It was great to see that river figured prominently in the just concluded Delhi Assembly Elections where BJP has come to power in the state after 27 years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured Delhi that the BJP government will make every effort to clean Yamuna. “It may be a long haul but Mother Yamuna will surely bless our efforts,” he said. Will this help the cause of the River?
Continue reading “An Action Plan for Yamuna in Delhi”Month: February 2025
Post Monsoon 2024: District wise Rainfall in India
According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), during the Post Monsoon Rainfall for 2024, that included rainfall during the three Oct-Dec 2024 months, India received 117.4 mm rainfall, 3% below normal (110.7 mm, 9% below normal in Post Monsoon 2023[i], 144.1 mm, 19% above normal in Post Monsoon 2022[ii] and 177.7 mm rainfall, 43.54% above normal in Post Monsoon 2021[iii]) rainfall of 121 mm. In the same period in 2020, India received 124.6 mm rainfall, 0.64% above the normal rainfall. As per IMD[iv] definition, the rainfall in Post Monsoon 2024 was in Normal Rainfall category.
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DRP NB 240225: Unanswered questions on Ken Betwa Project
At a well-attended meeting at India International Centre in Delhi on Feb 20 2025, organised by VIDHI Centre for Legal Policy, a panel of speakers including Shri Shashi Shekhar (former secretary, Union Ministry of Water Resources) and Shri Jasbir Singh Chauhan (former Principle Chief Conservator of Forests, Madhya Pradesh) and Himanshu Thakkar of SANDRP, a number of fundamental questions were raised about the controversial Ken Betwa River Link Project. Unfortunately, no clear answers are forth coming from the authorities.
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Urban Groundwater 2024: Top Ten Judicial Interventions
(Feature Image: Underconstruction overhead water tank along Bindal river in Dehradun. B. S. Rawat/SANDRP/May 2024)
This annual overview includes the top ten reports from 2024 on judicial interventions regarding groundwater in urban India. The overview shows that the judicial bodies, particularly the NGT, have been dealing with various cases concerning the violations of groundwater extraction norms, including permission, use of treated sewage and rainwater harvesting by residential projects, and groundwater pollution by landfill sites and industrial waste across the country.
The overview of the court proceedings broadly suggest that the concerned governing bodies have been showing casual approach when it comes to ensuring the compliance to norms and improve governance, thus failing to stop the depletion & contamination of GW in Urban India.
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Urban Groundwater 2024: Top Ten Government Actions
(Feature Image: A tubewell installed under JJM scheme along dried up Tons river bank in Sahaspur, Dehradun. B. S. Rawat/SANDRP/May 2024)
This annual overview covers relevant media reports from ten cities, highlighting the groundwater management and recharge efforts made by the governments during 2024. The earlier overviews on the subject of Groundwater in India have focused on important studies done in 2024, general scenario on groundwater contamination & depletion, relevant government actions, significant judicial intervention and groundwater issues in urban India.
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Groundwater 2024: Urban Issues
(Feature Image: Children extracting groundwater from a handpump in Dehradun. B. S. Rawat/SANDRP/May 2024)
This overview complies top ten reports from 2024 to highlight the growing concerns over groundwater depletion and contamination in various Indian cities. Though several cities in India are already being supplied surface water from dams and rivers, groundwater use is increasing to meet significant portion of potable water demand. The unabated unplanned urbanization on one side has been damaging the groundwater recharge functions, sources and on the other putting more pressure on surface and underground water resources. At the same time the cities have been failing to adequately treat wastewater and harvest rainwater. The situation is only deteriorating fast in absence of a National Urban Water Policy.
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Groundwater 2024: Top Ten stories on how Depletion continues alarmingly
(Feature Image: A villager is taking his cattle through the bone-dry Nimi River, a tributary of Tons in Dehradun after feeding it water from a syntex tank placed in riverbed. The tank is filled with groundwater by a submersible installed on the bank of the river. B. S. Rawat/SANDRP/May 2024)
Like growing contamination of groundwater in India, its depletion is also increasing at alarming level as shows the top ten relevant reports from 2024 which we are able to compile in this third annual overview on the subject. At central level two reports on Atal Bhujal Yojna highlight that funds allocated for the flagship scheme have been grossly underutilized and the scheme is focusing more on meeting the deadlines and facing challenges in large scale community mobilization. The CGWB’s 2023 report published in June 2024 shows that the situation is worsening contradicting MoJS claim that the groundwater depletion situation is improving. About 87% of total groundwater extraction is used in farming.
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DRP NB 170225: Dam Safety Slumber
(Feature Image: Srisailam dam in Telangana. Source: Telangana Today)
The Srisailam, dam one of the biggest dams of India, is facing a serious dam safety issue since over a decade, and yet, strangely, there is no resolution of this in sight. All attempts seem to downplay the issue and hide the reports & reality from public domain. It is well known that the damage to the stilling basin and plunge pool area, part of the Dam project and located just downstream of the main wall is serious and some of the cracks from the downstream are going towards the main dam. Even the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) visited the dam a year back, but no action plan is in sight.
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दिल्ली में नई सरकार: क्या अब निर्मल होगी यमुना?
दिल्ली विधानसभा चुनाव प्रचार के दौरान यमुना नदी प्रदूषण एक महत्वपूर्ण राजनितिक मुद्दा बना। चुनाव जीतने के बाद स्वयं प्रधानमंत्री और भाजपा पार्टी के वरिष्ठ नेताओं ने ‘आप’ सरकार की हार के लिए यमुना की दुर्दशा को एक प्रमुख कारण बताया। साथ में यमुना को साफ करने की बात कही। ऐसे में क्या दिल्ली के नागरिक एक स्वच्छ बहती नदी की उम्मीद रख सकते हैं?
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Groundwater 2024: Top Ten Judicial Decisions
(Feature Image: A water conservation message painted on a wall in Dehradun. BS Rawat/SANDRP, May 2024)
This fifth part of annual groundwater overview covers top ten judicial interventions regarding groundwater in India in 2024. The first part of the overview compiles important groundwater studies published in 2024. The second part and third part have compiled the reports revealing rising contamination and depletion of groundwater resources in India. The fourth part has focused the top ten relevant decisions taken by various governments regarding management and conservation of the finite natural resource in the country.
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SANDRP 