Activities
» Soil Conservation
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DVC’s Soil Conservation Department at
Hazaribagh was established in 1949. Since then
it has been carrying out soil conservation work
in the upper Damodar - Barakar Catchment areas
through multidisciplinary and integrated watershed
management programmes. Soil and water conservation
work has undergone several successive stages,
viz. catchment, sub-catchment, mini-watershed
and presently micro-watershed. During the year
2004-05 works were undertaken in 49 micro-watersheds
in the upper damodar valley.
An
area of 11.47 lakh hectares has been marked
as problem area requiring soil conservation
work, of which 5.328 lakh hectares have already
been brought under soil conservation related
activities.
Objectives
- Control of
soil erosion by integrated watershed management.
- Checking
siltation in dams.
- Improving
moisture content and soil fertility.
- Water harvesting
for irrigation,.
- Converting
wasteland into cultivable land.
- Land protection
/ reclamation.
- Green belt
creation in and around DVC projects.
- Imparting
training to government officials, engineering
students, NGOs and farmers on soil conservation
and preservation of ecological balance.
- Database
creation for designing soil conservation structure.
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Areas
of Operation
| Jharkhand |
Palamau, Ranchi,
Hazaribagh, Giridih,
Dhanbad, Bokaro, Santhal parganas and
Dumka districts.
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| West Bengal |
Purulia district |
Afforestation
DVC has so far brought more than
200,000 hectares of denuded forests and wasteland
under green cover through its afforestation
programmes. Afforestation works are usually
done by planting suitable local plants like
Acacia Sisam (Dalbergia Sissu), Chakundi (Casia
Siamea), Gamhar (Gmelina) artiorea, Neem etc.
Watershed
Management
Different watershed management
based strategies have yielded the following
results:
Significant increase in the life span of reservoirs
50% depletion in sediment production compared
to pre-conservation stage
Reduction of sedimentation from 7.9 ha mtr/100
Sq km per year to 3.20 ha mtr/100 sq km per
year.
Some
Important Activities.
Treatment of watershed have been
planned on project basis for a total period
of five years and watersheds divided into micro-watersheds,
each having an area of 500-1000 hectares.
Treatment measures for soil and water conservation
and afforestation are planned in a synchronized
manner so that the treatment of the whole watershed
is completed in all respects within the envisaged
period.
Vegetative measures are given high priority.
These include afforestation, agro forestry,
horticulture, growing grasses and shrubs, planting
fuel, fodder and timber trees, fencing along
live hedges, contour bunds, vegetative contour
barriers, earthen contour bunds, check bunds
along drainage lines, and plantation along field
boundaries.
Different motivational and promotional activities
among village communities regarding soil conservation
practices.
Construction of field bunds supported by vegetation,
silt detention structures, farm ponds and different
drainage line treatments in upper, middle and
lower reaches.
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