DRP NB 060125: Concerns about & Contradictions in CGWB’s Reports

January 6, 2025January 6, 2025 SANDRPLeave a comment

The Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) released two important reports last week. While the Annual Ground Water Quality Report 2024 reveals rise in nitrate fluoride, arsenic and uranium contimination of groundwater resource in India, the Dynamic Groundwater Resource Assessment Report 2024 claims substantial rise in annual groundwater recharge and decline in extraction of the resource.

As per the first report, the number of districts affected by high nitrate levels in groundwater has gone up to 440 (near 56% of all 779 districts in country) from 359 found in 2017 assessment which means in 7 years 81 more districts have been found having excessive nitrate levels in groundwater. This should concern us from a number of points of view.

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Dam Safety

2024: Has NDSA made our dams any safer?

January 5, 2025January 18, 2025 SANDRP1 Comment

(Feature Image: Srisailam dam in Telangana. Source: Telangana Today)

This annual overview focusses on the functioning of National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) and related institutions in 2024 to understand if the functioning of these institutions have made Indian Dams any safer? Here functioning of Central Water Commission (CWC) is also important as CWC people head all the dam safety panels. The dam safety related institutions were formed following the passage of Dam Safety Act 2021 and hence there were promises and hopes that these institutions will make our dams safer.

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Dam floods

2024: Dam Induced Floods in India

January 2, 2025January 18, 2025 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Breach in the earth dam of Peddavagu project flooded several villages in Telangana & Andhra Pradesh on July 17, 2024. Source: DC)

India has seen several manmade flood disasters during the 2024 monsoon. The mismanagement of dams in Narmada valley including Bargi, and SSP inundated several dam affected villages despite adequate actionable advance warnings. The uninformed excess releases from DVC dams have led to flooding in large areas in West Bengal as repeatedly raised by the state government. The extensive floods in Tripura have revealed glaring loopholes in flood prevention and disaster management.

The floods in the year have also washed away or damaged several earthen dams, tanks in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan affecting human population, agricultural lands in their vicinity. Even during Northeast monsoon, the sudden releases from Sathanur and Veedur dams in Tamil Nadu created avoidable flood damage in downstream areas. Similarly, the states of Gujarat, Telangana, Haryana and Delhi have seen deluge due to mismanagement or breaches in the canals. The case of Narmada canal waters flooding large areas of Little Runn of Kutch is quite concerning.

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DRP News Bulletin

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

October 14, 2024October 14, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

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 5^th 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 News Bulletin

DRP NB 300924: Focus on River Studies

September 30, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

Rivers are the most important ecosystems (eco here includes ecology and economy) and yet possibly least studied entities. Some news below this week about some river studies brings the focus on need to take up many more river related studies.

Most important aspect of river related studies is the need for credible, independent studies, not influenced by the needs of the governments. Otherwise, the government is likely to not only influence the study, but also decide not to make it public as they did in case of the studies related to Joshimath town and role of Chamoli disaster.

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Dam Safety

Andhra Pradesh: Prakasam Barrage Damaged by ‘Sand Boats’ Again

September 4, 2024September 11, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Sand boats hit Prakasam Barrage gate no 69 while irrigation officials release 11.24 lakhs cusecs of flood water in Vijayawada on Monday (Sept. 02, 2024). Image Source: Deccan Chronicle)

Amid the unprecedented flood spell in Krishna river passing through the Prakasam barrage located in Vijaywada city of NTR district in Andhra Pradesh, an incident of ‘sand boats’ getting stuck and damaging the barrage in early morning of Sep. 2, 2024, has been reported. The number of boats varied from three to five. The incident became a cause of worry for the structural safety of the barrage.

The New Indian Express report mentioned above reported, quoting irrigation officials that all 70 gates of the barrage were lifted at 2200 hours on Sept. 2, 2024, passing 11.03 lakhs cusecs of water, highest in 70 year history of the barrage. The report stated: “Previously, the Krishna River saw historic floods from October 2 to 13, 2009, when the maximum inflow recorded at Prakasam Barrage was 11,10,404 cusecs at 11 pm on October 5.”

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Dam Disaster

Tungabhadra Dam: A Crest Gate washed away in August 2024

August 11, 2024September 6, 2024 SANDRP3 Comments

In a major dam related disaster at around 10.50 pm on Aug 10, 2024 [i], one of the crest gates at the Tungabhadra dam has broken [ii] near Hospete in Vijayanagara district in Karnataka, causing the release of 70,000 to 100,000 cusecs of stored water. The chain on the 19^th (of total 33 gates) gate of Tungabhadra dam on Tungabhadra river, part of Krishna River Basin, got cut, snapped and was washed away about 100 m from the dam on Saturday. The chain that was used to operate the gate snapped as the welding gave way. The Tungabhadra gates only have chain and not chain and rope as in some other dams. The force of the water in the dam swept the 60-foot-by-20-foot gate, weighing around 20 tonnes, some 500 ft away, J Purushottham, president of the Tungabhadra Farmers’Association, said. This possibly happened due to heavy flows, but also due to wear and tear of over 70 years of operation of the dam. A temporary stop log gate is now being planned, as permanent crest gate will take time.

The disaster raises a number of questions about the operation and maintenance of the dam.

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Hydro Disaster

July 2024: USDMA Clueless on Flashflood Disaster at Vishnugad Pipalkoti HEP

July 18, 2024July 19, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Screenshot of social media video showing flash flood imapct at HCC’s batching plant during intervening night of July 15-16, 2024.)

The batching plant at the controversial under construction Vishnugad Pipalkoti Hydro Electric Power (HEP) project site in Uttarakhand has suffered significant damages due to a flash flood incident during the intervening night of July 15-16, 2024. The plant belongs to the Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) and has been set up by the Alaknanda river downstream the dam of 444 Mw HEP project adjacent to it dumping yard at Gulabkoti in Helang area of Joshimath tehsil in Chamoli district.

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Dam Disaster

May 2024: Questions about NDSA interim report on Kaleshwaram Dam Disaster

May 8, 2024May 9, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

The National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) Chairman Shri Anil Jain has through a letter dated May 1, 2024, sent an interim report of the NDSA committee to the Telangana govt. The 16 page interim report titled: “RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE INTERIM MEASURES AND FURTHER STUDIES/INVESTIGATIONS TO BE TAKEN UP BY IRRIGATION & CAD DEPARTMENT, BEFORE THE ONSET OF COMING MONSOON” came as an annexure to the letter addressed to Rahul Bojja, Irrigation and Command Area Department (I & CAD) of Govt of Telangana.

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Dam Safety

2023: Safety & Sustainability Concerns On Dams & Hydro Power Projects in India

January 3, 2024January 3, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Drone image from the site of the Teesta III dam in Sikkim, looking towards Chungthang town. Image by Praful Rao of Save the Hills, Source: The Landslide Blog by Dave Petley.)

In this fourth part of annual overview, SANDRP compiles the issues affecting the safety and sustainability of dams and hydro power projects in India during 2023. The report starts with governance and management issues of dams and hydro power projects as highlighted in our weekly Dams, Rivers & People News Bulletin (DRP NB) and blogs all through the year amid rising concerns and disasters on these structures across the country. It then covers some relevant judicial interventions and governments decisions on the issue.

Please also see part one of the series compiling dams and hydro projects related disasters in India in 2023; part two on peoples resistance against destructive dams and hydro projects, part three on dam induced flood incidents in 2023. In the fifth and final part, we have tracked the important dams and hydro projects related decisions taken by Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) and Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) during 2023.

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