NTPC’s River Rejuvenation Project Helping 150 Villages Defeat Water Crisis

NTPC Limited, has put some of its CSR funds to use in Mouda, Maharashtra through their groundwater rejuvenation project.  helping over 150 villages to defeat the water crisis around its operational area. The project was initiated in 2017 by NTPC Mouda along with the Maharashtra wing of Art of Living with aid from few other organizations and the State government.

The Jalyukta Shivar Yojana project that achieved this claims to have successfully turned  Mouda into a water-surplus tehsil (township) in Nagpur, Maharashtra. Mouda was living under drought like conditions for so years but since 2017 over 150 villages have benefited from the river rejuvenation project, spread over more than 200 km in Mouda, Hingna, and Kamptee tehsils.

NTPC Mouda had contributed Rs. 78 lakhs for the fuel charges of machinery and equipment involved till now. Additionally, for a similar rejuvenation project of 5 ponds over an area of 1000 acres, an amount of Rs. 1 Crore is also being provided by NTPC Mouda.

The project includes the ‘Trap the rain where it falls’ technique that involves the creation of ponds and nullahs (narrow watercourses) throughout the river so that rainwater can be held for a long period. The rainwater would run off the ground earlier, but now this technique holds the water for enough time to allow it to penetrate deep into the ground. That leads to an increase in groundwater levels.

“Until a couple of years ago, the farmers in this area were struggling to get water for crops such as paddy, wheat, and chilly during the pre-harvesting seasons. Now, the stored rainwater has come to their rescue and provided a new lease of life to their crops and income levels,” said the Ministry of Power in a statement.