NTPC, IIFM ink pact for implementing landscape restoration project in Narmada basin

State-run NTPC and Bhopal-based Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM) have signed a pact for implementing Narmada Landscape Restoration Project in Madhya Pradesh. The project aims to maintain "sustainable landscape practices" in the Narmada basin. NTPC Ltd and IIFM, Bhopal on December 4 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to implement the Narmada Landscape Restoration Project (NLRP), the Ministry of Power said in a statement.

The four-year project will be implemented in Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh, in the catchments of selected tributaries of the river Narmada between Omkareshwar and Maheshwar dams, it added. The programme is in partnership with a grant-in-aid from NTPC and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in equal proportions, the ministry said.

"The project aims to establish an incentivisation mechanism that can continue to support the riparian forest (an area of land adjacent to a body of water such as a river) and farm communities of the Narmada basin to maintain sustainable landscape practices. This is expected to positively impact the water quality and quantity in the Narmada tributaries," the statement said. S M Chowdhury, Executive Director, NTPC said the project will benefit the farmers, forest communities as well as women in catchment of river Narmada in Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh.

Pankaj Srivastava, Director, IIFM, said the project will help manage watersheds to maintain water quality and also supplement Smart Cities mission. "Incentives to downstream rural communities for maintenance of ecosystem services of natural forests and creation of man-made buffers for natural purification of water will be a win-win situation for water consumers of Indore as well as residents of villages in the source water zone," he added.