NMM Newsletter - Jan 2012.pub - PEACE Institute Charitable Trust

1 January 2012
The NMM Newsletter
Volume 1, Issue 1 & 2
Nadi Naad
(Voice of the River)
From the GRIDS:
River cleaning drive
The members of NMM at
the Ramra GRID cleaned up
their stretch of the river .
Solar lamps
Solar lamp being used to
help cook in the dark at
Ramra GRID
Eco-system people
Eco-friendly lifestyle of
Migrant farmers at Kanalsi
GRID
Natural Farming Workshop
One of the key source
of non-point source
of river pollution is
the toxic run-off from
the agricultural fields.
To address this problem
a two and half
day workshop on
‘Natural Farming’
was held at village
Kanalsi
(Yamunanagar) in
Haryana from 10-12
Dec 2011.
Distribution of solar lamps
The workshop was
led by Sri Raju Titus
of Hoshangabad (MP)
based Titus Farms,
who had been successfully
practicing
Fukuoka inspired
Natural Farming for
the last 25 years. Dr
B. R. Kamboj of IRRI
also shared his experiences
with around
Session at Yamuna river bed
55 participants including
representatives
of various Nadi
Mitra Mandalis
(NMMs) and farmers
from Bhartiya Kisan
Sangh.
The workshop was
ably organized by the
members of the Yamuna
Seva Samiti, the
local Nadi Mitra Mandali
at Kanalsi.
Dr Peter Spillet, Trustee
and Dr Robert
Oates, CEO of
Thames Rivers Restoration
Trust, TRRT
also participated on
day one of the workshop.
The concept of ‘No-
Till farming’ practices
explained by Raju Titus
was found by the
participants to be
quite novel and it was
only towards the end
when most saw merit
and expressed eagerness
to test it in their
fields.
The opportunity was
also utilized to give
away solar lamps to
members of 4 Nadi
Mitra Mandalis.
The participants at
the workshop enthusiastically
planted
plants on the river
bank of river Somb.
Plantation activities

P a ge 2 N a di Naad V o lume 1, I s s u e 1 & 2
Eco-club News:
Kharadi GRID
(Govt Inter College; Yamdagni
Rishi Public School;
Suman Grammer Public
School)
Plantation ; Green Yatra
Slogan Writing
Katapathar GRID
(Govt High School)
Rivers’ Day
Kanalsi GRID
(Yamuna Public School; Govt
Middle School)
Rivers’ Day; Plantation;
Manoj Thakur, Journalist Dainik
Bhaskar addressing the Ecoclub
members
Ramra GRID
(Bhartiya Vidya Mandir)
Rivers’ Day; Plantation ;
Eco-sanitation
Ova GRID
(Sri Dau Ji Maharaj Public
School)
Painting; Plantation;
Gadaya GRID
(Moni baba Adarsh Inter
College; Maa Bhagwati
Uchatar Madhyamik Vidyalay)
Plantation; Slogan writing
Ground Water Recharge & Eco-Sanitation Workshop
Three day workshop
on “Ground Water
Recharge” and “Eco-
Sanitation” was held
from 1-3 October,
2011 at Ramra
(Muzzafarnagar) in
Uttar Pradesh.
Sri Mahendra Modi,
IPS facilitated the
workshop on ground
water recharge, while
Session with Sri Modi, IPS
Sri M. Subburaman,
SCOPE, Trichy,
Tamil Nadu led the
workshop on Ecosanitation.
The workshop was
ably organized by the
Yamuna Gram Seva
Samiti, the local
NMM at Ramra.
Around 65 participants
from various
Session with M. Subburaman
Natural manure made with
human feaces
Natural manure made using
human urine
NMMs and local villagers
participated
with great interest.
Ground water is a
fast dwindling resource
all over north
India. Hence Sri
Modi’s instructions
and field demonstration
was eagerly accepted
by the participants.
The concept of ecosanitation,
whence
human feaces and
urine is looked upon
as a valuable resource
acquired through
specially prepared
Enthusiastic participants
Plantation before the workshop
Dry toilets was an
eye opener for all. Sri
Subburaman, who is
a kind of pioneer and
leader in popularization
of such toilets in
the country has a
nice and effective
manner of presenting
his views and instructions.
He took
the participants systematically
through
the journey from a
Distributed Solar Lamps
Open defecation
stage to the now
popular flush toilet
stage to finally the
desired ecosanitation
stage. Mr
Giridhar Kinhal
from ICIMOD, Nepal
and Manoj Misra,
who had volunteered,
ably translated
the lessons of
Sri Subburaman
from English into
Hindi.

N a di Naad V o lume 1, I s s u e 1 & 2
P a ge 3
Project spread
PROJECT COM-
PONENTS
1.Institutional
strengthening of
NMMs
2.Catchment restoration
3.River health & Village
health Monitoring
Inception Workshop
The project implementation
started
with an Inception
workshop held at
New Delhi from 6-7
August 2011.
35 participants from
the various GRIDS
actively reviewed the
progress achieved
during the predecessor
UNDP-GEF
SGP project dealing
with developing a
“People’s River
Health Index” and
planned for activities
during the current
Gathered Participants
Project.
Smt Madhu Bhaduri
and Sri Raman
Khanna, two of the
Trustees of PEACE
Institute also lent
their piece of advice.
As did Sri BMS Rathore
and Pushp
Jain, the long time
associate and supporters
of PEACE
Institute.
The presence of Dr
Asghar Nawab, Senior
Project Coordinator,
WWF India at
the workshop signified
a close link between
WWF-India
and PEACE Institute.
Gathered Professionals
4.Promotion of
natural farming;
waste management;
green yatra; improved
sanitation;
ground water recharge;
renewable
energy (solar)
5.Capacity enhancement
workshops
6.Eco-clubs (soil,
water, river and air)
7.Synergy with
WWF India activities

PEACE Institute Charitable Trust
(PICT)
in association with
Thames Rivers Restoration Trust
(TRRT)
PEACE Institute Charitable Trust
178-F, Pocket-4,
Mayur Vihar Phase-1
New Delhi-110091
Tele-Fax: 91-11-22719005
Email: manojmisra@peaceinst.org
We are on the WEB!
www.peaceinst.org
Jiye Jamuna... Jiye Jan-Jan
Editorial
Welcome to the inaugural newsletter of the TRRT supported “Rivers
Restoration techniques development” Project being implemented by
PEACE Institute at 10 GRIDS along the entire length of the 1400 km
long river Yamuna. The project is being implemented in partnership
with the members of the Nadi Mitra Mandali, NMM , “Friends of the
river groups”, at the 10 sites popularly called the GRID.
Through this newsletter, it shall be our endeavour to share with you, on a
quarterly basis the news and views about the various activities underway
under the project at the various GRIDS. In the spirit of the pioneering
nature of the project , we shall also share successes as well as disappointments
if any along the way. This issue covers period from July-Dec 2011.
The origins and details about the project can be seen both at PEACE
website (www.peaceinst.org) and at TRRT website (www.trrt.org.uk) .
We hope that you find the newsletter informatinve, interesting and
enlightening. Please feel free to write to us. We shall be waiting.
Manoj Misra , Editor
The Project team
PEACE Institute
1.Manoj Misra,
Executive Director
2.Sudha Mohan,
Project Manager
3.Dr Sitaram Taigor,
Project Executive
4.Bhim Singh Rawat,
Project Executive
5. Manorama
Goswami, Project Assistant
TRRT representative at a GRID
NADI MITRA
MANDALI (NMM)
1.Yamunotri Sewa Samiti
(Kharadi), UKH
Jagmohan Barthwal-
President
2.Yamuna Swacchata Samiti
(Katapathar) UKH
Sardar Singh Tomar-
President
3. Yamuna Sewa Samiti
(Kanalsi), Haryana
Kiran Pal Rana-
President
4. Yamuna Gram Sewa
Samiti (Ramra), UP
Sompal Singh-
President
5. Dau ji Yamuna Jan
Kalyan Samiti (Ova), UP
Rameswar Singh-
President
6.Guru Gargacharya Yamuna
Jan Kalyan Samiti
(Gadaya), UP
Girdhari Lal-President
7. Sri Bateswar nath Yamuna
Jan Kalyan Samiti
(Siyach), UP
Om Prakash-President
8.Pachnada Yamuna
Nadi Mitra Samiti
(Pachnada) UP
Vinod Kumar-
President
9.Yamuna-Betwa Nadi
Mitra Samiti (Hamirpur),
UP
Udai Bhan Singh Gautam-President
10.Panchdev Yamuna
Nadi Mitra Samiti(Ekdala),UP
PEACE Team with NMM
Badlu Ram-President