Gujarat to initiate project to restore ecology of saline areas

Gujarat, which possesses more than 1.2 million hectares of arid area due to salinity ingress, is planning to initiate a project to turn the vast tracks of saline land into grassland and restore green cover of those areas.
In this regard, the Gujarat Ecology Commission of the state's forest and environment department has taken up a pilot project in a village near Gulf of Khambhat and will subsequently implement in other areas also.
"We have planned a project to convert vast saline area in to grassland and at present taken a pilot project at a village Tadan talav near Gulf of Khambhat in Anand district of state," A K Saxena, member secretary of the Gujarat Ecology Commission, said.

This project was conceptualised around three years ago with a view to convert the arid lands due to salinity ingress into grass-land with vegetative cover and restore ecology of the area, said Saxena.
According to sources in Gujarat Ecology commission (GEC), a study is being conducted in Tada Talav village to convert the saline area into green one.
"We are conducting a study in Tada talav village near Gulf of Khambhat on converting saline land into grass-land and on the findings of that study, we will decide on the future of the project," said an official associated with the project.

"We will first grow grass in saline areas, as it can generate the organic matters in an arid land and after that we will grow other vegetation there, said official.

"We can reduce the effect of saline tidal waters of the sea, which ingresses salinity in other areas by planting grass and ultimately ecology will be restored in saline areas," he said.
With the success of this project, there will be a positive impact over the state's ecology which will ultimately help in progress of farming community, he added.
Due to salinity, the land goes arid and barren which has no use for the farmers, said the sources.

According to the website of Narmada Water Resources, Water Supply and Kalpsar Department, coastal areas of Kutch and Saurashtra are saline which comprises around 1.2 million hectares.