Presentation cum Interactive Session on Traditional Water Bodies of Jammu Organized in University of Jammu

A Presentation cum interactive session on ‘Traditional water bodies of Jammu Municipal Corporation Area’ was organized jointly by the Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Jammu and INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art & Cultural Heritage) Jammu Chapter. The event was organized as part of the joint study carried out by the department in collaboration with INTACH on listing and mapping of the natural heritage of Jammu District.

Ms. Mandeep Kour, Commission Secretary, Housing and Urban Development Department was the Chief Guest on the occasion. While addressing the gathering she lauded the efforts of the department and INTACH Jammu Chapter for taking up such an important and much-needed study of inventorizing the water bodies of Jammu district. She informed the house that work has already started on the rejuvenation of some of these traditional water bodies and the findings of this study would be helpful in deciding the priority level for management of these water bodies. She invited the department and the INTACH to collaborate with their department and engage students and scholars from the university in the management of these water bodies. While discussing various Central government schemes viz., Amrit Sarovar and Amrut schemes for conserving traditional water bodies under MG NREGA she encouraged the members to adopt these traditional water bodies for their conservation.

Prof. Piyush Malaviya, Head, Department of Environmental Sciences while formally welcoming the dignitaries discussed the importance of such collaborative and integrated studies involving multi-stakeholders for water conservation and management.

Technical session of the event started by keynote presentation by Dr. Deepika Slathia, Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences. She highlighted the detailed findings of the collaborative study on the ‘Listing and mapping of the traditional water bodies of Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) Area’ undertaken by the Department in collaboration with INTACH, Jammu Chapter. She informed that around 65 water bodies comprising of ancient wells, step-wells, and ponds have been listed and mapped, and detailed studies have been carried out on other important aspects of these water bodies such as their ecological, cultural, and socio-economic significance, threats being faced by each water body, and the level of priority for effective management of each waterbody. “As almost all these water bodies are showing signs of deterioration, it’s high time that interventions are made for their effective restoration and management”, she said while discussing various threats being faced by these water bodies. “Since the water bodies have already been identified and prioritized based on their status, restoration and rejuvenation of these water bodies can be started in phase wise manner starting with the high priority water bodies”, she recommended while concluding the findings of the study.

Mr. S. M. Sahni, Convener, INTACH, Jammu Chapter (JKAS Retd.) suggested that these water bodies need to be included in the Smart City Master Plan and the surrounding areas of these water bodies should be developed as green spaces as these hold ecological and cultural significance. He stressed upon the need to use traditional knowledge for the restoration, upgradation, and conservation of these water bodies. Dr. C. M. Seth (IFS), Former, Chief Conservator of Forests and Co-Convener INTACH shared his field experiences on various conservation techniques adopted by the rural people. He talked about the importance of these water bodies by giving various examples of the link between the water bodies and associated aquatic biodiversity. He suggested that water bodies must be treated as living entities and stressed on the incorporation of indigenous knowledge and resources for the restoration and conservation of these water bodies.

The formal vote of thanks was delivered by Dr. Arvind Kotwal (JKAS) Coordinator Heritage Tourism INTACH Jammu Chapter. The event was attended by around 70 students and scholars of various departments of the University, faculty members of department, Dr. Rakesh Kumar, Dr. Meenakshi Khajuria, Dr. Ranjan Sharma, Dr. Ravinder Kumar and Rozi Sharma.

Other dignitaries present during the event included Mr. Narinder Khajuria (JKAS) Secretary, Urban and Housing Development Department, Sh. Hemant Sharma (JKAS) Former Div. Com., Sh. Arvind Kotwal, Sh. Robin Mehta Director Tourism (Retd.), Madam Reshmi Kashyap and Dr. Mrinalini Atri.