News: The Union Jal Shakti Minister chaired a key meeting to ensure environmental flow (e-flow) in the Ganga River and its tributaries, aiming to promote sustainable river management.
About Environmental Flow (E-Flow)
- Definition: E-flow refers to the quantity, timing, and quality of water flows required to sustain freshwater ecosystems and the livelihoods that depend on them.
- Importance: It will maintain ecological integrity of rivers and their estuaries.
- Human Benefit: It ensures human welfare, especially in regions with competitive and regulated water use.
Need for E-Flow
- River Interventions: Dams, barrages, pollution, and encroachments have disrupted river systems.
- Impact: Degraded aquatic biodiversity, reduced river self-cleaning capacity, and disturbed hydrological cycles.
- Solution: E-flow ensures minimum water flow to preserve river health and sustain aquatic life.
- Aquatic Biodiversity: E-flow protects the habitat and breeding cycles of key fish and aquatic species.
- Economic Benefits: Long-term livelihood security for communities depending on rivers (e.g., fisheries, agriculture).
