To, July 17, 2025
1 Shri Vinai Kumar Saxena
Honorable LG, Delhi Civil Lines,
New Delhi-110054
Continue reading “Letter: Encroachment of Yamuna floodplain near Wazirabad Barrage”
NH66 in Kerala: Built Against Water logic, Designed to Collapse?
Guest Article: Sridhar Radhakrishnan
The collapse of the NH66 highway in Kerala is not yet another accident. It is the result of designing roads without listening to water, terrain, or people. Built in defiance of Kerala’s monsoon logic, paddy-wetland systems, and ecological memory, the highway blocks natural drainage, floods homes, and divides society. From ignored protests to forgotten flood lessons, its collapse is a story of what happens when asphalt arrogance meets a land shaped by rain.
Continue reading “NH66 in Kerala: Built Against Water logic, Designed to Collapse?”
DRP 140725: Dam decommissioning spreads to China
(Feature Image: Copco 2 dam removal on the Klamath River, California. Credit: Swiftwater Films, Source: American Rivers)
China decommissions hundreds of dams along Red river China has claimed to have dismantled 300 dams and decommissioned more than 90 percent of small hydropower stations along the Chishui River, also known as the Red River, a key tributary of the upper Yangtze. The move is seen as one of the largest state-led efforts to restore aquatic biodiversity in Asia’s longest river, reversing decades of hydro-infrastructure development that critically endangered native fish species, including the Yangtze sturgeon, the South China Morning Post reported.
Continue reading “DRP 140725: Dam decommissioning spreads to China”
Yamuna Manthan July 2025: Is Delhi Ready for July 2023 like Yamuna Floods?
(Feature Image: EOS-RS Flood Proxy Map: New Delhi, Floods, 12 July 2023,v0.4)
July 13 will mark two years since the Yamuna river stretch in national capital witnessed unprecedented flood spell. The river not just submerged every part of existing available floodplain by several feet but also spilled over to reclaim its lost channels. The unusual flood also breached historic 1978 flood level at Delhi railway bridge by a huge margin, setting new benchmark.
Continue reading “Yamuna Manthan July 2025: Is Delhi Ready for July 2023 like Yamuna Floods?”
Guadalupe River Floods: Understanding the tragedy along ‘The Most Dangerous River valley in the USA’
Guadalupe River Floods: Understanding the tragedy along ‘The Most Dangerous River valley in the USA’
“This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States, we deal with floods on a regular basis.” – Kerr County judge, Rob Kelly about Guadalupe River[i], 5th July 2025
“If you live in the Guadalupe River Basin, you also live in one of the three most dangerous regions in the U.S.A. for flash floods!”[ii] – Opening Statement of “Staying safe: A Guide to Flooding in the Guadalupe River Basin[iii]” published by the Guadalupe River basin Authority
Flash Flood Watch Alert from National Weather Service received 3 hrs 21 minutes ahead of the devastating “30 feet high tsunami ball of water[1]”.
“If you do not want to be flooded, do not build or live in a floodplain”– Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority
And yet, several summer camp buildings built on not only floodplains, but on extremely dangerous floodways[iv]. more than 27 children lost to floods.
Continue reading “Guadalupe River Floods: Understanding the tragedy along ‘The Most Dangerous River valley in the USA’”
Himachal Pradesh: Why CWC’s Forecasting is Unavailable Amidst Flood Disaster?
(Feature Image: Screenshot of inactive hydrograph for Solang station on Beas river in Mandi district. Source: CWC Flood Forecast website)
Despite disastrous flood events causing significant destruction to human lives and infrastructures for past three years, the state of Himachal Pradesh has not seen much required improvements in flood monitoring and forecast servicesby the Central Water Commission’s (CWC) to help minimize the destruction toll.
Continue reading “Himachal Pradesh: Why CWC’s Forecasting is Unavailable Amidst Flood Disaster?”
DRP 070725: Demand for Commission of Inquiry on Hydro Obsession in Himachal
(Feature Image: Flood ravaged Priyadarshini HEP in Manuni khad in Dharamshala, Kangra. Source: Social Media)
Hydropower obsession, Himalayan failure The massive hydropower push, another legacy of post-1990s liberalisation, has amplified vulnerability. Dams have mushroomed across river basins in Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti, Chamba, and Kullu — with scant regard for ecological thresholds. Muck from these construction sites is routinely dumped into riverbeds, narrowing channels and raising riverbeds. When the rains arrive, this loose muck turns into a lethal force, taking down everything in its path. The hydropower model — built on the assumption of perpetual revenue — has neither delivered long-term employment nor sustainable energy. Instead, it has left behind ecological scars, displaced communities, and made vast swathes of the state more disaster-prone.
Continue reading “DRP 070725: Demand for Commission of Inquiry on Hydro Obsession in Himachal”
June 2025: High Rainfall district days in India’s SW Monsoon
An analysis of the daily district wise rainfall data from India Meteorological Department (IMD) for June 2025, the first month of India’s South West Monsoon 2025 shows that there were 415 instances (384 in June 2024[i], 451 in June 2023[ii], 462 in June 2022[iii] and 442 in June 2021) when district rainfall of a day was above 50 mm. The rainfall of India in June 2024 was 147.2 mm[iv], the rainfall in June 2023 was 148.6 mm, the rainfall of India in June 2022 was 152.3 mm[v]. The data and analysis are based on IMD’s daily district wise rainfall bulletins for the 24 hours ending at 0830 am each day.
Continue reading “June 2025: High Rainfall district days in India’s SW Monsoon”
July 2025: Flash Flood Destroys Patikari Hydro Project in Himachal
(Feature Image: Dam site of Patikari HEP destroyed by the flash flood.)
A ‘cloudburst’ induced deluge on the intervening night of June 30 and July 01, 2025 has totally destroyed the Patikari Hydroelectric Power (HEP) project in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh. The 16 Mw project was built in Gudah village on Bakhali khad (Kuklah stream) a tributary of Beas River upstream Pandoh dam. The main project structures including the dam site and powerhouse have been washed away in the disaster. The 12 workers of the project managed to escape in the nick of time.
Continue reading “July 2025: Flash Flood Destroys Patikari Hydro Project in Himachal”
Andhra’s Polavaram Banakacherla Project: Another Kaleshwaram in the making?
The Andhra Pradesh’s proposed Polavaram Banakacherla Link Project (PBLP) to transfer Godavari flood waters to Rayalseema region through massively power consuming multi stage lift irrigation projects has all the signs like the ill-fated and controversial Kaleshwaram project of neighbouring Telangana.
Continue reading “Andhra’s Polavaram Banakacherla Project: Another Kaleshwaram in the making?”
SANDRP 