Aug 2025: Ravi Flood Damages Madhopur Barrage Gates in Punjab

August 29, 2025December 13, 2025 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: 2 gates of the Madhopur Barrage washed away on Aug 27, flooding parts of Pathankot & Gurdaspur.)

A severe flood spell in Ravi river has damaged at least three flood gates of Madhopur barrage in Pathankot district of Punjab. The incident occurred in the evening of Aug 27, 2025 amid an effort to open the jammed gates of the barrage. The situation became critical after 2.12 lakh cusecs of water discharged from the upstream Ranjit Sagar Dam (RSD) dangerously increased the flood level at the barrage on Aug. 26.

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Climate Change · Dam floods · Disasters

Aug 2025: Surwal Dam Floods Villages in Sawai Madhopur-Rajasthan

August 26, 2025August 27, 2025 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Surwal dam flood creates a huge crater in Jarwata village in Sawai Madhopur)

Overflowing of Surwal dam in Rajasthan has severely affected over a dozen villages for more than three days. The dam in Sawai Madhopur district overflowed following excessive rainfall on Aug 22-24, 2025[i]. The Surwal, Mainpura, Jarwata were among the most affected villages where several houses were submerged under 3-5 feet flood water damaging foodgrains and other essential items.

At least 13 people have been reported dead in the district in this flood episode.

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Dam floods · Narmada

Imprudent management of SSP and other Narmada dams could create avoidable flood disaster in Sept 2024?

September 11, 2024September 11, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

Similar to we wrote on Sept 1 2024 [i], but possibly with even greater flood prospects and urgency, the situation in Narmada River Basin is once again moving towards a massive avoidable flood disaster due to imprudent management of Sardar Sarovar dam in Gujarat and dams including Indira Sagar, Omkareshwar, Bargi and Tawa dams in Madhya Pradesh. All of these dams are full or almost full with IMD Flash Flood Bulletin (FFB, bulletin is updated thrice a day) as at 0730 hrs on Sept 11 2024 [ii] warning about the ongoing or imminent flash flood in Narmada Valley districts.

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Dam floods · Narmada

Will Sardar Sarovar AGAIN create avoidable flood disaster in Sept 2024?

September 1, 2024September 1, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

India Meteorological Department (IMD) Flash Flood Bulletin (FFB) at 11.30 hours on Sept 1 2024 [i] for “24 hours Outlook for Flash Flood Risk till 0530 hrs of 02-09-2024” includes large number of Narmada valley districts of MP. All this water is likely to come to Sardar Sarovar Dam as Big upstream dams like Bargi (96% full), Tawa (94%), Indira Sagar (97%) and Omkareshwar (72%) are all almost full and the soil in the Narmada basin is already almost fully saturated, all figures from the daily reservoir bulletin of Narmada Control Authority as on Aug 29 2024 (https://nca.gov.in/dailyreports.htm).

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Floods

August 2024 Tripura Floods: Questions over Disaster Management

August 23, 2024August 28, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

Tripura is facing one of its worst floods, possibly worst since 1983, affecting all districts, at least since 19^th August. South Tripura, Gomati and Unakoti are worst affected districts. According to latest estimates, at least 24 people have lost life with two more missing, 65400 people are in 450 relief camps, landslips at 2032 locations, 1.25 lakh ha crops submerged among other extensive damage. Total of around 1.7 million people or about 40% of state pulation are affected. 3 columns of army, 11 NDRF & 26 SDRF teams, 4 MI 17 helicopters and other emergency service teams are involved in rescue and relief works. The actual rainfall that started on Aug 19 gave enough warning for the state to prepare for the approaching disaster, but once again disaster management has failed to respond using this warning.

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 290724: Dam Floods need urgent attention

July 29, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Officials said it was very important to identify a dry area for construction of the diaphragm wall and the earth-cum-rock-fill dam on top of it, this being the main dam of the Polavaram project. DC Image)

The floods last week in Pune, with significant contribution from dam releases from upstream has led to Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar directing the water resources department to keep the Khadkwasla Dam only half full to avoid repeat of the floods. While this is welcome and needs to be implemented, it also raises a number of questions.

The phenomena of water releases from dams contributing to downstream floods is not new, it has been going on for decades as SANDRP has been pointing out. Even in 2023 monsoon, several dams were found guilty of this including Sardar Sarovar on Narmada in Gujarat and Bhakra & Pong dams in Punjab (this was highlighted at a meeting in Chandigarh on Saturday by SANDRP and others), among others. In 2019 floods in Maharashtra and Karnataka too this happened in Krishna basin. So, the minister’s statement post disaster is surprising.

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Dam floods

Avoidable flood disaster from unaccountable Sardar Sarovar operation: Why was River Bed Power House stopped since Sept 6?

September 20, 2023September 26, 2023 SANDRP2 Comments

The avoidable flood disaster brought in Gujarat and upstream Madhya Pradesh, starting from the night of Sept 16, 2023 by unaccountable operation of the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) Dam has created unimaginable impacts for lakhs of people in several districts, the full contours of the damage are still not fully available. But another intriguing aspect of this man-made disaster has come to light. Shockingly, there was no power generation at the 1200 MW River Bed Power House (RBPH) of the SSP from Sept 6 to Sept 16. This not only means loss of power generation of about 270 million units (MU), worth over Rs 80 Crores even at low price of Rs 3 per unit), but also it would have meant release of 1200 cumecs or, 42000 cusecs and over ten days, this would have meant reduction of about 12000 cumecs or 4.2 lakh cusecs from peak discharge for 24 hours, and this itself would have hugely reduced the flood disaster.

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 180923: Floodplain loss, the biggest in Asia, disaster in the making

September 18, 2023September 18, 2023 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Ongoing ghat work along Yamuna at Qudsia ghat, ISBT Dellhi. SANDRP, June 2023)

A floodplain, according to the US Federal Emergency Management Agency, is “any land area susceptible to being inundated by floodwaters from any source”. According to the report “Human alterations of the global floodplains 1992–2019”, over 460,000 sqkms of floodplain area was lost to agriculture, while another 140,000 sqkms was redeveloped to new areas over the existing floodplain. Continent-wise, Asia lost the biggest area of floodplains — a little over 200,000 sqkms — among all the continents. It was followed by South America (92,000 sqkms) and Africa (73,000 sqkms).

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Dam floods

Unaccountable Sardar Sarovar operators again bring avoidable floods in downstream Gujarat

September 17, 2023September 21, 2023 SANDRP1 Comment

Late, lethargic and unaccountable actions of Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) Dam operators have once again contributed to huge and largely avoidable downstream floods in Gujarat. The water level at Golden Bridge in Bharuch is approaching HFL (Highest Flood Level) today on Sept 17, 2023, but these floods could have been significantly lower and much less disastrous both for SSP upstream and downstream areas if SSP authorities had taken action earlier based on actionable information available and based on sound reservoir operation principles of following a rule curve.

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 110923: Another independent institution-CEC destroyed

September 11, 2023September 12, 2023 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Ramganga River near Marchula. SANDRP 08 Sept. 2023)

The Govt of India’s Sept 5 2023 notification reconstituting the Central Empowered Committee completely destroys the independent nature of this institution of accountability and course correction. This institution, set up by the Supreme Court in 2002 and reconstituted in 2008, worked as eyes and ears of the Supreme Court on environmental issues. The new committee has no independent members, it will be constituted by the MoEF, MoEF itself has such an abysmally poor track record.

The notification, reports said, diluted the CEC’s autonomy on four key counts: the committee will report to the ministry, instead of the SC; the ministry will pick all the members and the SC will have no role in the process; the ministry, and not the court, will fund the committee; the provision of having two NGOs in the committee has been done away with.

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