HT Correspondent
NAGAON, March 10: As part of Natural Resources Management, NABARD has been supporting the implementation of various projects like Integrated Watershed Development with Climate Proofing Interventions (IWDCPIs), Integrated Tribal Development Programmes (ITDPs), UPNRM & Climate Change Projects, etc., across the country. As part of this initiative, NABARD Assam RO has successfully launched the Full Implementation Phase (FIP) of its first watershed project in Assam. The watershed project is scheduled to be implemented at Derapathara village under the Lumding Development Block in Hojai district.
The project was inaugurated last Saturday jointly by MLA Sibu Misra, district commissioner Hojai Lachit Kr Das, and the general manager cum officer-in-charge of NABARD Assam RO, Nabin Kr Roy.
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During the event organised at the Durga Mandir ground in Derapathar, over 500 beneficiary participants attended. Present at the event were NABARD officer Sankar Das, DDM Hojai Rajendar Perna, DAO Hojai Ranjith Mishra Bhagawati, DD Health Dr Ranju Rajkhowa, Fishery in-charge Bhabani Nath, soil conservation officer Lakhyajyoti Bora, bankers from AGVB, SBI, PNB, and representatives from the Project Facilitating Agency (PFA) i.e., Gramya Unnayan Santha and Village Watershed Committee (VWC) members.
While addressing the occasion, Nabin Kr Roy, GM/OIC of NABARD Assam RO, informed the participants that under the FIP, NABARD would be extending a grant assistance of Rs 2.30 crore for the creation of 485 major and minor structures like check dams, percolation tanks, water harvesting structures, control bunds, earthen bunds, farm ponds, staggered contour trenches, etc., in the fields of 332 identified beneficiaries of Derapathar 1-4 villages. In addition to undertaking measures pertaining to area and drainage line treatments, NABARD would also support climate proofing interventions like installation of remote sensing automated wireless weather stations, soil moisture sensors, solar pumps, micro and drip irrigation systems, etc. The project also envisages livelihood and women development training on activities like vermicomposting, agarbatti and candle making, sanitary pad making, livestock rearing, tailoring and embroidery, handloom design development, etc. He also shared that based on the level of implementation of the project components, the equivalent grant support would be directly credited into the bank accounts of the PFA and VWC.
In his inaugural speech, Sibu Misra, MLA Lumding LAC, asserted that Lumding in Karbi language means ‘scarcity of water’ and congratulated NABARD for sanctioning the watershed project for restoration of natural resources and for the development of resource-poor farming families of the constituency. He also emphasised the priorities of the Government of India and the Government of Assam for the overall development of the farmers, women artisans residing in far-flung remote interiors of the state, adding that the development of a country or a state can happen only with the development of rural areas.
Lachit Kr Das, DC, Hojai, also spoke on the occasion and expressed his sincere gratitude to NABARD Assam RO as well as DDM, NABARD for sanctioning and successfully implementing various projects in the district for the development and betterment of the villages, farmers, rural artisans, women entrepreneurs, etc.
AGM, NABARD, Sankar Das, and DDM, Hojai, Rajendar Perna addressed the gathering and said that the successful implementation of the project would achieve major objectives like soil and water conservation, promotion of sustainable and climate-resilient farming practices, promotion of various off-farm interventions, human resources development and social capital formation, enhancement in agriculture production, productivity, livelihoods, and income of farmers from this region. The participants were also guided by DAO, Ranjith Mishra Bhagawati, DD, Health Dr Ranju Rajkhowa, Fishery in-charge Bhabani Nath, soil conservation officer, secretary-GUS Mukut Deka, etc., as stated in a press note here.
