DRP NB 030624: Ecological challenges before the new govts in Sikkim & Arunachal

June 3, 2024June 3, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Anti dam graffiti on the wall of the civil secretariat building in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh in July 2022. Source: Social Media)

As the Hindustan Times Editorial today (June 3, 2024) has rightly underlined, a major challenge before the newly elected state governments in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh is to urgently review the existing, under construction and planned mega hydropower projects in the fragile Himalayan ecology in these border states.

These states are inherently vulnerable to large kinds of disasters including landslides, earthquakes, erosion, floods, GLOFs and also multi hazard disasters. These inherent vulnerabilities are already hugely increased under climate crisis. The large hydropower projects being taken up here are acting as force multipliers for disasters in these states as recent experience including the Oct 2023 events in both states have shown.

Continue reading →

DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 270524: Illegal Sand Mining Menace: Can Judiciary act effectively?

May 27, 2024May 27, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Mechanized mining in Yamuna river in Vikas Nagar. Image credit: Nishant Panwar, 12 May 2024)

The river sand mining stories this week makes fascinating reading. We have stories from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab. The stories from first five states are related to judiciary. One story from Punjab is about collapse of a bridge due to illegal mining and another about how illegal sand mining is part of electoral narrative. The story from Madhya Pradesh is possibly most interesting and most indicative of the direction in which we need to go. In MP at a public hearing for sand mining project, the women of the villages, including sarpanch, have decided to save the river rather than allow unsustainable mining.

The stories from five states about judicial actions includes the one from Andhra Pradesh where the Supreme Court of India has warned the govt about contempt action. The apex court has set up committees of govt officials in Krishna and Guntur districts to stop illegal mechanized sand mining. The story from Rajasthan is about Supreme Court stopping sand mining in 1 km radius around Sariska Tiger Reserve. The stories from next two states is about the NGT action. Lastly, the story from Goa is about High Court action.

Continue reading →

DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 200524: After Ten years of Namami Gange and Rs 40 000 Cr expenditure Ganga remains dirty

May 20, 2024 SANDRP1 Comment

(Feature Image: Untreated effluents being discharged in Gang river through ‘Chor’ nullah in Kanpur on May 19, 2024. Image Source: Sceenshot of ABC News Media report)

The reports this week from Ganga basin rivers clearly show that after ten years of Namami Gange and NMCG (National Mission for Clean Ganga) efforts and expenditure of over Rs 40 000 Cr, there is no improvement in even river pollution, leave aside the state of river flows or state of the rivers in the Ganga basin.

In fact, there is nothing to show that even the new STPs are making any difference to the river even with respect to the limited objective of sewage treatment. As highlighted in the report below, until and unless the governance of STPs become more transparent, accountable and participatory, there is no hope for change, no matter how much money is spent, how much new STP capacity is added or what technology is used. Only a responsive, confidence inspiring governance can make a difference. But there is no interest in working in that direction from the government.

Continue reading →

DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 130524: Unreliable Hydropower poses new challenges for India

May 13, 2024May 13, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: NHPC’s under construction 2000 Mw Subansiri Lower Hydro Power Project. Source: PIB, JUne 2023)

As per this Reuters report based on official information and statements, in June 2024 India will face the biggest peak hour power shortfall in 14 years, mainly due to the slump in hydropower generation. This is the result of not only pushing hydropower projects over the decades, but also not taking any steps to optimize peaking power generation from existing hydro or doing anything worthwhile to manage peak load. India’s hydropower generation had steepest fall in four decades in the year ending on March 31 2024, which was another reason not on rely on unreliable hydropower projects. The regular and frequent disasters that we see connected with hydropower projects in almost every month and more frequently in monsoons should be another reason in this regard.

Continue reading →

River Front Development

Tawi Barrage & Riverfront Projects in Jammu destroying river, inviting disaster

May 11, 2024May 11, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: a picture of Tawi Riverfront and Real Estate Development uploaded on Jammu Smart City website)

Tawi Riverfront Development (RFD) project in Jammu symbolizes the fallacy of most of the RFD projects in India. The city owes its historical relevance, cultural legacy and gradual prosperity to the river. But in return the Tawi has been witnessing typical urban river problems of gradual decline in flows, continual rise in solid and liquid waste pollution, encroachments and riverbed mining. And as is the case with most of urban rivers, instead of taking effective measures to address the existing threats, the government here has been pumping crores of rupees into an artificial lake and RFD project for over past one and half decade in a non-transparent and questionable manner.

Continue reading →

DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 060524: Study on dam induced river flooding in Peninsular India

May 6, 2024May 7, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: (a) Locations of streamflow gauges with catchment boundaries in six major river basins of Peninsular India, (b) elevation map and mean annual maximum runoff rate (streamflow per unit catchment area), (c) Aridity Index (AI) and (d) Baseflow Index (BFI). The maps in first row are prepared in QGIS (Version 2.14.0 ‘Essen’ (2016), URL: http://qgis.org) and the maps in second row are generated using R (Version 4.2.2 (2022), URL: https://www.R-project.org/). Source: Baseflow significantly contributes to river floods in Peninsular India )

A recently published study, see details given below throws light on the role of groundwater contribution to baseflow in rivers and their flooding in Peninsular India’s river like Narmada, Tapi, Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery. The found that while baseflow contributes more to river flows, its share in the flood event flow magnitude decreases as surface runoff accounts for a larger proportion of flood discharge on the day of the flood.

Most significant are the findings related to dam induced flood that SANDRP has been writing for long and the finding corroborate exactly what SANDRP has been saying: Sudden releases of water from a dam can raise river levels during extreme rainfall events, especially when the dam is nearly full. The impact of sudden floods is more destructive because people living in nearby areas are often unprepared. Without a dam, floodwaters rise slowly over time, allowing people to take preventive measures. However, sudden floods caused by dam releases offer little or no time to prepare, increasing the risks associated with dam-induced flood hazards. Furthermore, the construction of dams alters the natural regime of rivers, leading to changes in sediment transport and erosion patterns. These changes can heighten the risk of flooding downstream from a dam.

Continue reading →

Hydro Disaster

May 2024: Chanju III HEP in Chamba-HP: Rockfall Incident Kills 1; Injures 2

May 5, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Screenshot of First Verdict video report on rockfall incident at Chanju III HEP in Chamba)

A rockfall incident at weir site of Chanju III Hydro Electric Project (HEP) site in Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh has left one worker dead and two injured [i]. The incident occurred in afternoon on May 3, 2024 when several workers were working on the weir site of the project.

Suddenly rock pieces started falling on them from uphill portion creating panic among the workers. They had to run for the shelter to save their lives. However, one worker was severely hit by the stones and two others got injured while looking for safety cover.

Continue reading →

DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 290424: Why is Climate Change not major election issue?

April 29, 2024May 2, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Vehicles stuck in debris following a recent cloudburst at Saat Meel in Mandi, on August 20, 2023. (PTI Photo/Money Control)

World’s largest democratic exercise is now ongoing in India to elect the members of India’s Lok Sabha. Over 97 crores are eligible to vote in these elections. One of the biggest factors that is adversely affecting people across India currently is Climate Change. It is affecting almost every aspect of life and the adverse impacts are only increasing with every passing year. This is man-made disaster basically happening due to anthropogenic reasons, affecting air, water, climate, food, health, livelihoods, disasters and so on, affecting everyone. Currently, India is also a major contributor to the climate change causing green-house gas emissions, even though historically, the developed countries have contributed much more.

More importantly, the development options that the elected government choose will decide how the people will be impacted by climate change. The government has large number of options for pathways to development. Considering all this, one expected that climate change responses will be a major issue in these elections. But that is clearly not the case. BJP and Congress, two of the biggest parties fighting the elections, have mentioned climate change in their manifestos, but neither has dealt with this important issue with the detail and seriousness required. Nor are any of them making climate change a major election issue. One expects the ruling party to at least respond in greater detail and seriousness to this issue, but that is not the case.

Continue reading →

DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 220424: International Energy Agency accepts high-cost high risk hydro is no longer High Priority

April 22, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has accepted in its latest World Energy Investment Special Report titled “Reducing the Cost of Capital: Strategies to unlock clean energy investment in emerging and developing economies” has candidly accepted that hydropower (excluding pump storage) is no longer the high-priority sector.

Among the challenges hydropower faces, according to IEA, include long permitting time necessary considering the high and complex impacts of hydropower projects amd delays during construction. IEA figures show that the capacity of Chinese developed hydropower projects that had high proportion of installed hydropower capacity globally in any year for decades, was the lowest in 2023 since 2014. The report accepts that high cost of capital with high interest rates can have a major impact on Cost of electricity, affecting competitiveness of the hydropower projects.

Continue reading →

DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 150424: Supreme Court’s order on right to be free from climate change impact is welcome, BUT…

April 15, 2024April 15, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Polluted Hindon river flowing through Ghaziabad in March 2024. Bhim Singh Rawat/SANDRP)

On March 21, 2024, a case related to the Grean Indian Bustard, a critically endangered bird – numbering less than 150 individuals – has led the Supreme Court of India to expand citizens’ constitutional right to life and equality to include the right to be free from the adverse impact of climate change. The PIL filed by M.K. Ranjitsinh asked to protect the GIB from extinction. In 2021, in this PIL, the Supreme Court had passed directions restricting and regulating power lines and renewable energy projects in an area of 99,000 sq km in Rajasthan and Gujarat.

The Supreme Court’s latest order modified directions passed in the earlier judgment. Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud – writing for the 3-judge bench including Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra – has expanded the contours of environmental jurisprudence: from the oft-repeated polluter pay principle–precautionary principle–public trust doctrine to the larger arena of climate justice, environmental inequity and gender justice. However, in the process, the protection the SC gave through earlier order has been withdrawn.

Continue reading →