Inspired by PM’s vision, Sambhal administration revives Sot River in UP with Janbhagidari

Sambhal (Uttar Pradesh) [India], September 24 : The Sot river, once a lifeline for farmers and the environment in the Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh, has been revived due to a collaborative effort between the district administration and social workers, fulfilling Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision for a cleaner and greener India.
Prime Minister Modi had mentioned the Sot river in his Mann Ki Baat radio address, which had excited the people of the area. The district administration then took up the task of reviving the river with the help of social workers.
"UP’s Sambhal district exemplifies Janbhagidari. 70 villages united to revive Sot River happened on the 15 of September," posted Prime Minister Office on X.

Prime Minister Modi lauded the collective efforts of the people of Sambhal to revive the Sot river. 
The PM Modi said in the Mann ki Baat "In our country, which considers the river as its mother, the people of Sambhal took a pledge to revive it. In December last year, more than 70 gram panchayats together started the work of rejuvenation of Sot River. The people of Gram Panchayats also took government departments along with them," 
PM Modi added "You will be happy to know that in the first six months of the year itself, these people had rehabilitated more than 100 kilometres of the river path. When the rainy season started, the hard work of the people here bore fruit and the Sot river was filled to the brim with water. This has come as a big occasion of happiness for the farmers here. People have also planted more than 10 thousand bamboo saplings on the banks of the river so that its banks remain completely safe,"
The Sot River, a tributary of the Ganges, had disappeared from the Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh due to encroachment and neglect. Due to a collaborative effort between the district administration and social workers, the river has now been revived.
The project to revive the Sot River was started in 2021 by the then Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Sambhal, Sot River Revival: A success story of Janbhagidari in MNREGA from Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh. Yadav held a meeting with social workers in the area and sought their cooperation in reviving the river.
Lauding the efforts by the SDM Deependra Kumar Yadav, District Magistrate Manish Bansal said " Sot river used to be an important river of Sambhal district. It was completely disappeared. There was hardly any water in it. This is a tributary river of the Ganga. It goes to Badaun from Amroha district. In Sambhal we got it renovated under MNREGA. We have done this from November 2022 to July 2023. This river passes through 71 gram panchayats in 5 development blocks of the district. We carried out a massive program by generating one lakh seventy-seven thousand man-days. People had encroached upon the land on the river Sot.  We have done an evacuation drive to recover the natural course of the river. This time it revived in the rain.
"This will also help the farmers of the area to stop the decreasing water level. Now we are also making a program to revive the Mahaba River, another tributary of Sambhal," He added. 
The social workers responded enthusiastically to the call and volunteered their time and resources to the project.
Rajendra Kumar Pradhan a social worker said  "SDM  Deependra Kumar held a meeting of villagers, and social workers, and everyone cooperated in 2021. Tasks were divided in the meeting. We dug 52-53 kilometres of the river. Now clear water is flowing in the river, " 
Another social activist, Musheer Khan Tareen thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for mentioning the Sot River of Sambhal in Man ki Baat
Musheer Khan Tareen said "The heads of the area also played their main role. Monetary support was also given in planting trees on the banks of river Sot. I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for mentioning the Sot River of Sambhal in Man ki Baat," 
"It is a matter of great pride that Sambhal got such an opportunity to revive Sot River. Our administration came to our place and gave us direction. People had encroached on the river. SDM Deependra Yadav took up the task of reviving this river with public cooperation with the support of DM Avinash Krishna Singh. We formed a group of people and requested a social worker. This area of Sambhal district was in the dark zone. There was a need to increase the water level. We came out of the dark zone. The water level is going to provide huge benefits to our farmers as well. This river will benefit the entire population around it." said Kamal Kosal, Social Worker
They worked tirelessly to clear the encroachments on the riverbed and to plant trees on the banks of the river.
The district administration also provided financial support to the project. Under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), the administration generated one lakh seventy-seven thousand man-days of employment for the work on the Sot River.
The revival of the Sot river has been a success. The river is now flowing freely and its water level has increased significantly. This is expected to benefit lakhs of farmers in the district, who rely on the river for irrigation. The revival of the river has also improved the environment in the district.