Background

Management of catchments of multipurpose river valley projects is essential to sustain the performance and life of the projects. The reservoirs of river valley projects receive water from a number of streams present on their respective catchments, therefore, the inflow and accumulation of sediments transported by these streams, more particularly the silt into the reservoir is inevitable. Continuous deposition of silt into a reservoir reduces the storage capacity and thereby the life span of the projects is cut short. Therefore, holistic management of catchments of river valley projects is essential to reduce the menace caused by perpetual siltation. Such management requires overall treatment of various factors of ecological degradation in the catchment, both the natural and manmade. The inhabitants of the catchment i.e. human beings, cattle and wildlife depend on various natural resources available in the catchment for their existence, and therefore, any over exploitation of these natural resources lead to degradation of the environment and consequently the life and sustainability of the reservoirs affected adversely. Environment protection and management of catchment, therefore, requires a holistic approach for treatment involving active participation of the stake holders.

In Odisha Upper Kolab and Upper Indrāvati multipurpose river valley projects were set up in the years 1988 & 2001 respectively. No systematic management of catchments of these two river valley projects has been attempted in the past, as a consequence the reservoirs of both these two river valley projects have now become vulnerable to high siltation. It has been apprehended that if timely intervention aiming treatment of catchments of these reservoirs will not be taken up, the life of reservoirs will cut short drastically. To address the long felt need implementation of the Catchment Area Treatment Plans (CATP) of these two river valley projects have been entrusted to the Odisha Forestry Sector Development Society.