Narmada Parikrama Path in Hoshangabad

Bhopal, Aug 14: An approximately Rs 90-crore project will be initiated in Hoshangabad district's Tigriya village this month for developing a Narmada Parikrama Path with the objective of conserving the river that is considered lifeline.

Basic facilities would be developed, while preserving the natural environment, in areas on both sides of the 1,312-km course of the river.

''A path of 2,624 km total length will be developed on the banks and intensive afforestation undertaken. The project's effective implementation will be ensured with help from the Forests, Rural Development and Narmada Valley Development departments,'' state Public Works Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya told reporters here yesterday.

Voluntary organisation Narmada Samagra's head Anil Madhav Dave, who would be project coordinator, said that special emphasis would be on public participation. As many as 5,000 people would be given the responsibility of plantation and they would play a key role in maintenance of saplings.

The Narmada, which originates at Amarkantak and enters the Arabian Sea at Gujarat's Bharuch, flows in Madhya Pradesh for about 90 per cent of its course.

A meeting chaired here by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan decided that the Path would be developed under the first phase of the Narmada Samagra Vikas Yojana.

Mr Chouhan instructed that resting points and public utilities be built every 20 km of the Parikrama route, an official release said.

The Yojana includes development of 250 watersheds that would irrigate 9.39 lakh hectares.

UNI