This report provides and overview of key developments in Nepal about Dams, Rivers, Environment and people in 2020, we had provided similar overview in 2019[i] too. We have divided the overview into these sections: Hydropower projects, Power Trade, Governance, River Sand Mining, Monsoon 2020 dominated by Landslide news, Climate Change, India-Nepal issues dominated by Pancheshwar and border dispute issues, Nepal China issues.
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Dams, Rivers & People 2020 through the DRP LEAD STORIES
In SANDRP’s weekly News Bulletins, we select lead story each week. Here we try to look back and take stock of major happenings of 2020 through a compilation of DRP lead stories to recapitulate major happenings related Dams, Rivers, Water and Environment. While doing this we are aware that this may not completely capture all the key happenings in this sector, since not all the major developments are captured by the media and their headlines. However, it does provide some idea about what were the major developments in this sector in the just outgoing year 2020. We have divided the lead stories under several key classifications like River Management, Environment Governance, Dams, Hydropower projects, Flood management, groundwater management etc.
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DRP NB 13 April 2020: Check dams revival in Dakshina Kannada
Zilla man, students revive check dams For the first time in decades this February, Sundara Gowda, a 55-year-old farmer in the Dakshina Kannada district, doesn’t have to spend Rs 6,000 to mine water. In the past he has had to hire an earthmover to do the digging because the rivulet that runs by his farm would dry up. This year, to his surprise, the rivulet, a tributary of the Phalguni river, didn’t dry up. Miraculously, it had plenty of water. A check dam had been built upstream at Paldyaru.
The check dam was one of many such structures built by Paljal Dharanendra Kumar, a zilla parishad member from Venoor village, with the help of student volunteers. The check dams have resulted in water in the river rising six feet for a distance of 2.5 km. The river now has 90 million litres of water and rivulets which used to run dry have come back to life. Dharanendra and his student volunteers have been zealously building check dams, called kattas, from December to February. The dams have been built at absolutely no cost to the exchequer. https://www.civilsocietyonline.com/environment/zilla-man-students-revive-check-dams/ (24 March 2020)
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DRP NB 30 March 2020: Chilika has fishing cat & otters, but why we know so little about aquatic biodiversity?
There is some good news this week. A survey has found existence of fishing cat and two otter species in Chilika lake – this was not known so far. However, this also underlines how little we know about India’s aquatic biodiversity in our rivers, lakes and deltas. Its high time we have authentic baseline survey across India, hopefully in participation with the local communities who would already know so much about this. And may be rather urgently, once we are through with the current Covid-19 Crisis.
SANDRP 