During the review, officials informed the Chief Minister that the Minor Irrigation Department is implementing water conservation, augmentation and recharge initiatives that include construction of check dams, recharge shafts and ponds. According to the department’s update shared in the meeting, 708 check dams have been constructed across the state.

The department also reported that a total of 419 recharge shafts have been installed in Udham Singh Nagar, Nainital and Haridwar districts. Officials estimated that these structures could facilitate annual groundwater recharge of about 108.94 crore litres.

The review also covered measures aimed at strengthening local water sources. Officials said work is underway in nine forest divisions to undertake conservation activities for the treatment of 14 water sources, being implemented through the Drinking Water Department and SARA. In addition, under the CAMPA scheme, treatment work is being carried out on 247 water streams in different forest divisions.

Separately, the Chief Minister directed the Forest Department to begin preparations for preventing forest fires. He asked officials to ensure adequate deployment of human resources and availability of required equipment for fire-prevention and response.

Dhami also instructed the department to maintain regular coordination with forest panchayats and communities living in and around forest areas. He said that efforts related to fire-line cleaning should be carried out in time. He further directed that encroachments on forest land should be removed on priority.

The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary R Meenakshi Sundaram, Secretary Shailesh Bagoli, Yugal Kishore Pant and other officials from the concerned departments. The state government has been undertaking river protection, desilting and water conservation works through department-led programmes and CAMPA-funded interventions as part of its wider flood-mitigation and natural resource management efforts.