DEHRADUN: A staggering 12,000 natural springs in Uttarakhand have dried up. In order to work towards their revival, a number of NGOs and other organizations have prepared a proposal which would be forwarded through the state government to the union ministry of drinking water and sanitation asking for a Rs 500 crore grant in order to revive these water bodies. The proposal was prepared after two-day marathon deliberations on the topic 'Reviving springs in Uttarakhand' at a workshop organised by the Dehradun-based NGO People's Science Institute (PSI) which concluded on Wednesday.Providing details, Harshvardhan Dhawan, member of the Arghyam Foundation, said, "Out of an estimated 60,000-odd springs in the state, it was decided that we need to work on urgent revival and maintenance of some 12,000 springs which have dried up. This will be done over a period of eight years through a steering committee consisting of members from the forest and rural development department, Central Soil and Water Conservation Research and Training Institute, IIT Roorkee, Central Ground Water Board and few other bodies. Some 300 organizations and experts would lend technical support. The entire program would percolate down to local communities which would maintain these revived springs."Arghyam, which has been founded by Rohini Nilekani, wife of former Infosys CEO and ex-chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India Nandan Nilekani, has infused almost Rs 120 crore in 22 states over the last 10 years in the areas of drinking water and sanitation.Acknowledging that drying of springs was an issue of grave concern for the state, Ravi Chopra, former director of PSI said that it was high time that "the state government, civil society organizations and local communities came together to revive springs in a sustainable way."Chief secretary Shatrughan Singh, who was present at the event, added that water crisis was one of the major reasons which precipitated migration from the hill villages. "The state government, too, has decided to encourage people in reviving or maintaining water bodies and springs in their areas by bearing one third of the cost of the total expenditure for such endeavors," he said

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