GUWAHATI, May 19: With the land and water security challenges confronting the State of Arunachal Pradesh, Agriculture Minister Gabriel D Wangsu sought formal collaboration with NERIWALM (North Eastern Regional Institute of Water and Land Management) in several vital areas, including rapid reconnaissance soil and land use surveys, watershed and springshed Management, catchment prioritization and development of inter-state catchment treatment plans, land capability classification for crop production, and soil characterization studies.
The Minister sought this key collaboration while attending the 6th meeting of the Governing Body of the NERIWALM held here today, with dignitaries from across the region converging to deliberate on critical issues of water and land resource management.
Speaking on the occasion, Wangsu made a strong and impassioned case for a fundamental transformation of NERIWALM, commending the institute's recent academic milestones, including the launch of MTech and PhD programmes in Water Resource Management, the strengthening of its NABL-accredited laboratory facilities, and the development of field laboratories and demonstration units.
“The institute should not remain only as a regional training and research organisation,” the Minister said, urging stakeholders to envision a much larger and more consequential national role for NERIWALM.
Contextualising the urgency of the matter, Wangsu pointed to India's deepening water crisis, noting that nearly 70 per cent of water bodies in the country have been reported to be polluted, with more than 350 polluted stretches identified across 323 rivers. Against this alarming national backdrop, he highlighted that the North Eastern Region records a Water Quality Index score of 88.12 per cent — significantly higher than the combined national score of 70.28 per cent — underscoring the ecological value of the region and the imperative to protect it.
Turning specifically to Arunachal Pradesh, the Minister outlined the acute environmental and agricultural challenges confronting the State. He noted that rivers originating from Arunachal Pradesh’s basins transport enormous volumes of silt and sand into the Brahmaputra basin, altering river courses and causing severe damage to productive agricultural land in both Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.
Citing a 2020 ICAR report on degraded wasteland in India, the minister informed the Governing Body that approximately 17.69 lakh hectares of land in Arunachal Pradesh are under acidic soil conditions, which is a primary concern for the State's agricultural sustainability. He further referenced an IIT Roorkee study which found that approximately 669.35 million tonnes of soil are eroded in Arunachal Pradesh annually, at an average rate of 90.9 tonnes per hectare per year.
The Minister emphasized that watershed protection, catchment area treatment, springshed rejuvenation, and soil conservation in Arunachal Pradesh are not merely state-level concerns, they are matters of regional water security and ecological sustainability that directly affect the Assam plains downstream. He cited the study presented under Agenda 12/06 regarding displacement and erosion in the Brahmaputra Valley as highly significant in this regard.
He also proposed the establishment of a Technological Resource Centre or a State Soil Museum in Arunachal Pradesh, which he envisioned could evolve into a Centre of Excellence for Land and Water Resource Knowledge.
On institutional strengthening, the Minister called for the creation of dedicated schools or centres in specialised water resource domains, expansion of postgraduate and professional training programmes, and recruitment of high-quality faculty and scientists. He also urged that pay scale restructuring in line with UGC/AICTE norms be expedited to attract and retain top talent, and that vacant senior faculty and scientific positions be filled without delay.
Earlier, Ujjal Moni Hazarika, Director NERIWALM, presented the agenda of the 6th GB meeting.
Union Minister of Jal Shakti and president of the Governing Body, C R Patil virtually inaugurated the international hostel-cum-guest house at the NERIWALM campus, Tezpur. The concluding remarks were delivered by Raj Bhushan Choudhary, Minister of State for Jal Shakti and vice president of the Governing Body.
Arunachal Health and WRD Minister Biyuram Wahge also represented the State in this session presided over by Union Minister Patil.