Studies on Natural Resources and their Significance Around Arpa River Basin in Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh State is mostly dominated by tribal and backward people. The state has rich endowment of natural resources in terms of minerals, forests and water bodies. The state has a forest cover of around 44%, which represents diverse tropical flora and fauna. Mahanadi, Shivnath, Son, Arpa, Kharoun, Hasdeo and Indrawati are the main rivers. The main forest types that are classified on the basis of species composition include Sal forest, being the dominant species distributed throughout western and eastern Belghana. However, the teak forest are found throughout the Khondri range while the mixed forests are distributed in the southern Belghana where the species of bamboo, sal, muhua, bija, sisso etc. are prominent. The third important resource in aforementioned region is soil and the geology of watershed that determines the infiltration of water, percolation of water, and controls the runoff and soil erosion of the area. The most widely distributed soil types of the area are loamy sand, loam, clayey loam and clay. The black cotton soil and lateritic or red soil are widely dominating in parts of study area. It was inferred from the study that Arpa river basin is very rich in natural resources, which need their systematic management without overexploiting them so that socioeconomic standards of this tribal area can be uplifted in a productive manner. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]