Maharashtra Government Joins Hands with Rally for Rivers to Rejuvenate Yavatmal’s Waghadi River

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis with Finance and Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar met Sadhguru on 8 August 2018 to review and give in-principle agreement to the Rally for Rivers detailed project plan (DPR) for the revitalization of the Waghadi River in Yavatmal. The meeting was chaired by Governor Vidyasagar Rao at Raj Bhavan in Mumbai. Secretaries of various departments were also present. The project will focus on supporting farmers with community micro-irrigation, tree-based agriculture, FarmerProducer Organizations (FPOs), market development and crop diversification. The aim is to increase farmers’ market access and crop returns, while reducing farming costs. Value-added industries are expected to increase employment opportunities. The project, to be implemented over the next five years, will provide economic stability for farmers, landless labourers and forest communities and will also restore water bodies in the water-stressed region. The Waghadi River is a tributary of Godavari and flows through the Yavatmal district, where farmer distress has been acute in the last few decades. Farmers have been facing water shortages, soil infertility and crop failure, leading to many suicides. Successful implementation of the project could reverse the fortunes of farmers in the region and could become the first step in revolutionizing agricultural practices across Maharashtra and India.

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