Varavoor in Thrissur district has become the first grama panchayat in the State to have a net plan. Net plan is a watershed management initiative with people’s participation for implementing land use practices and water management practices to protect and improve quality of water and other natural resources in a comprehensive manner.
With the implementation of a watershed plan, each family can become part of panchayat’s development, said K. Radhakrishnan, Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Backward Classes, who launched the plan. Net planning utilises Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) even in the private land for watershed management. The grama panchayat aims at implementing the project at a cost of ₹67 crore in three years.
Under the project, separate plans will be prepared for plots of each person with land details like survey number, location, measurement, slop of the land, nature of soil, kinds of trees, and possibility for panting more trees. Each person will have an idea about possible actions to be taken in his land’s development in future. Development of local partnership can also lead to greater awareness and support from the general public, said Planning Board Stat-level Recourse Group member Anoop Kishore.
