Tag: biodiversity

DRP 231224: Can we expect the Supreme Court to be more effective this time on Wetlands?
DRP News Bulletin

DRP 231224: Can we expect the Supreme Court to be more effective this time on Wetlands?

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(Feature Image: The Basai wetlands in Gurugram. Photo by Pankaj Gupta at Live Mint)

It is indeed good to see an Editorial in a newspaper on the important issue of wetlands protection and rejuvenation. The Supreme Court’s order on wetlands last week shows its concern over the threat to wetlands as a natural feature of the environment that is under serious threat. The court ordered the protection of about 30,000 wetlands (each with area more than 2.25 ha) over the 201,503 protected by an order which it issued in 2017, and asked states to ensure their demarcation and ground-truthing which involves closer verification, within three months.

The order is in response to a PIL that said the Central government had abdicated its functions under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, to protect the wetlands. The petition also sought the identification and protection of around 5,55,557 wetlands which are less than 2.25 hectares in size. The court is likely to consider the proposal in March. One hopes the SC also gives effective orders for their protection.

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2024: People’s Resistance against Dam, Hydro Projects in Himalayan States
Dams, Rivers & People

2024: People’s Resistance against Dam, Hydro Projects in Himalayan States

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(Feature Image: Tribals in Siang river belt in Arunachal Pradesh demonstrating against a proposed mega hydropower dam. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement/The Hindu)

All through 2024, the vulnerable communities across Himalayan states have continued their resistance and struggles against proposed, under construction & damaged hydro and dam projects as can be seen in this yearend roundup.

The tribals in Siang valley have been urging Central and State govts to stop pushing the giant SUMP. In Teesta valley the GLOF, flood and landslide though have served as wake-up call, the planners seem to ignore the warnings. Facing adverse impacts, the native people in Manipur have resolved to stop further extension to Loktak lake HEP. In Nagaland, fearing damages, the villagers have made the future of Dikhu HEP uncertain.

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DRP 161224: Arunachal Pradesh needs dialogue on dams
DRP News Bulletin

DRP 161224: Arunachal Pradesh needs dialogue on dams

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(Feature Image: Resident in upper Siang protesting agaisnt SUMP on Dec. 15. Image source: Ebo Milli @Ebo_Mili_Linggi on X)

Hundreds of People of Siang, East Siang and Upper Siang Districts of Arunachal Pradesh came out in peaceful protests on Dec 14 2024. They opposed the govt effort to deploy armed central and state police forces for a pre-feasibility study for the 12500 MW hydropower project on Siang River, a tributary of Brahmaputra River.

Indeed, as remarkably articulate report by in Arunachal Times said, Siang needs dialogue not guns. In fact, the Chief Minister recently and even the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister had earlier promised to the people of the state that if they do not want big dams, such projects will not be taken without people’s consent as there were options for power and development.

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DRP 251124: Protest by Mothers Union against sand mining along Assam-Meghalaya border
DRP News Bulletin

DRP 251124: Protest by Mothers Union against sand mining along Assam-Meghalaya border

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(Feature Image: Mother’s Union protest rally against sand mining. Image Source: Nagaland Post, 03 Nov 2024)

The ongoing protest by the Mother’s Union against sand mining in Dudhnoi River along the Assam Meghalaya border has brought to focus the serious implications of unsustainable sand mining, whether legal or illegal. The campaign has wide based support from the Garo Students Union, All Bodo Students Union, Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti and other groups.

The campaign has highlighted that due to use of motorized equipment to extract sand, the water level in the Dudhnoi river is dropping hugely, including during rainy season. The campaign has also pointed out that the forest, mining, transport and police departments have been allowing over loaded sand laden dumpers with or without proper challans.

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Yamuna Manthan 061124: Save River from ‘Illegal’ Sand Mining
Yamuna River

Yamuna Manthan 061124: Save River from ‘Illegal’ Sand Mining

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(Feature: Members of Haryana Anti Corruption Society, Yamuna Nadi Mitra Mandli, Bhartiya Kisan Sangh, Yamuna Nagar raising concerns over unabated unsustainable riverbed mining in Yamuna in Gumthala Rao, Karnal on Oct 07, 2024.)

Large scale riverbed mining has become most underestimated and least discussed threat for Yamuna rivers. While increasing pollution has turned the river stretch between Delhi and Agra ecologically dead, the rampant sand mining has been severely damaging the Yamuna eco-system in upper and lower segments.

Presently, the mining menace is quite rampant in Paonta Sahib, Yamuna Nagar, Saharanpur, Karnal, Shamili, Panipat, Sonipat, Baghpat and Ghaziabad districts along the river in upper segment. Similarly, in lower segment the main stem of river as well as its key tributaries Chambal, Sind, Betwa, Ken have been bearing the burnt of unsustainable sand mining.

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DRP 041124: Study says Big Dams are costly gambles or frauds?
DRP News Bulletin

DRP 041124: Study says Big Dams are costly gambles or frauds?

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(Feature Image: Lower Subansiri HEP dam. Source: PIB, June 2023)

An interesting study reported this week reveals Big Dams are costly gambles and explains why this is so. In fact, the explanations go on to reveal that this is by design, the costs are systematically under estimated and benefits are exaggerated, so the dams fail to provide the promised benefits. So Big Dams are actually not gambles, but frauds. They get away with all this due to lack of transparency and accountability in the governance, the study reveals.

For those following the global debate on big dams over the decades know that there is nothing new here. A number of studies earlier exposed all this, including the Independent Review of the Sardar Sarovar Project instituted by the World Bank, the World Commission on Dams report, the India Country study done for WCD, among others.

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DRP 28×24: Hydropower Impacts on Biodiversity
DRP News Bulletin

DRP 28×24: Hydropower Impacts on Biodiversity

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(Feature Image: The Ranganadi dam in Arunachal Pradesh. In February 2019 the dam released an unprecedented amount of silt, with severe impacts for the river’s biodiversity and the livelihoods of people who live along its banks. Image Credit: Karen Conniff / Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0/Source: Dialogue Earth)

A new study of available scientific publications on impact of Hydropower projects on biodiversity provides a thorough review of the subject. The review does not directly give a call not to construct more such destructive projects. But it is useful for anyone concerned about the impact of dam projects on rivers.

The study discusses the impacts of hydropower projects on both aquatic and semi-aquatic species in riverine ecosystem and cumulative impacts spatially and temporally across river basins.  Dams disrupt longitudinal connectivity and act as physical barriers in upstream-downstream movement of species. Upstream of dam, there is static water environment rather than flowing river environment. In the downstream, the hydropower projects adversely affect the water flow, sediment flow, thermal regimes, affecting water quality and environmental cues for the fish movement. All these also affect the floodplains both upstream and downstream.

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DRP 21×24: New Warnings from Studies about Global Water Changes
DRP News Bulletin

DRP 21×24: New Warnings from Studies about Global Water Changes

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(Feature Image (Screenshot): Atmospheric rivers occur all over the world, as this animation of global satellite data from February 2017 shows. Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio)

A number of reports listed below this week throw fresh light on functioning of global water cycle, some of the findings should be seriously worrying. The studies show how the countries across the globe have water connections that go far beyond shared rivers, lakes and seas. And how these components of global water cycles are not only changing, but are under unprecedented stress and could take the global water cycles off balance.

Another study about atmospheric rivers that provides some of the largest high intensity rainfalls show that these rivers are shifting, which can have far reaching consequences for large sub-tropical areas, polar areas and others. For understanding their implications, more studies particularly focusing on shifting El Nino and La Nina streams are required.

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DRP 14×24: Big Dams, Long distance water will not solve Urban Water Crisis
DRP News Bulletin

DRP 14×24: Big Dams, Long distance water will not solve Urban Water Crisis

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In a pointed article this week, Sachin Tiwale rightly writes that Mumbai does not need more dams, but needs to fix the distribution of more than enough water that it gets currently. Same is the case with highly capital and energy intensive 5th stage of Cauvery Water Supply being inaugurated on Oct 16 by the Karnataka Chief Minister and Deputy CM for Bangalore, advertised through full page advertisements today (Oct 14) in newspapers in Bangalore.

What the India’s cities need is to exhaust the potential of local water resources, including rain water, local water bodies including rivers, groundwater recharge, recycle and reuse of treated sewage and also demand side measures, including fixing the distribution and reducing transmission and distribution losses. All of this needs attention through a National Urban Water Policy that will also fix the Urban Water Governance.

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DRP 07×24: Global Dam Safety Challenge in Changing Climate
DRP News Bulletin

DRP 07×24: Global Dam Safety Challenge in Changing Climate

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It is increasingly clear that Large Dams across the world are facing increasing challenge due to climate change. In recent years, we have already seen serious dam disasters in Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Kenya, Libya, Nepal, Nigeria, Poland, Spain, Sudan and USA to name just a few.

All these are related to extreme rainfall events, which are going to only increase in intensity, frequency and spread. It is interesting that hydro industry platform has come out with this report highlighting this issue this week.

For a country like India, the third large dam builder in the world, this challenge is going to be even more daunting as we have been seeing the increasing number of dams related disasters in last few years. As we remember the Teesta 3 dam disaster a year ago, the nature and dimension of this challenge becomes even starker. This is also exemplified by the fact that the dam safety panel report about this disaster is not even out in public domain. And even now new theories are being proposed about what happened during the disaster.

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