Rally for River.
According to a world bank report titled ‘Issues and Priorities for Agriculture’, India has about 195 million hectares of land under cultivation. Of this, about 63% or nearly 125 million hectares is rain-fed, while remaining 37% or 70 million hectares of the agricultural land depends on irrigation. Generally, rivers around agricultural zones provide much-needed water for irrigation.
Additionally, several wildlife sanctuaries of India are located on banks of rivers and their backwaters. These national parks are home to several endangered species that feature on Red List of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Hence rivers in India are critical to their survival.
Further, rivers of India also provide livelihood to millions of people including fishermen, sand dredgers and various other professions.
Agriculture
The fertile alluvial soil of river valleys and plains is ideal for growing crops. Almost all the great civilizations of the world arose in the fertile flood plains of the river such as the Nile in Egypt, the Tigris and the Euphrates in the Middle East, the Indus in southern Asia, and the Huang (Yellow) in China. The farmlands in dry areas also depend on rivers for irrigation.
Acts as Transportation Routes
Rivers provided routes for trade and commerce, exploration, settlement as well as recreation. The Scandinavian and Russian cultures near Eastern Europe’s Volga River were allowed to exchange goods and ideas with Persian cultures in southern Europe near the mouth of the Volga.
Habitat & Food Provider
The river supports aquatic ecosystem. It is an excellent habitat for innumerable animals and living organism. Marine, as well as other land animals, live by the river for food and water. River deltas usually have varied species of wildlife, insects, birds, and mammals to use the delta for their shelter and food. Besides, the river also locates much of the exciting flora and fauna.
Source of Power Generation
The river is one of the vital sources of energy. With the development of towns and industries, the water of rivers helped generate electricity and supply power for homes in cities and to operate machinery in the factories. The Mississippi powers hundreds of factories in the United States, and similarly the Thames in England, and the Ruhr in Germany.
Great For Fishing and Watching Various Species of Birds
Rivers are also used by people for fishing. People often queue up on the bank of a river for fish catching and then enjoy doing the barbeque. Various species need freshwater to quench their thirst. Rivers, thus, become a great source to watch exotic species feed on animals that live in rivers and birds diving to catch the fish.
Many of today’s famous cities concentrated along the rivers. Some of these river cities include New York City, New York; London, England; Cairo, Egypt; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Kolkata, India; and Shanghai, China.
Plans to save rivers
Isha Foundation has a decade of experience in matters related to environment and sustainability and hence has come up with a solution to stabilise and revitalise the rivers. To ensure that the rivers are fed by moist soil throughout the year, the campaign plans to maintain a tree cover for at least one kilometer on either side of the entire river length and of about half a kilometer for tributaries. Forest trees will be planted on government land and fruit trees on farmer’s land. Fruit trees will help to enhance the livelihood of farmers as well as improve nutritional intake among the people.
In the last few decades, rivers in India have undergone a drastic change due to population and development. Many of the rivers have already vanished and some of them vanish once the rainy season is over. Rally for Rivers is a campaign launched by Isha Foundation to create awareness on protecting rivers. Sadhguru, the founder of Isha Foundation, plans to reverse the issue and revive the rivers. Ganga, Krishna, Narmada, Kaveri rivers are some of the focus areas. Isha Foundation has also collaborated with the Ministry of Environment.
Plans to save rivers
Isha Foundation has a decade of experience in matters related to environment and sustainability and hence has come up with a solution to stabilise and revitalise the rivers. To ensure that the rivers are fed by moist soil throughout the year, the campaign plans to maintain a tree cover for at least one kilometer on either side of the entire river length and of about half a kilometer for tributaries. Forest trees will be planted on government land and fruit trees on farmer’s land. Fruit trees will help to enhance the livelihood of farmers as well as improve nutritional intake among the people.
Rally for rivers route
The rally will be flagged off on September 2 in Coimbatore and will be driving across 13 states and 22 cities in India and culminate on October 2 in Delhi. It will conduct over 21 events in major cities.
Rally for Rivers inspires govt. action to rejuvenate 13 major Indian rivers
We are thrilled to share that the Indian government announced plans to rejuvenate 13 major rivers based on the draft policy recommendations of the Rally for Rivers movement, launched by Sadhguru Ji in 2017. The world's largest ecological movement continues to inspire action to nurture India's lifelines.
I am also the part of rally for river. I got the mail to isha.offerings@isha.sadhguru.org I am read this mail. Sadhguru ji start new rally save Soil.
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