DRP News Bulletin

DRP News Bulletin 22 April 2019: Swami Aatmabodhanand to give up water; Why is BJP so little concerned about Ganga?

Following death of Swami Gyan Swaroop Sanand (Prof G D Agarwal) while on fast unto death on Oct 11, 2018 and disappearance of Swami Gopal Das ji from AIIMS-Delhi, Swami Aatmabodhanand ji has been on fast unto death at Matri Sadan, Haridwar since Oct 24, 2019. In a letter to the Prime Minister on April 19, 2019 he has said that if the government does respond by April 25, 2019 to the four demands for which the fast undo death is undertaken, he will leave water from April 27, 2019. The four demands are well known:

  1. Cancel all under construction and proposed dams on Bhagirathi, Alaknanda and their tributaries.
  2. Prohibit all mining and tree cutting in the Ganga flood plains, particularly in Haridwar
  3. Enact Ganga Act for the preservation of River Ganga, the draft of which has been sent to the govt.
  4. Constitute an autonomous Ganga Council

Continue reading “DRP News Bulletin 22 April 2019: Swami Aatmabodhanand to give up water; Why is BJP so little concerned about Ganga?”

Groundwater · Mountains

Himalaya-friendly groundwater governance

Guest Blog by Chicu Lokgariwar

In January 2019, the NGT rejected the Centre Groundwater Guidelines for a variety of reasons. It cited several shortcomings, several of which had already been pointed out on this blog, such as the fact that the water conservation fee would give those who had paid it carte blanche to withdraw excessive amounts of water and the lack of monitoring of pollution of groundwater. In addition to the shortcomings cited by the NGT, do the guidelines take into account the special needs of the Himalayan states? SANDRP spoke with people who have been working on groundwater in the Indian Himalayas to understand what the region’s needs are. Continue reading “Himalaya-friendly groundwater governance”