The Department of Land Resources (DoLR) organized a National Workshop on proposed Pilot projects on River Rejuvenation through the watershed approach on September 29, 2026, in New Delhi. The workshop brought together hydrologists, groundwater experts, geospatial scientists from IITs, experts from ICAR Institutes, National Remote Sensing Centre, Central Ground Water Board, NMCG, National River Conservation Directorate, Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, National Institute of Hydrology, National Geophysical Research Institute, watershed practitioners, State Government representatives, research institutions, NGOs, and International Organizations to deliberate on a scientific framework for river rejuvenation through watershed development.
Secretary of DoLR, Shri Narendra Bhooshan, emphasized that river rejuvenation requires treating the landscapes that feed rivers with interventions tailored to specific hydrological conditions of each catchment. The proposed pilots will focus on restoring river hydrology through catchment treatment, groundwater recharge, soil and water conservation, and improvement of base and lean-season flows. He stressed that planning should be based on a hydrological baseline including rainfall, groundwater, catchment condition, and water balance.
CEO of National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA), Dr. Chandra Shekhar Kumar, highlighted the need for a systematic data-based framework for small rivers where long-term flow data is often limited, bringing together legacy data, scientific analysis, high-resolution mapping, and Decision Support Systems to guide river selection and treatment planning.
Joint Secretary of Watershed Management, DoLR, Shri Nitin Khade, stated that the objective of these pilots is to increase river flows through groundwater recharge, soil and water conservation, and intensive watershed treatment, while simultaneously improving agricultural productivity and income of farmers residing in the catchment areas. The proposed pilots will focus on first-, second-, and third-order streams, with selection based on parameters including historical decline in flow, catchment condition, rainfall, groundwater depletion, intervention potential, and data availability.
The workshop emphasized convergence with government programmes and schemes including VB-G RAM G, CAMPA, Ministry of Jal Shakti and State schemes, CSR, NGOs, along with support from research institutions and international organizations, implementing a Whole of Government and Whole of Society Approach. Deliberations covered river selection, hydrological baselines, catchment treatment, GIS and remote sensing, intervention design, institutional frameworks, multidisciplinary teams, monitoring and evaluation, convergence, community participation, and long-term maintenance.
The proposed monitoring framework will assess outcomes across four dimensions: Hydrological, Environmental, Agricultural, and Socio-economic, with the objective of generating evidence that can guide the potential scaling up of watershed development approach based river rejuvenation across the country.