DDC Udhampur reviews protection, restoration of water bodies

Udhampur : In pursuance to the directions of National Green Tribunal (NGT), District Development Commissioner, Udhampur Dr Piyush Singla chaired a meeting to review the protection and restoration of water bodies in the district.While reviewing the progress of restoration of water bodies in the District, the meeting was   informed that against 502 water bodies, 317 have been restored under MGNREGA during the current financial year.The DDC asked the concerned departments to restore and renovate the remaining water bodies during the current financial year. In this regard, rural development Department to restore one water body in every village   under MGNREGA 2021-22 plan.  The Department was directed to submit the plan for the same  within one week. The Jal Shakti Department was asked to submit the list of water sources which require protection for sustainability and also propose the check dams to conserve the runoff water.The Flood and Irrigation department was asked to identify the encroached sites and also submit the anti encroachment plan.The DDC nominated Tehsildar Headquarter  as nodal officer for redressing the grievances regarding Water bodies at district level, while as concerned  Tehsildars  were designated as nodal officer for their respective areas.The meeting was attended by Additional District Development Commissioner, Ashok Kumar; Assistant Commissioner Revenue, Viqar Giri; Assistant Commissioner Development, Mushtaq Chowdhary; Executive Engineers PHE, Taj Chowdhary; Xen Irrigation, Nanak Chand and other officers/officials of concerned departments were present in the meeting.