Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan calls for removal of Eucalyptus trees from the catchment areas of river Narmada.
The roots of Eucalyptus trees sucks ground water in large quantity and makes the deep soils barren, he added.
“We have to remove Eucalyptus trees planted wherever in the catchment areas of river Narmada”, Chouhan said.
The chief minister was addressing a function at Awalighat on banks of river Narmada in Sehore district on Sunday.
More and more Sal trees would be planted, as they release water from their roots, which joins the Narmada in the form of small streams and ensures continuous flow of water in river Narmada, he said.
The government alone cannot protect and promote Narmada, for this the society will have to work together, he said.
More trees in the catchment areas will lessen pollution in the river, he said.
Alongwith the government, the society must come forward in protection and conservation of the river, he said.
Along with this, the farmers of villages on river banks must plant fruit bearing trees in their agriculture fields.
Chouhan said that no construction would be allowed on Maikal mountain of Amarkantak, the origin of Narmada.
For the convenience of tourists visiting Amarkantak, hotels, restaurants etc. will be allowed under the mountain, he said.
He appealed to the farmers not to burn Narwai, the fertility of the earth is destroyed by burning narvai.
Excessive use of pesticides is a threat to human health, he said.
He said farmers must adopt natural farming, in the initial phase, they must do natural farming on less land.
Chouhan encouraged the farmers to take up cow rearing.
This would help them a lot in natural farming and every month Rs 900 would be given by the government for cow rearing, he said.
He said more and more ponds will have to be built on both sides of Narmada under Amrit Sarovar Yojna.
This will increase the ground water level, he said. He said awareness will come among the people through Narmada Parikrama, which will prove useful for the conservation and promotion of Narmada.
