Rs.20 lakhs to start implementation of the Kosi river rejuvenation works immediately out of which we have already invested Rs. 10 lakh in Sitlakhet, Simtola, Deolikhan and Areodeo recharge areas in construction of 70 bio-percolation check dams, 600 infiltration trenches and 48 percolation tanks, Mr, Kumar informed. Based on the mechanical and biological activities proposed by Prof. Rawat for rejuvenation of the dying rivers, a model from Kosi River system from district Almora shall be developed for entire the Uttarakhand State, Mr. Kumar further informed. For this purpose soon we shall start river rejuvenation mechanical treatment in the Salla Rautela (in Syahi Devi recharge area) and Lewsal (in Kausani recharge area) micro-watersheds for rejuvenation of dying rivers of these micro-waters, Mr. Kumar informed. Mr. Dinkar Tewari, Sub-Divisional Officer, Nainital said that for rejuvenation of dying rivers, active peoples participation is required. In rural areas Mahila Mangal Dal should be constituted in villages for this purpose,he suggested. Mr.Tewari also underlined the need for change in existing working culture of government departments as different departments are working under isolation without interaction among each other. Mr. Siraj Singh Bisht, Sub-Divisional Officer, Ranikhet said that this workshop has proved very much informative and knowledgable for us because we have learned numbers of knew things regarding mountain river hydrologic system through this workshop. To make aware the local people about the existing dying nature of rivers, series of such workshops should be organized for the local people by which they may be able to participate actively in river regenerative works in their own areas, Mr. Bisht suggested. Mr. Bisht also underlined the need to give training to the government workers on mechanical treatment measures, and to start river regenerative treatment works using watershed as a unit.

7 Fig.4: River regenerative mechanical and biological measures: Infiltration Hole (A);Infiltration Trench (B); Construction of bio-percolation tank material by pine needles and coir net (C); A bundle of pine needles in coir net (D); A bio-percolation tank across a ephemeral stream in oak forest (E); An ephemeral rill is a suitable site for construction of bio-percolation tank in pine forest (F); and a view of successful plantation of nippier grass to facilitate infiltration of rain water in pine forest (G).

action plan. He also suggested to strengthen forest fire control measures and to involve the local Nyay Panchyats in river rejuvenation works. Mr.

8 Mr. B.S.Jeena, Sub-Divisional Officer Almora stressed on the need of massive awareness programmes among the local inhabitants regarding river rejuvenation activities and their active participation in the action plan. He also suggested to strengthen forest fire control measures and to involve the local Nyay Panchyats in river rejuvenation works. Mr. Akhelesh, Sub-Divisional Officer said that to implement the river regenerative mechanical and biological treatment works in the recharge zones, active peoples participations and massive training programmes for the workers of different departments is essential. Different groups should be formed in different recharge areas to implement the river regenerative works, Mr. Akhelesh suggested. Mr. B.K.Singh, Ranikhet said that water resources in the non-glacial fed rivers are decreasing steadily therefore, it is need of the hour to make assessment of the water crises. Mr. Singh also stressed on the need to do massive plantation of grasses on the soils removed from infiltration trenches as this will improve the quality of forest to improve rainfall infiltration rates and to control soil erosion. Mr. U.S.Negi, Sub-Divisional Officer, Department of Forest Almora suggested that to improve the quality of forest, massive plantation of grasses and local shrubs and plant species should be done. Mr. Vivek Pandey, Conservator of Forests, South Kumaon Circle (additional charge of North Kumaon Circle) finally added on behalf of all the participants from forest department that it appears to be the need of hour to establish an authority on rain-fed river rejuvenation which would monitor the catchment treatment programme from a close quarter and help in providing technical as well as financial support to the forest department as catchments are in administrative control of forest department only.

9 Recommendations Based on the deliberations and discussions in the workshop, the following recommendations emerged by consensuses. 1. Under the present governance system no accountability is fixed to any department by the state and federal governments regarding to rejuvenate the dead and dying streams/rivers, therefore, for the sustainability of rivers rejuvenation activities and to fix accountability for dying and dead rivers, Uttarakhand State River Rejuvenation Authority should be constituted immediately by the Government of Uttarakhand. 2. The State Government should send a proposal to the Central Government for funding to regenerate dying and dead rivers through the Uttarakhand State River Rejuvenation Authority. 3. A document should be prepared containing history of summer water discharge records of the nonglacial rain-fed rivers of the Uttarakhand State as it will help in identifying magnitude of dwindling rates non-glacial rain-fed rivers of the state and to formulate a coordinated action plan for their rejuvenation. 4. The state government should procure high resolution remote sensing data for preparing hydrographic dynamic map of the state for identification of dead and dying stream/rivers and their recharge areas. 5. To make aware local people, public representatives, concern government departments and NGOs regarding drying up of streams and rivers, a series of awareness workshops should be organized jointly by the Forest Department and the Kumaun University throughout the State. 6. For capacity building in river rejuvenation activities in the state, a series of training workshops on river rejuvnative (i.e., mechanical and biological) measures should be conducted jointly by the Kumaun University and the Forest Department for the workers of different concern government departments, NGOs and local people. 7. For active participation of women and youngsters, Mahila Mangal Dal and Nehru Yuyak Mangal Dal should be trained and these groups should be actively involve in in river rejuvenation campaign in the State. 8. To develop a model of river rejuvenation by mechanical treatment, the Forest Department of Almora with the technical support of the COE NRDMS, Department of Geography, Kumaun University SSJ Campus Almora shall adopt the Salla Rautela micro-watershed (on Syahidevei Recharge area) and Lewsal micro-watershed (in Kausani Recharge area) for river rejuvenation works as long period hydro-meteorological dynamics are available of these micro-watershed with the Kumaun University for demonstration the responses of river rejuvenation activities. 9. In each district of the Uttarakhand state, the Forest Department should identify one non glacial rain-fed dying river (like the Kosi river in district Almora) for implementation of river rejuvenation mechanical measures with peoples participation. At the end of the workshop Mr. Prem Kumar, Divisional Forest Officer Almora extended vote of thanks to all the participants and the workshop organisors For more details about the workshop contact to Prof. J.S.Rawat, Director, COE NRDMS in Uttarakhand, Department of Geography, Kumaun University SSJ Campus Almora , Uttarakhand for Details about COE NRDMS in Uttarakhand, visit

11 Annexure-II LIST OF PARTICIPENTS 1. Shri Vivek Pandey, Conservator of Forests, Conservator of Forests, South Kumaon Circle (additional charge of North Kumaon Circle), Prof. R.S. Pathni, Director SSJ Campus Almora, , 3. Prof. J.S. Rawat, Director, COE NRDMS, Head Department of Geography, SSJ Campus Almora Prof. V.R. Dhoundiyal, Department of Education, SSJ Campus Almora, Dr. A.K. Yadav, Department of Forestry, SSJ Campus Almora, , 6. Dr. (Smt.) Geeta Rawat, Scientist, COE NRDMS Centre SSJ Campus Almora, , 7. Dr. Manish Kumar, Lecturer, M.Sc. Remote Sensing & GIS, COE NRDMS Centre SSJ Campus Almora, , 8. Shri V.S. Rawat, Scientist, COE NRDMS Centre SSJ Campus Almora, , 9. Shri Navneet Gahlaut, GIS Analyst, COE NRDMS Centre SSJ Campus Almora, , Miss. Neha Rani, Lecturer, M.Sc. Remote Sensing & GIS, Department of Geography, SSJ Campus Almora, , Shri V.K. Singh, Assistant Conservator of Forest, Ranikhet, Shri P.R.S. Bisht, Assistant Conservator of Forest, Ranikhet, , Shri Ramesh Chandra, Division Forest Officer, Additional Conservation Forest Division, Ramnagar, , Shri Prem Kumar, Divisional Forest Officer, Almora, , 15. Shri G. Sonar, Divisional Forest Officer, (Soil) Nainital, , Shri P.R. Arya, Sub- Divisional Forest Officer, Champawat, Shri Dinkar Tewari, Sub-Divisional Forest Officer, Nainital, , Shri Amaresh Kumar, Sub- Division Officer, Almora, Shri U.S. Negi, Sub- Division Officer, Bageshwer, Shri Neetesh Tewari, Deputy Ranger, Almora, Shri Pramod Tewari, Range Officer, Almora, Shri N.K. Pandey Range Officer, Almora, Shri Harish Ram, Forest Guest House, Almora, Shri G.C. Joshi, Forest Department, Shri B.S. Jeena, Forest Department Almora, , 26. Mrs. Nirmala Nailwal, JRF, COE NRDMS Centre, SSJ Campus Almora, , Shri U.S. Negi, Technical Assistant, COE NRDMS Centre, SSJ Campus Almora, , Miss. Lata Budhani, Technical Assistant, COE NRDMS Centre, SSJ Campus Almora, , 29. Shri Sanjay Kumar, Technical Assistant, COE NRDMS Centre, SSJ Campus Almora, , 30. Shri Usama Tewari, Technical Assistant, COE NRDMS Centre, SSJ Campus Almora, , Shri Mukul Majila, Technical Assistant, COE NRDMS Centre, SSJ Campus Almora, , 32. Shri Tarun Rana, Lab Technician COE NRDMS Centre, SSJ Campus Almora, , Miss. Babita Arya, COE NRDMS Centre, SSJ Campus Almora, ,

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