Agriculture, which is a priority sector in the northeast region is declining due to excessive erosion and floods in the plains.
This was stated by World Bank, consultant, Rahul Rauri during a power-point presentation on the challenges posed within the north-east region and main issues for water resources management in the region at a consultative meeting on Integrated Flood & Erosion Management (IF&EM) in the north-east region for possible funding by World Bank, Tuesday.
In the presentation, Raturi pointed out that the region was rich in natural resources, yet lamented the fact that it was facing low growth with high incidence of poverty and natural resources depletion, stated an official bulletin.
Referring to Nagaland, he advised that with “appropriate” soil and water conservation measures, erosion, ranging between32-44 ton/ha per year, caused due to shifting cultivation could be reduced by over 70%.
Raturi also asserted that the World Bank study recognizes the need for improvement of system-wide flood and erosion management, need to strengthen communities ability to cope with floods, need for watershed management and local erosion control in hill states and the absence of a strong institution which could guide the overall basin and water resources management of the region.
Joint secretary DoNER, K. Damayanthi, while introducing the project, asked the participants to identify areas in the state level which were not sorted out, and to prioritise the identified projects which need to be considered.
DoNER officials also stated that bringing World Bank has the advantage of receiving technical expertise from outside to yield best results.
The consultative meeting was aimed to designate a nodal department and for the leaders of the working groups to identify all non-governmental agencies so they could be brought into consultation process.
The meeting was attended by representatives from World Bank, DoNER and senior officials of Assam, Meghalaya and Nagaland.
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