At the tenth India Rivers Week function that was inaugurated at BAIF, Pune on Nov 25, 2023, the annual Bhagirath Prayas Samman (BPS) award for exemplary unsung work for river conservation was announced and the award went (jointly) to Bhanu Tatak and Dibang Resistance, both of Dibang River Basin in Arunachal Pradesh, North East India. The Anupam Mishra Medal (AMM) for exemplary media work for the cause of rivers was awarded to Swapan Kumar Bhowmick of Nadia, West Bengal, for this work that started way back in 1977. Both the awards were given away by well-known ecologist, Prof Madhav Gadgil. The BPS award was accompanied by a citation, a shawl and cash component of Rs 60 000. The AMM award was accompanied by a citation, a shawl and a medal.[i]
Continue reading “India Rivers Week 2023: Bhagirath Prayas Samman to Dibang resistance; Anupam Mishra Medal to Swapan Kumar Bhowmick”Category: India Rivers Week
India Rivers Forum Jury announces Bhagirath Prayas Samman 2022 awards to SCOPE (Kol) & Venkatesh Dutta; Anupam Mishra Medal 2022 to Dheeraj Mishra
In the final session of India Rivers Week on Nov 27, 2022 afternoon, the jury of the India Rivers Forum announced the Bhagirath Prayas Samman (BPS) awards for exemplary river conservation work to SCOPE (Kolkata) in Organisation category for work related to East Kolkata Wetlands and to Prof Venkatesh Dutta in individual category for work related to Gomti river in Uttar Pradesh. The Anupam Mishra Medal 2022 for the exemplary media work on rivers was given to Dheeraj Mishra for his extensive river focussed work over the years. Chief Guest Justice (Retd) Madan Lokur of Supreme Court of India and all the attendees of India Rivers Forum congratulated the award winners for well-deserved recognition. Siddhart Agarwal conducted the award ceremony on behalf of IRF and Prof Amita Baviskar chaired the entire final session of IRF 2022.
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PRESS NOTE: India Rivers Week 2021 concludes with a pledge to work for fish, fishers and healthy rivers
Activist Raj Kumar Sinha and Affected Citizens of Teesta awarded the Bhagirath Prayas Samman
Anupam Mishra Memorial Medal conferred upon journalists Abhay Mishra and Athar Parvaiz
India, November 27, 2021
India Rivers Week 2021 concluded today with a pledge to work towards protection of inland fisheries, fishers and rivers for their conservation and rejuvenation. The annual event, organised by the India Rivers Forum (IRF) since 2014, saw bureaucrats, activists, academicians and community leaders participating in five riveting virtual sessions.
The program started on November 8 with an inaugural event focused on impacts of river pollution on fisheries and fishers followed by subsequent sessions on fragmented rivers (dams, barrages and embankments), the need for better science, data and advocacy, the changing political economy of riverine fisheries and finally the national event on issues around governance.
Continue reading “PRESS NOTE: India Rivers Week 2021 concludes with a pledge to work for fish, fishers and healthy rivers”
South Zone Sand Mining Dialogue: The grain of sand is habitat for many lives
One of the central themes of the lively presentations and discussion at the South India Sand Mining Dialogue was that the grain of sand is a habitat for so many lives, as so brilliantly put forward by Munmun Dhalaria, one of the panelists. Another key highlight was that Yogeshwaran, the lawyer painfully noted that sand mining laws are neither environment friendly nor people friendly and can be environment friendly only if they are people friendly.
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भारतीय नदी दिवस 2017 – नदियों के संरक्षण का अभिनव प्रयास
देश की नदियों की दुर्दशा किसी से छिपी नहीं है। एक ओर नदियों का जलप्रवाह लगातार घट रहा है, दूसरी ओर उनमें प्रदूषण की मात्रा चिंताजनक स्तर पर पहुॅच गई है। बढ़ती बॉध, पनबिजली, सिंचाई परियोजनाओं, भूजल दोहन, वनविनाश, बाढ़ भूमि अतिक्रमण और अवैध खनन से हमारी नदियों की जैवविविधता पर विपरीत प्रभाव सामने आ रहे हैं। साथ में नदियों पर गुजर बसर करने वाले मछवारों, मल्लाहों, किसानों की आजीविका पर गंभीर खतरा मंडरा रहा है।
इन सबके बीच, नदियों को बचाने के सरकारी प्रयास नाकेवल नाकाफी और निष्फल साबित हो रहे है, अपितु अब यह स्पष्ट है कि नदी विरोधी सरकारी योजनाओं के चलते ही छोटी बडी जलधाराएॅ सूख रही है, मैला हो रही है और बाढ़ के समय आपदा का कारण भी बन रही है। वास्तव में नदी संरक्षण संबंधी नियम कानूनों और व्यापक जनभागीदारी के अभाव के चलते आज हमारी जीवनदायनी नदियॉ, खुद के स्वछंद बहते जल को तरस रही है।
इन्हीं सब महत्वपूर्ण मुद्दों को उजागर करने के लिए 25 नवम्बर 2017 को दिल्ली भारतीय नदी दिवस[1] समारोह आयोजित किया गया। इस बार के एक दिवसीय आयोजन में शहरी नदियों को केंद्र में रखकर मनाया गया। कार्यक्रम में भारत के विभिन्न क्षेत्रों से अस्सी से अधिक सरकारी विभागों -गैरसरकारी संस्थाओं से जुडे़ नदीप्रेमियों, चितंको और विचारकों ने भाग किया। यह कार्यक्रम वर्ष 2014 से निरंतर मनाया जा रहा है। हर साल की तरह, इस बार भी देश में नदियों को बचाने में संघर्षरत व्यक्तियों और नदी संगठनों को ‘भगीरथ प्रयास सम्मान’[2] से नवाजा गया। प्रभावी नदी लेखन, छायांकन और चित्रण के माध्यम से नदियों की आवाज उठाने वाले मीडियाकर्मी के लिए, इस साल से अनुपम मिश्र[3] मैमोरियल मैडल का शुभांरभ किया गया।
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2017 BPS Awards to Meenachil Samiti in Kerala & Mahaveer Singh in Rajasthan Inaugural Anupam Mishra Medal for River focussed media work to Arati Rao
The 2017 Bhagirath Prayas Samman (BPS) awards and the inaugural Anupam Mishra Medal for the exemplary media work on rivers were announced at a packed hall at INTACH on Nov 25, 2017, the India Rivers Day 2017, and given away by Supreme Court Judge, Honourable Justice Madan Lokur. The BPS award in organisation category has been awarded to Meenachil Nadee Samrakshana Samithi of Kerala and in individual category to Mahavir Singh of Rajasthan. The AMM has been awarded to Arati Rao, who has used her multiple talents, including writing, photography and arts with focus on rivers.
The BPS awards were started in 2014, the inaugural year of India Rivers week, and this is the fourth year of the awards. The details about each awardee of this year are given below. Continue reading “2017 BPS Awards to Meenachil Samiti in Kerala & Mahaveer Singh in Rajasthan Inaugural Anupam Mishra Medal for River focussed media work to Arati Rao”
EXHIBITION ON INDIA’S URBAN RIVERS AT INDIA RIVERS DAY 2017
The theme for India Rivers Day 2017 (IRD 2017), held on 25th November, 2017 at the INTACH Delhi premises, was ‘Rivers in the Urban Context’. Various formats of engagement were deployed for discussion among the participants from across India present for the event. India Rivers Day was organised by a group of organisations that have come together under the name India Rivers Week, these include: INTACH, Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan, WWF India, Toxics Link, Peace Institute Charitable Trust, People’s Science Institute and SANDRP.
As part of the IRD 2017 celebrations, an exhibition based on the event theme has also been set up. It displays photos related to various issues related to urban rivers. The exhibition was inaugurated during the IRD 2017 event by our eminent Chief Guest Shri Shashi Shekhar, former secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Govt of India.
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Nominations for BPS-2017 & Shri Anupam Mishra Memorial Medal-2017 Invited
Dear All,
Greetings from the India Rivers Week (IRW) Organising Committee!
This is to request for nominations for Bhagirath Prayaas Samman (BPS) 2017.
As you will recall BPS is an attempt to acknowledge and celebrate outstanding, inspirational, unsung initiatives in river conservation.
This year we are also initiating Shri Anupam Mishra Memorial Medal to celebrate media professionals who have established an exceptional body of credible work on various aspects of rivers leading to changes in behaviour, public discourse, law and policy. Self nominations will also be considered.
Please find attached the announcement and the nomination forms.
PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL TO SURESH BABU TO GET THE ATTACHMENT MENTIONED HERE suresh@wwfindia.net , BPS Call for nominations 2017.
Last date for nominations: September 25, 2017. A jury will take decision about the final awardees based on set of criteria.
Continue reading “Nominations for BPS-2017 & Shri Anupam Mishra Memorial Medal-2017 Invited”
North-East India (Excluding-Brahmputra) Rivers Profile
The River system in North East, other than the Brahmaputra, can be classified as the Barak River system and minor Rivers flowing to Bangladesh and Burma. The Barak River, Gumti River, Myntdu River etc are some of the major Rivers flowing to Bangladesh, while the Kaladan River, the Manipur River, Tizu River etc flowing in the States of Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland are main Rivers flowing to Burma.
The Barak River basin covers parts of India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. In India it spreads over states of Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Assam, Tripura and Nagaland having an area of 41,723 Sq.km.
The Barak River originates from the Manipur hills, from Liyai Village in Senapati district in Manipur at an elevation of 2,331 m and flows through Assam and further down to Bangladesh, where it is known by the name of the Surma and the Kushiyara and later called the Meghna before receiving the combined flow of the Ganga and the Brahmaputra. The principal tributaries of Barak joining from north bank are the Jiri, the Chiri, the Modhura, the Jatinga, the Harang, the Kalain and the Gumra whereas the Dhaleswari, the Singla, the Longai, the Sonai and the Katakhal joins from south bank. The Barak sub-basin lies in the States of Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Assam, Tripura and Nagaland.
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“Citizens’ Concern for Dams and Development”: the voice of vulnerable honored with Bhagirath Prayas Samman at India Rivers Week 2016
Manipur in the North East is characterized by lush terrain, flowing rivers, and diverse flora and fauna.[1] This region forms an important part of the Indo-Myanmar biodiversity hotspot, one of the 25 global biodiversity hotspots recognized recently.[2] This picturesque setting has however become a fertile ground for large-scale hydro power projects and dams by the government, involving violations of human rights and unbridled exploitation of natural resources.[3] Continue reading ““Citizens’ Concern for Dams and Development”: the voice of vulnerable honored with Bhagirath Prayas Samman at India Rivers Week 2016″
SANDRP 