100 people have a narrow escape as Ganga level rises after sudden release from Tehri Dam More than a 100 people who were attending a religious discourse had a narrow escape when the water level rose suddenly in the Ganga River in the temple town of Rishikesh. According to the police, the water level increased after Tehri Dam released water, a routine exercise that is done after informing officials concerned. CD Anthwal, circle officer Rishikesh told HT that the people attending the religious discourse were rescued with the help personnel of the Jal Police (water police).
Author: SANDRP
DRP: 14 Dec. 2015 (Your City can be Next Chennai?)
Our cities with their high population density and poor civic standards are vulnerable to the domino effect that can be set off by freak weather it happened in Mumbai in 2005. Last year, it was Srinagar. Now it’s happening in Chennai. Could it happen to your city?
Judging by the burgeoning urban population, and the uncontrolled growth of urban centres that fail on every parameter including drainage and garbage disposal, most of our cities are disasters waiting to happen.
As per global standards cities across the world should prepare for a 100-year flood recurrence period. In other words, they have to be ready for a severe flood situation, even if it has one-in-100 chance of occurring. But our cities guardians overlook larger flood cycle as freak weather events.
That exactly is happening in IT corridor Hyderabad which is sitting on a plan that lacks a storm-water drainage system and Navi Mumbai International Airport in Maharashtra which will be built on the flood plains of Ghadi and Ulwe rivers. Amaravati the state capital of Andhra Pradesh is also doing away its underground water channels which drain out flood waters during stresses.
Continue reading “DRP: 14 Dec. 2015 (Your City can be Next Chennai?)”
Dams, Rivers & People: 07 Dec. 2015 (Dams sap Earth’s water, release arsenic in groundwater & fuel Climate Change)
Two new studies show that dam not only significantly increase evapo-transpiration but also worsen arsenic problem in groundwater. In the first study done by Stockholm University in Sweden researchers found that dams and irrigation significantly increase evapotranspiration, an effect that increases the loss of freshwater to the atmosphere, thereby reducing the water available for humans, societies and ecosystems on land. The researchers have compiled and analyzed data from 1901 to 2008 for climate, hydrology and water use in one hundred large hydrological basins spread over the world. In the second study done by Stanford University in Cambodia, researchers concluded that hydrological development particularly dams are responsible for release of increased and unnatural amount of arsenic in Cambodia’s groundwater.
CHENNAI FLOODS: Cities today, countryside tomorrow?
Above: Chennai International Airport & the Adyar river
GUEST BLOG by: Manoj Misra (yamunajiye@gmail.com)
Chennai is going through the same hell today that Mumbai did in July 2005, Surat in August 2006, Ambala and Moradabad in 2010 and Srinagar and Guwahati in September 2014. High rainfall event and the waters’ inability to leave the city harmlessly, flooding houses (many built by the state housing boards), offices, commercial establishments, roads, railway lines and even the airport and the resulting misery for residents, travelers, industry, commerce and the tourists alike. Continue reading “CHENNAI FLOODS: Cities today, countryside tomorrow?”
COP21: Climate Initiatives Must Not Include Large Hydropower Projects- NGOs
Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP), Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA), International Rivers, South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP)
December 3, 2015
In a global manifesto released today, a coalition of more than 300 civil society organizations from 53 countries called on governments and financiers at the Paris climate talks to keep large hydropower projects out of climate initiatives such as the Clean Development Mechanism, the World Bank’s Clean Investment Funds, and green bonds. Continue reading “COP21: Climate Initiatives Must Not Include Large Hydropower Projects- NGOs”
Kinnaur in crisis; Sheer Negligence in hydro projects claiming lives. Who is accountable?
Above: Entirely destabilised house next to 100 MW Sorang HEP transmission lines Photo: Sumit Mahar
Immediate Press Statement from Himdhara 02/12/15
In the last two weeks a half a dozen lives have been lost in the Kinnaur region alone in three separate incidents that have one thing in common – accidents at hydropower project sites. The first event took place in Burang village on the 18th of November 2015 where a penstock pipe burst of the 100 MW Sorang Hydro-electric project led to the death of three people. On 29th November, two labourers died in blasting operations in the 450 MW Shongthong Karchham project, some others were seriously injured. And on the same day in the Bhabha Valley, a young teacher lost her life in a landslide that occurred in the area. Continue reading “Kinnaur in crisis; Sheer Negligence in hydro projects claiming lives. Who is accountable?”
जलवायु संकट समाधान के प्रयास हर हाल में करें बड़ी जलविद्युत परियोजनाओं से परहेज
For Immediate Release December 3, 2015
जलवायु संकट समाधान के प्रयास हर हाल में करें बड़ी जलविद्युत परियोजना से परहेजः- सामाजिक संगठन
पेरिस में चल रही जलवायु परिवर्तन की शिखर वार्ता में आज अनेक सामाजिक संगठनों ने सरकारों से बड़ी जलविद्युत परियोजनाओं से परहेज करने के लिए एक घोषणा पत्र जारी किया।
53 देशों से आए 300 से अधिक सामाजिक संगठनों ने घोषणा पत्र का समर्थन करते हुए कहा कि सभी देशों की सरकारें एवं विश्व बैंक समेत सभी प्रमुख पूॅजी निवेशक संस्थाएॅ हर हाल में पर्यावरण के लिए खतरा बन चुकी भारी-भरकम जलविद्युत परियोजनाओं को जलवायु संकट समाधान के मसौदे से बाहर रखें।
प्रतिभागियों ने एकमत से यह भी कहा कि जलवायु परिवर्तन समाधान के नाम पर चलायी जा रही सरकारी एवं विश्वबैंक की योजनाओं जैसे हरित विकास प्रणाली, हरित विकास अनुबंध एवं हरित पूॅजीनिवेश धनराशि के तहत बड़ी जलविद्युत परियोजनाओं को कतई शामिल ना किया जाए।
Continue reading “जलवायु संकट समाधान के प्रयास हर हाल में करें बड़ी जलविद्युत परियोजनाओं से परहेज”
Muthai River Walk: Exploring what was and what can be
“A River Walk in Pune City? You must be kidding!” said my old friend when I asked her to join me for the Muthai River Walk on the India Rivers Day. I could not blame her. Inside the city limits, Pune’s Rivers: Mula, Mutha, Pawana, Indrayani and smaller rivulets like Dev Nadi and Ram Nadi look anything but walk-worthy. We Punekars have ensured that our rivers stink, are clogged with sewage and solid waste, have little water and carry exclusive sewage. Even the seasoned Jairam Ramesh, when he visited Pune as the Union Environment Minister, was appalled at the state of Mula-Mutha. He immediately wrote a strong-worded letter to the Collector, but that did not really change anything. Continue reading “Muthai River Walk: Exploring what was and what can be”
भारतीय नदी दिवस2015 -सारांश “दिल्ली को रेणुका बाॅध से पानी नहीं चाहिए”: कपिल मिश्रा दिल्ली जल मंत्री
भारतीय नदी दिवस2015 -सारांश “दिल्ली को रेणुका बाॅध से पानी नहीं चाहिए”: कपिल मिश्रा दिल्ली जल मंत्री
भगीरथी पुरस्कार 2015 विजेता (बाॅए से) ऐमूअल थियोफिलिप्स, लोबसंग ग्यात्सो (प्रतिनिधि मोन बचाओ संघ) सच्चिदानंद भारती (दूधातोली लोक विकास संघ) कुॅज बिहारी जी (प्रतिनिधि संभव ट्रस्ट राजस्थान)
राजधानी दिल्ली, पुणे एवं देश के अनेक भागों में मनाया गया भारतीय नदी दिवस
नदी संरक्षण के सराहनीय प्रयासों के लिए दिया गया भगीरथी प्रयास सम्मान
‘दिल्ली को रेणुका बाॅध, शारदा-यमुना नदी जोड़ एवं किसी अन्य बाहरी स्रोत से पानी नहीं चाहिए’: कपिल मिश्रा जल मंत्री दिल्ली सरकार
मंत्री ने यमुना पर बच्चों से की चर्चा
रामास्वामी अय्यर स्मृति व्याख्यान में अनुपम मिश्र ने बताई नदियों को बचाने के लिए नजरिया बदलने की अहमियत
आज, 28 Nov. 2015 को INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art & Cultural Heritage) सभागार दिल्ली में भारतीय नदी दिवस-2015 का सफल आयोजन किया गया। कार्यक्रम में दिल्ली के जल मंत्री श्री कपिल मिश्रा ने दिल्ली में यमुना नदी के पानी को तीन साल के अंदर नहाने योग्य बनाने की अपनी प्रतिबद्धता को दोहराते हुए स्पष्ट किया की दिल्ली को रेणुका बाॅध अथवा शारदा-यमुना नदी जोड़ योजना से पानी की कतई आवश्यकता नहीं है। Continue reading “भारतीय नदी दिवस2015 -सारांश “दिल्ली को रेणुका बाॅध से पानी नहीं चाहिए”: कपिल मिश्रा दिल्ली जल मंत्री”
DRP: 30 Nov. 2015 (Delhi does not need Renuka Dam, Sharda-Yamuna linking: Kapil Misra, Delhi Water Minister)
Speaking during India Rivers Day- 2015 Kapil Misra said that Delhi does not require any more water from external sources such as the Renuka Dam or Sharda Yamuna River link. The minister also assured that the Yamuna’s water will be improved within three years to make it good enough to bathe in. He raised doubts over expensive sewerage projects and felt need building of smaller and decentralised sewerage management system. The India Rivers Day brought together several individuals and organisations who have been working on the issues of river conservation in the country.
SANDRP 