People of a village in Morigaon district of Assam fish in groups to celebrate ‘Kati Bihu’ on Sunday. The festival is closely related to agriculture, celebrated on the first day of the Kati month of the Assamese calendar. It is that time of the year when paddy grows in the fields and cultivators work hard for a good harvest.— Photo: Ritu Raj Konwar, The Hindu
Category: Rivers
Dams, Rivers & People: Oct 26, 2015 (Saving Tigers is Saving Rivers, Story of once dry Tamirabarani River )
Tamirabarani teaches: Saving tiger is saving river After Kalakkad-Mundanthurai was declared tiger reserve in 1992, Tamirabarani river has regained its perennial status. Though shorter than Cauvery and Vaigai, Tamirabarani has always held a special place in the state. It started turning dry for four months every year. People of Tirunelveli and Tuticorin thought their river too was going the way of other state rivers. But a move to save the tiger inadvertently became a save the-river policy. The Union ministry of environment and forests declared the Kalakkad – Mundanthurai area as a tiger reserve in 1992. In three years, there was a noticeable change. A study on water inflow into the Karayar river, a tributary, inside the reserve was taken up. Records show that from 1946 till 1990, the river received only 13,000 cubic feet of water annually. After the area was declared as a tiger reserve, the inflow increased to 23,000 cubic feet.
Continue reading “Dams, Rivers & People: Oct 26, 2015 (Saving Tigers is Saving Rivers, Story of once dry Tamirabarani River )”
Dams, Rivers & People: Oct 19, 2015 (Migratory birds keep away from NCR due to warm weather)
Sardar Sarovar Dam gates can’t be closed till last person displaced is rehabilitated: SC.
CIC tells centre to give Polavaram project info to RTI applicant
Scrap Renuka dam if Centre-HP row can’t be sorted out: SC
State orders release of Godavari water to drought-hit Marathwada
HC Bombay directs inquiry into release of Gangapur dam water for Shahi Snan at Kumbh Mela
Bhama Askhed dam project: Agitation turns violent
Pinjal-Gargai dam project in Mumbai faces protests
Amid heated arguments Nashik Municipal Corporation approved additional Rs 36cr for Makane dam plan
Continue reading “Dams, Rivers & People: Oct 19, 2015 (Migratory birds keep away from NCR due to warm weather)”
Dams, Rivers & People: Oct 12, 2015
Arunachal:- Siang People’s Forum writes to MoEF to not allow mega dam on Siang River, State Govt. supports the cause
Assam:- Locals, CM show stiff resistance to Lower Subansiri power project
Himachal:-Jispa Dam project faces opposition
Uttarakhand:- From 60 to 7000 patients in 3 years, Uttarakhand floods play havoc with mental health
Maharashtra:- Drought-Hit Maharashtra to generate 400 mw hydropower
Himalaya:- Dams, Hydro projects & other development works may wipe out many unknown species being discovered in Eastern Himalaya
Climate Change :- The Hydropower Methane Bomb No One Wants to Talk About
Dams, Rivers & People: Oct 05, 2015 (On Climate Agenda Govt. scale down targets but on ground still pushing hard many hydro projects)
HYDROPOWER
Hydro fast loosing sheen in renewable energy basket and the share of hydro is likely to decline further as through the past three years, the installed capacity of hydropower projects has remained around 40,000 Mw. While the report superficially may appear as a sigh of relief nevertheless on ground Indian Govt. is still in a hurry to push many big hydro power projects particularly in North-Eastern States. Last month only Piyush Goyal Power Minister cleared the Teesta-III and spoke of clearing Subansiri too. In Siang basin Pauk, Heo, Tato-I are recently approved by MoEF Panel. Protest against 780 Nyamjang Chhu HEP is going on. Similarly several projects in Ganga, Barhamputra and Satluj basin are being cleared and constructed in plain violation of stipulated green norms. Public and private developers are repeatedly ignoring environmental concerns and not addressing the issues raised by local people.
Bhatiyali: The Eternal Song of the River
ओ रे माँझी, ओ रे माँझी
मेरे साजन हैं उस पार, मैं मन मार , हूँ इस पार
ओ मेरे माँझी अब की बार ले चल पार, ले चल पार
Everything about this song: its words, its music, its picturisation and Sachin Deo (SD) Burman’s evocative voice mesmerizes me (I’m one of many others, I’m sure). I loved this song’s connect with rivers and used to repeat it over and over, till my (visibly exasperated) husband told me, “But did you not know? Rivers have influenced SD’s music a lot. He has talked about his lone ramblings on the Gumti in Tripura, listening to folk music based on rivers many times”. I did not know that. Continue reading “Bhatiyali: The Eternal Song of the River”
DRP News Bulletin, Sep 21, 2015: Buddhist Monpas, Black-necked Cranes & Nyamjang Chhu Project
Rohan Chakraborty’s cartoon on the threat from 780 MW Nyamjang Chhu hydel project to Black- necked Cranes revered by the Buddhist Monpas of Tawang.
HYDROPOWER
UTTARAKHAND: Hydro Power companies, BRO, PWD still dumping debris in Uttarakhand rivers, forest department under pressure as administration and judiciary stand in defence of culprits MOST SHOCKING STATE OF AFFAIRS IN UTTARAKHAND HYDRO AND RIVERS: “SS Rasailey, director of the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve said, “BRO and PWD have been throwing all the road construction-related garbage into the rivers on a regular basis. Similarly, companies behind the THDC run Pipalkoti-Vishnuprayag and NTPC-run Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel projects have been doing this as well, despite the fact that all of them have to dispose waste on a separate piece of land as per the guidelines. While they show that they are following the rules on paper, in reality they don’t.” Rasailey added that while forest officials have taken up this issue, filing cases and even getting the people arrested for alleged waste disposal in Chamoli district, they have not received cooperation from the administration or the judiciary in prosecuting the big companies which are among the violators.
This story sheds light on the plight of people displaced by Tehri Dam as thousands of them are still waiting for proper compensation and rehabilitation. The woes of the displaced people never end. Himangshu Thakkar of SANDRP, who has been working on issues associated with large dams, warned of playing with rivers, “With dams, our politicians are inviting disaster and playing with the lives of people, the Himalayas, the Ganges and future generations. They didn’t learn anything from the June 2013 disaster”.
ARUNACHAL PRADESH MoEFCC massive clearance spree of Arunachal hydro power projects bound to have repercussions as there have been no public consultations in Arunachal Pradesh or Assam. Surprisingly, Subansiri river basin study was not even listed among the 14 subjects that were placed for discussion. However, this did not stop the Committee from taking a decision to go ahead with 26 projects. On 3097 MW Etalin by Jindal group on Dibang, the EAC has recommended primary surveys only in monsoon, not in winter and pre-monsoon, which experts say is an attempt to enable faster clearances while compromising ecological and social security as lot of use of areas by people and wildlife is in winter and pre-monsoon, not just monsoon.
DRP 31 Aug. 2015: Drought hit Latur residents are not guarding gold or money but water
Water has become a closely guarded resource in Latur city which receives municipal supply only once every 15 days. The Dhanegaon dam which supplies water here has been at “dead storage level” for the last four years because of the meagre rains. But this year the water crisis is much worse: the arid Marathwada belt where Latur is located has reported the highest rain deficit in the entire country.
HYDROPOWER
JAMMU & KASHMIR: Eco concerns over Baglihar hydel project worry experts, locals The 900-MW Baglihar hydroelectric project continues to increase the worries of experts and inhabitants in the erstwhile Doda district comprising Kishtwar, Doda and Ramban districts as the region faces a major threat of severe climate change, courtesy successive regimes which have ignored all environmental concerns attached to the project. Torrential rain, cloudbursts and massive landslides are said to be new dangers confronting the people of the erstwhile Doda district which are mostly due to creation of the reservoir of between 30 km and 35 km in length. The region falls in Seismic Zone IV. In another interesting development referring to the All India Power Survey findings, the J&K government’s report—State Action Plan on Climate Change—states that climate change would have drastic impact on hydropower generation capacity in J&K in three possible ways. Firstly, the available discharge of a river may change since hydrology is usually related to local weather conditions, such as temperature and precipitation in the catchment area. Secondly, an unexpected increase in climate variability may trigger extreme climate events, i.e. floods and droughts, and thirdly, changing hydrology and possible extreme events may increase sediment risks. It further reveals that more sediment, along with other factors such as changed composition of water, raises the probability that a hydropower project suffers greater exposure to turbine erosion. Moreover, an unexpected amount of sediment will also lower turbine and generator efficiency, resulting in a decline in energy generated. Since the majority of power is generated from hydropower sources, there are high chances that Jammu and Kashmir may face power crisis if the projected impact of climate change happens. Higher demand of energy due to climatic variability and lower generation due to projected impact of climate change would widen the power supply-demand deficit in Jammu and Kashmir.
गोदावरी ध्वजारोहण : Hoisting Godavari’s Flag this Kumbh
How a citizens’ initiative is protecting the Godavari in Nashik
14th July was the first day of the Simhastha Kumbh Mela in Nashik (Maharashtra), on the banks of Godavari[1] River, the largest river basin of Peninsular India (Godavari’s Story: https://sandrp.wordpress.com/2014/11/24/an-introduction-to-godavari-basin/). For perhaps more than a thousand years, people have been congregating on the banks of Godavari every twelve years on the occasion of Simhasta Kumbh, making the ghats come alive. Kumbh has a distinction of being the largest peaceful gathering of humans in the world (Peaceful is subjective term. In Nashik Kumbh 2003, 39 people were trampled to death in a stampede and bloody fights between the sects are not uncommon). Continue reading “गोदावरी ध्वजारोहण : Hoisting Godavari’s Flag this Kumbh”
Lower Penganga Project: Two decades after inception, the struggle continues…
Lower Penganga, an interstate Maharashtra-Telangana project, proposes to build a dam across River Penganga (a tributary of Godavari river) near Tadsaoli Village in Ghatanji Tehsil of Yavatmal District, Maharashtra to irrigate a massive 2,18,129 ha. It has failed to take off even after two decades of its inception. It is a Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation (VIDC) which has been in limelight for corruption and controversies due to over seven fold increase in project cost in just 10 years. In this project contractors with political backing were favored so much so that even the Environmental Impact Assessment of the project was carried out by one of the contractors! The project floated tenders for securing Forest Clearance! The construction was started illegally violating the environmental laws. It is set to submerge around 1000 ha of forest land and affect some 11,000 tribals dependent on it. There has been a decade long struggle of the affected people to protect their rights. Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) was asked to probe into massive corruption in the project. Continue reading “Lower Penganga Project: Two decades after inception, the struggle continues…”
SANDRP 