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Small River Rejuvenation under MGNREGA during the Pandemic
A group of union secretaries – rural development, water resources, land resources and drinking water & sanitation – issued a jointly signed letter on 24.04.2020, when Covid-19 was peaking in India, directing states to use MGNRERA funds for water conservation and other related works in the districts. The letter categorically emphasized on taking up “rejuvenation of small rivers through community-driven” practices. On the basis of the letter, the then Director General, National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, wrote to the District Magistrates of the Ganga Basin states to “urgently develop action plans for rejuvenation of small rivers in their (respective) districts”. He also suggested to integrate the task of small river rejuvenation with the agenda of the District Ganga Committees and prioritize the work under MGNREGA. District Ganga Committees, also known as District Ganga Protection Committees, formed in 2016, is a 13-member committee headed by the District Magistrate tasked to take appropriate action on issues related to Ganga.
Why are small rivers important?
Big rivers are fed by their tributaries and sub-tributaries. The first, second, third-order streams are the small rivers. The health of the smallest stream has a ripple effect on the health of the next order of stream and ultimately the big rivers that is being fed by them. Ecosystems flourish when the small streams, rivulets, springs are in good health. The local communities also depend a great deal on small rivers for livelihood. Greenery and livestock thrive around the small rivers which are in good condition. It provides direct benefit to the local communities. It also supports the recharge of groundwater thereby providing base flows to rivers. Rapid urbanization, increasing pollution, over extraction of groundwater, encroachment, deforestation have resulted in drying up of several small rivers in the country.
Bringing Small River Rejuvenation into the Mainstream
Upon winning the 2014 national elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Namami Gange Programme with a budget outlay of whopping Rs. 20,000 crores. Small river rejuvenation was identified as one of the key aspects in the Ganga River Basin Management Plan prepared by a consortium of IITs in 2015-16. This aspect was appropriately integrated in the contours of Namami Gange Programme, which now is premised on the five important pillars of – Nirmal Ganga (unpolluted river), Aviral Ganga (unrestricted flow), Jan Ganga (People’s Participation), Gyan Ganga (knowledge and research based interventions) and Arth Ganga (people-river connect through the bridge of economy).
The theme of the 7th India Water Impact Summit in December 2022 is ‘Restoration and Conservation of Small Rivers in a Large Basin’ with emphasis on the select aspects of ‘Mapping and Convergence of 5Ps’ – People, Policy, Plan, Programme and Project. In this three-day summit, experts from the country and abroad discussed ways in which small rivers facing near-extinction in large river basins can be protected.
The decision at the union level to leverage MGNREGA for small river rejuvenation during the Covid-19 pandemic proved to be a necessary impetus to revive dried small rivers and rivulets, especially in the urban areas. Statistically, the wages created at the national level under MGNREGA for small river rejuvenation were worth Rs. 48847 crores, Rs. 78023 crores and Rs. 53969 crores in 2019-20, 20-21 and 21-22 respectively. Clearly, the Covid-19 year of 2020-21 saw the maximum wages created under MGNREGA for this particular work.
In the Ganga Basin, a GIS-based inventory of small rivers along with districts which had been created by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) as part of long-term planning for small river rejuvenation under Namami Gange Programme proved handy in directing the states in 2020 to start working on reviving the identified small rivers. Besides, a brief guidance document outlining the works required to be taken up for rejuvenation of small rivers was also shared with the states and the districts. All the district administrations had to do was find people, especially the ones migrated due to the pandemic and put them to work appropriately under MGNREGA. All the groundwork done by NMCG was there to be used by the district magistrates to execute the directions. A list of around 300 small rivers spanning nearly 80 districts of the Ganga basin states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan was shared. The activities suggested included desilting of small kunds, ponds, baoris etc., construction of embankments, construction of water harvesting and storage structures, afforestation and bank protection among others. Some of the important small rivers that were Alaknanda, Dhauli Ganga, Lakshman Ganga, Saraswati, Song, Tons, Nayar, Ram Ganga, Mandakini, Vasuki Ganga, Bhagirathi, Jahnavi in Uttarakhand, Dadaiya, Usri, Sakri, Jinjoi, Dulki, Pandu, Kao, Taria, Bareta in Jharkhand, Kosi, Karamnasa, Baghmati, Budhi Ganga, Gandak, Sone, Phalgu, Ghagra, Punpun, Mohane, Mahananda, Champa, Kamla in Bihar, Kuno, Bilas, Barni, Renpi in Madhya Pradesh and Luni, Jojdi, Balui, Sambhar Didwana in Rajasthan.
| State | Districts |
| Uttarakhand | Chamoli, Dehradun, Haridwar, Pauri Garhwal, Rudraprayag, Tehri Garhwal, Uttarkashi |
| Jharkhand | Garhwa, Giridih, Godda, Hazaribagh, Palamu |
| Bihar | Araria, Arwal, Aurangabad, Banka. Begusarai, Bhagalpur, Bhojpur, Buxar, Darbhanga, Motihari, Gaya, Gopalganj, Jamui, Jehanabad, Kaimur, Katihar, Khagaria, Kishanganj, Lakhisarai, Madhepura, Madhubani, Monger, Muzaffarpur, Biharsharif, Nawadah, Patna, Purnea, Rohtas, Saharsa, Samastipur, Saran, Sheikhpura, Sheohar, Sitamarhi, Siwan, Supail, Vaishali, West Champaran |
| Uttar Pradesh | Mirzapur, Shrawasti, Unnao, Sonbhadra, Fatehpur, Amethi, Bulandshahar, Deoria, Lakhmipur Kheri, Jalaun, Rae Bareily, Pratapgarh, Ballia, Gorakhpur, Banda, Ghazipur, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Kushinagar, Ayodhya, Sitapur, Sultanpur, Ambedkar Nagar, Hardoi, Jaunpur, Azamgarh, Saharanpur, Sant Kabir Nagar, Balrampur, Basti, Gonda, Bahraich, Maharajganj, Sidharth Nagar |
| Madhya Pradesh | Tikamgarh, Satna, Rewa, Chhatarpur, Sagar, Panna, Bhind, Shahdol, Katni, Shivpuri, Sidhi, Singrauli |
| Rajasthan | Nagaur |
List of districts where small rivers were identified
Case Study of Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh is the fourth largest state in area, sprawled over 2,36,286 sq. km. Uttar Pradesh is known to be one of the central states of the doab region or the Indo-Gangetic plains. It is divided into four distinct regions- from the North, and the first region is known as the Shivalik foothills, followed by Terai, the Gangetic Plains, and the Vindhya Hills. Out of 2525 kilometers distance that Ganga traverses in India, around 1500 kilometers fall in Uttar Pradesh. The two most important regions considered for explaining the natural drainage system of Uttar Pradesh are the Terai Bhabhar region in the northern area and the hills and plateaus towards the southern part. The Terai Bhabhar region is the area between the foothills of the Shivalik range and the northern boundary of the Gangetic plain. The region is characterized by boulder-covered streams, a marshy region, and tall and dense grassland. Owing to such a diverse natural topography, there are numerous rivers in Uttar Pradesh. There are around 30 big rivers in Uttar Pradesh including Ganga, Bhilganga, Ramganga, Gomti, Sai, Ghagra, Saryu, Yamuna, Sirsa, Chambal, Puraha and the Ahneya, Pandu, Betwa, Jawai, Tamsa, Son, Rihand, Kanhar, Karamnasa etc.
Data shows that some outstanding work was done in Uttar Pradesh in the direction of small river rejuvenation during Covid-19 pandemic. According to MGNREGA statistics, number of person days rose to nearly 40 crores in 2020-21 as compared to 24.44 crores in 2019-20. There was astonishing increase in 2020-21 (779085) in the number of households who completed 100 days of wage employment as compared to the previous year (133059). Similar rise was witnessed in individual work category to 254533 in 2020-21 from 153047 in 2019-20. There was major improvement in women’s participation with nearly 34 lakh women talking up work as compared to 17.54 lakh in the previous year.
In 2019-20 and 2020-21, at least 25 small rivers spread over 36 districts in Uttar Pradesh have been revived, as per MGNREGA data, by 2020-21. The work on as many as 19 rivers were taken up in 2019-20: Tedhi, Manorama, Pandu, Varuna, Sasur, Khaduri, Sai, Gomti, Aril, Morwa, Mandakini, Tamsa, Naad, Karnawati, Baan, Soat, Kaali Purvi, Dadhi, Ishan and Budhi Ganga. While the work on revival of these rivers was carried over to 2020-21, six more rivers were added to this list in 2020-21 which included Kunwar, Kalyani, Belan, Sirsa, Kiwad and Utgan.
In water-scarce Bundelkhand region, 20 “endangered” rivers were also brought to life through MGNREGA works in districts of Banda, Chitrakoot, Jalaun, Jhansi, Mahoba and Hamirpur. The rivers rejuvenated included Garhara, Mandakini, Ohan, Ganta, Aunjhar, Konchmalanga, Noon, Lakheri, Patrahi, Chhech, Sasor, Chandrawal, Birma, Gunch, Arjun, Sihu, Shyam, Keolari and Magaria.
The efforts for rejuvenation of Rivers Tamsa in Ayodhya and Karnawati in Mirzapur were recognized as they won 1st and 3rd prizes respectively in the National Water Awards under the aegis of Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti in 2020-21. The revival of Kalyani River in Barabanki district was mentioned in Mann ki Baat by the Prime Minister in June 2020.