Empowering Community for River Basin Management

Abstract

There is a need to involve community in both technical and administrative aspects for river basin management. The community participation is vital and can be enhanced by educating and increasing awareness. Various methods like training packages, community action plans, conducting dramas and movies and staging mass media campaigns may be adopted for educating people. The basin management can be well implemented by the involvement of the local communities, the beneficiaries. Studies verify that block watershed samitis and village groups work satisfactorily. In fact, community-based watershed management has become the guiding principal of natural resources specially land, forest, and water in rural areas. The importance of community participation cannot be overemphasized for sustainability of any development effort. As a matter of fact, the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, has been striving to bring this vital component into the Watershed Development Programs by periodically reviewing the guidelines and tuning it with rural socioeconomic conditions. This paper stresses the fact that the basin management is closely related with the environmental protection and sustainable development. Therefore, it should be incorporated in the development plans to ensure efficient follow up measures at the community, sub-regional, regional, national and international levels.