Implement National Lake Conservation Plan ( NLCP )

Lakes are an important feature of the Earth’s landscape. They are not only a significant source of precious water, but often provide valuable habitats to plants and animals, moderate the hydrological extreme events (drought and floods), influence microclimate, enhance the aesthetic beauty of the landscape and extend many recreational opportunities. The lakes provide a wide diversity of values & uses ranging from ecological goods & services to direct production values. These can be categorised as direct use values with consumptive & non-consumptive uses such as drinking, irrigation, fishing, eco-tourism etc. Indirect use values with beneficiary located away from the lake, potential future use & non-use social benefit of availability of a healthy water resource for future generation. The different problems encountered in the lake include excessive influx of sediments from the lake catchment, discharge of untreated or partially treated sewage & industrial waste waters/ solid waste disposal, entry of diffused source nutrients from agricultural and forestry, improper management of storm water/combined with over abstraction, over-exploitation of lake for activities like recreation, fishing, encroachments, land reclamation resulting in lake shrinkage, shoreline erosion and impact on lake hydrology, deterioration in water quality and impact on bio diversity, climate change etc. Recognising the importance of lakes, Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India, launched the National Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP), a Centrally Sponsored Scheme exclusively aimed at restoring the water quality and ecology of the lakes in different parts of the country. The scheme was approved by Government of India during IX Plan (June 2001) as 100% Central Grant. Funding pattern under NLCP has since been changed w.e.f. February, 2002 from 100% central funding to 70:30 costs sharing between the Central and the concerned State Government. 2.0 OBJECTIVE The objective of the scheme is to restore and conserve the urban and semi-urban lakes of the country degraded due to waste water discharge into the lake and other unique freshwater eco systems1, through an integrated ecosystem approach. write a comment...... Join in discussion. Sign the petition & SHARE