Category: Dams

Dams

DRP from SANDRP: January 2015

SANDRP1 Comment

DRP from SANDRP January 2015: The following developments are about dams, rivers & people, mostly from India but also some from South Asia and rest of the world. This is for the period Jan 1 to Feb 12, 2015, we hope to publish this more frequently in future. These were put up on daily basis on SANDRP Face book page: https://www.facebook.com/sandrp.in. If you want to get it regularly, you can like the FB page.

Feedback on usefulness of this is welcome.  Continue reading “DRP from SANDRP: January 2015” →

Mission on Small Hydro Projects: Ignoring social and environmental impacts will not help
Dams

Mission on Small Hydro Projects: Ignoring social and environmental impacts will not help

SANDRP1 Comment

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the RE-Invest 2015, India’s first Renewable Energy Global Investors’ Meet and Expo in New Delhi on February 15, 2015, full-page advertisements in the National Capital declared the target of adding 5000 MW of small hydro capacity by 2022, in addition to other renewable energy targets. A part of this renewed focus on small hydro, a subset of India’s new push for Renewable Energy, involves a new Mission for Small Hydro Projects. Even as it has some welcome features, the new Mission will not help if the government continues to ignore significant social and environmental impacts of small hydro projects.  Continue reading “Mission on Small Hydro Projects: Ignoring social and environmental impacts will not help” →

World Wetlands Day 2015: Rivers and Wetlands need hydrological protection too!
Dams

World Wetlands Day 2015: Rivers and Wetlands need hydrological protection too!

SANDRPLeave a comment

On the World Wetlands Day we celebrate Wetlands across the country (Wetlands also include Rivers, tributaries, floodplains, ox box lakes and deltas) as one of the most productive ecosystems of the world. Wetlands not only support largest proportion of biodiversity, but also livelihoods of millions of people through fisheries, mussel and bivalve collection, tourism, rice farming, singada and lotus harvesting, etc. Many wetlands from Western Ghats to Himalayas hold rich cultural values to communities. Healthy wetlands are an excellent adaptation and mitigation measure for local communities against vagaries of Climate Change. Continue reading “World Wetlands Day 2015: Rivers and Wetlands need hydrological protection too!” →

Overview of Global Inland Fisheries Conference, 26-28 January 2015: Rivers support Livelihoods and Biodiversity!
Dams

Overview of Global Inland Fisheries Conference, 26-28 January 2015: Rivers support Livelihoods and Biodiversity!

SANDRP1 Comment

The Global Inland Fisheries Conference in Rome, Italy, organized by FAO and Michigan State University concluded on the 28th January 2015. The three day conference meant a lot of things: A platform to present the worth, the potential and the challenges of a chronically neglected sector, a place to learn from experiences across the world and, as the conference website says, “a cross-sectoral call to raise the profile of inland fisheries and better incorporate them in agricultural, land use, and water resource planning through development of improved assessment frameworks and value estimation.”

Was it successful in doing all this?

Yes, to an overwhelming extent. But, in the end I was left with some questions as well. Continue reading “Overview of Global Inland Fisheries Conference, 26-28 January 2015: Rivers support Livelihoods and Biodiversity!” →

FAO’s First Ever Global Conference on Inland Fisheries in Rome: Opening Day
Dams

FAO’s First Ever Global Conference on Inland Fisheries in Rome: Opening Day

SANDRP2 Comments

On this Republic Day of India, when the American President Barack Obama joined Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to witness the ever-inspiring Republic Day Parade, 6000 kms away in Rome I heard a Native American woman say, “With colonization, we were alienated from all that we held dear, not only our natural resources but also our legitimate place in decision-making. We are Salmon people. Revitalization and protection of our fish is our sacred duty and we will do it despite the dams.”  A fisherman near Farakka Barrage who was hardly making a living due to the barrage had said something similar to me once.

As the concerns about the environment insensitivity of the current government increase, this coincidence was striking. Continue reading “FAO’s First Ever Global Conference on Inland Fisheries in Rome: Opening Day” →

Headwater Extinctions by Emmanuel Theophilus: SOME CONCERNS
Dams

Headwater Extinctions by Emmanuel Theophilus: SOME CONCERNS

SANDRP2 Comments

By Prof Prakash Nautiyal, (lotic.biodiversity@gmail.com) HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar, Uttarakhand

I have gone through the report Headwater extinctions: Hydropower projects in the Himalayan reaches of the Ganga and the Beas: A closer look at impacts on fish and river ecosystems by Emmanuel Theophilus[1], published by SANDRP, thanks for sending the report to me in hard and soft copy. It is indeed excellent, many more pages can be written on the beautiful portrayal. I am flagging some concerns, in context of the whole issue. Continue reading “Headwater Extinctions by Emmanuel Theophilus: SOME CONCERNS” →

State must ensure water accessibility to all: Bombay HC
Dams

State must ensure water accessibility to all: Bombay HC

SANDRP5 Comments

Blog by Debadityo Sinha (debadityo@gmail.com) (with inputs from Himanshu Thakkar (SANDRP))

In a landmark judgment dated Dec 15, 2014, Mumbai High Court bench of Justices Abhay S Oka & A S Gadkari have ruled: “Right to get water is an integral part of right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India…” Continue reading “State must ensure water accessibility to all: Bombay HC” →