The first meeting of the State Level Implementation Committee of (SARRA) Uttarakhand was held under the chairmanship of Additional Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan

The first meeting of the State Level Implementation Committee (SLEC) of Spring and River Rejuvenation Authority (SARRA) Uttarakhand was held in the Secretariat on Monday under the chairmanship of Additional Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan. During the meeting, the Additional Chief Secretary directed that all the concerned departments should work in mutual harmony to fulfill the objectives of the formation of SARRA. He said that before getting the proposals approved by the committee, its proposals should be sent to all the concerned departments and comments should be taken from the departments.

The Additional Chief Secretary said that the drying water sources, rivers and streams should be identified as soon as possible and remedial work should be started soon. He said that a mechanism should be prepared for the evaluation of the project, as well as dedicated staff should be deployed for evaluation and monitoring. He directed that the target should be set for each year by categorizing the works to be done under the authority at the state and district level. He directed that the annual action plan for this financial year should be prepared and submitted in the next one month.

The Additional Chief Secretary said that there is a great need for public awareness to make the scheme successful. He said that active participation of the general public along with public awareness should be ensured for the revival of rivers and water sources by conserving rainwater. He also directed that budget should be allocated to the districts on time for the projects. He also directed to prepare a calendar for the timely implementation of the schemes.

During the meeting, the committee selected 5 rivers of the state, Song (Dehradun-Tehri), Eastern and Western Nayar (Pauri), Shipra (Nainital) and Gauri (Champawat) for long-term treatment in the first phase.

Additional Chief Executive Officer (SARRA) Neena Grewal informed that a water conservation campaign is being organized in the state from April 2024 to August 2024, along with this, Jal Utsav week was also organized from 10 June to 16 June 2024. He informed that a total of 5428 water sources have been identified for treatment across the state so far. On this occasion, heads of concerned departments along with members of State Level Implementation Committee were present.