Narmada's catchment area to be converted into organic farming belt

BHOPAL: An ambitious 10-year action plan to convert river Narmada's catchment area into organic/natural farming belt will be released during the upcoming three-day International River Festival.

The International River Festival (IRF '13) will be held from February 8-10 on the banks of Narmada at Bandrabhan in Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh.

The festival is held here regularly where foreign delegates also participate and deliberate on the issue of river conservation.

"The experience from years of continuous work for environment and Narmada river conservation has made us realise that the river is most affected by chemical fertilisers/pesticides used for agriculture in the catchment area," Rajya Sabha MP from BJP and Narmada Samagra's (NGO) secretary Anil Madhav Dave said today.