Looking at the Way Ahead
Indeed rivers are very important in building India’s economy. For more than two millenniums of the existence of Indian civilizations, rivers have played a significant role in the development of cities and in the process of urbanization. Rivers play such a crucial role not only for the development of our country but also for the smooth functioning of our daily lives. Thus, we must try to conserve the most precious natural resource, i.e., river water, as much as possible.
It has been seen that gradually the amount of water used in agricultural needs has been decreased. The reason is that the states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, and parts of Uttar Pradesh consume most of the high flow water of the Himalayan rivers through canals, and by the time the river water reaches the plains, the flow decreases. There must be developments made in the conservation of canal water and new ways to construct canals; so that the river water is efficiently used. Otherwise, there would be an acute shortage of river water in the near future.
For the past few decades, it has been noted that river pollution has increased by significant levels because of human activities. To prevent this, the government has taken several steps. Conservation and cleaning projects dedicated to a particular river have been initiated like the Namami Gange (National Programme for Clean Ganga) which is an integrated conservation mission and was started in June 2014 by the Union Government under the Ministry of Jal Shakti. Moreover, the allocated budget for the mission is Rs 20,000 crores.
Also, the government has even banned the illegal mining of river sand bed, which is used for construction activities. People should also acknowledge the significance of rivers in the Indian economy and must do every bit from their respective ends. Or else the future generations would not be able to utilize the economic benefits of rivers.
Role of Rivers in Indian Economy
Since the inception of human civilization, rivers have been a significant part of human lives. Water has been the most precious natural resource since time immemorial. In fact, the earliest known human settlements were started around the river banks, for instance, the Indus valley civilization. The primary reason for these developments was the potential of rivers as a source of livelihood and to generate economic activities around them. Over the period, as human civilizations across the nation began to develop, the dimensions of rivers as a source of the economy also increased. Let’s discuss some spheres where we find the economic importance of rivers.