2024: Mining Dam Breach Flood Incidents in India

January 11, 2025January 11, 2025 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: -Vedanta’s red mud pond collapse on Sept. 15, 2024 inundates farmlands in Kalahandi. Photo: OTV)

Besides the dam induced flood events, the available media reports show two incidents of breach in industrial dams causing substantial flood damages to local people in India during 2024. The first incident took place in NMDC’s iron ore mine in Kirandul area of Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh in July 2024 in which collapse of an iron ore waste ‘check dam’ resulted in extensive flood damages in downstream areas.

The second such incident happened in September 2024 when aluminium mine waste dyke breached in Vedanta Alumina Lanjigarh facility in Kalahandi district of Odisha flooding scores of farmlands with toxic mud. Interestingly both the NMDC and Vedanta have blamed extreme rains reason behind the breach in their mine waste collection facilities while the reports indicate negligence in maintenance of these dams.

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2024: Climate Change, GLOF impact on Safety of Hydro, Dams in India

January 6, 2025January 11, 2025 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Powerhouse of a hydro project ravaged by cloudburst induced flashflood in Sutlej basin Shimla, Himachal Pradesh in Aug 2024. Image Source: Social Media)

This 2024 annual overview focusses on important reports highlighting the safety and sustainability issues of the hydro and dam projects in India in 2024 in the context of Climate Change, including Glacier melt and GLOFs. The compilation shows that the climate change driven extreme weather events have become significant threat for the structural safety of these projects.

This is even more relevant in inherently vulnerable areas like the Himalayas and Western Ghats from the point of view of seismic activity, young erosion prone mountain, flash floods, avalanches and landslides. Here the impact of climate change effects like more intensified hydrological cycles, cloud bursts, reduction in snow fall, glacier melts and GLOF (Glacier Lake Outburst Flood) increase the vulnerability including landslide dams and avalanche dams.

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Dam floods

2024: Do Embankments save from floods or worsen the disasters?

January 3, 2025January 3, 2025 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: NDRF personnel conduct a rescue operation at a flood-affected area in Bihar’s Supaul district. Image Credit: PTI/Source Live Mint, Sept. 30)

India has seen several floods brought by breach of embankments during the 2024 monsoon. In Bihar, though the state has received deficit rainfalls, the overspilling of barrages and breaching of several embankments created widescale flood damages. Number of reports have again highlighted the ineffective and adverse role being played by flood protection structures in worsening the deluge impacts. The first part of the overview has covered dam induced flood incidents in the country during 2024 and third part has highlighted incidents of dam induced urban floods.

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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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Pumped Storage Projects

2024: Concerns about Pump Storage Projects

December 26, 2024December 27, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Sharavathi valley in Sagar taluk of Shivamogga district.Credit: Deccan Herald)

The part 4 of annual overview on the dams and hydro projects covers the concerns about the Pump Storage Projects in India. The government push for Pumped Storage Projects in Western and Eastern Ghats has strongly been contested by communities and experts. Stories here show that these projects are already facing opposition in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan.

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Yamuna River

Yamuna Manthan 051224: Native River Fish Species Facing Extinction

December 5, 2024February 4, 2025 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: A fish catch comprised mostly of invasive Tilapia species downstream Wazairabad barrage in Delhi in June 2023. Bhim Singh Rawat/SANDRP)

A recent CIFRI (Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute) report submitted to NGT is an eye-opening official document about the fish diversity in Yamuna. The report says that overall native fish species have declined sharply in the river not only in number but in size also due to habitat degradation, pollution and increasing presence of invasive fish species.

The report admits that construction of Farakka barrage has led to complete elimination of Hilsa fish in lower segment of river since 2010. Among other recommendations the report has suggested maintenance of continuous flows in the river and addressing sources of pollution.

Indeed, the freshwater fish species are key indicator of health of a river eco-system and the fish diversity in Yamuna has been pushed to brink by the water abstraction, unsustainable riverbed mining activities and ever-increasing pollution of river waters besides other factors.

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Fish, Fisheries, Fisherfolk

World Fisheries Day 2024: Important Studies, Reports on River Fish, Fisherfolks

November 21, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Prized catch of a fishman at Yamuna bank in Kairana, UP in Sept 2024)

During past one year, there have been several new studies and reports published amplifying the adverse effects of developmental projects including dams, waterways, river interlinking, invasive fish species, degradation of rivers and climate change on river fish and fisherfolks in India. In the last part of the annul overview on the World Fisheries Day on Nov 21 2024, we focus on these important studies and reports highlighting the threats and challenges on freshwater fish and fisherfolks.

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Fish, Fisheries, Fisherfolk

WFD 2024: MASS FISH KILL in Indian Rivers, Wetlands Continue…

November 21, 2024November 21, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

Over the past several years Indian rivers, wetlands have been witnessing mass fish death incidents primarily due to decreasing flows, increasing pollution and other anthropogenic activities. As we celebrate World Fisheries Day 2024, SANDRP compiles the reports revealing mass fish kill incidents in our rivers and wetlands over the past one year across. The first part of year end analysis has covered positive development on fish, fisheries and fisherfolks and the second part has highlighted how fish and fisherfolks have been facing existential crisis on account of adverse impacts of developmental activities in the country.

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Yamuna River

यमुना में पर्यावरणीय प्रवाह बढ़ाने के हों ठोस प्रयास

October 31, 2024November 6, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Bone dry Yamuna riverbed at Mawi, Kairnana. (Image Bhim Singh Rawat, June 2010)

सर्दी शुरू होते ही दिल्ली में यमुना नदी में झाग की समस्या चरम पर पहुँच जाती है। इसी के साथ कई दिनों तक ओखला बैराज के नीचे नदी सतह पर तैरते ‘आइस बर्ग’ की भांति दिखने वाले झाग के बड़े-बड़े खंड लोगों के आकर्षण और मीडिया की सुर्ख़ियों का केंद्र बन जाते हैं। बढ़ते नदी प्रदुषण पर नागरिकों की बढ़ती चिंताओं और नदी प्रेमियों के बढ़ते सवालों के बीच राजनितिक दोषारोपण का दौर शुरू होता है। समस्या का फौरी निराकरण करते दिखने के प्रयास में संबंधित सरकारी विभाग आनन-फानन में कुछ आधे-अधूरे कदम उठाते हैं। त्यौहार और खास तौर पर छठ पर्व समाप्त होते ही, लोगों की नदी पर जाने वाले भीड़ कम हो जाती है और दो-तीन सप्ताह बाद सब यमुना नदी में बढ़ते प्रदुषण और झाग की समस्या को भूल जाते हैं। लगभग एक साल बाद फिर से यह क्रम दोहराया जाता है जब सर्दी के समय झाग के आगोश में लिपटी प्रदूषित यमुना, नागरिकों की उदासीनता और नदी सफाई योजनाओं की नाकामी को उजागर करती है।

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Yamuna River

Yamuna Manthan 031024: Threatened River Wetlands

October 3, 2024October 3, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Soor Sarovar Bird Sanctuary, along with the river Yamuna, is considered to be green lung of the Agra city. Source: ToI report Six-member committee to probe development of Agra Trade Centre in Soor Sarovar eco-zone. Nov. 01, 2018)

The waterbodies, lakes, wetlands in Yamuna basin continue to face damages and threats from many quarters, including concerned govt departments. In latest examples of this, there are reports of Uttar Pradesh govt’s plan to reduce the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) of Keetham lake to zero. The wetlands also known as Sur Sarovar is a large ox bow lake formed by Yamuna River in Agra. It is a protected bird sanctuary and has been designated a Ramsar site in August 2020. In Sept. 2022, the Supreme Court had directed the govt to increase lake’s ESZ to 799 ha from 403 ha.

Similarly, the Uttar Pradesh govt departments have also been delaying process to notify Dhanauri wetlands as a Ramsar site in Greater Noida. The case is going on in NGT (National Green Tribunal) for the past many years. In the recent hearing held on Sept. 26, the NGT asked govt department to explain reasons behind delay in notifying the wetlands apart from directing it to remove water hyacinth chocking the wetlands. The next hearing will be held on Jan. 27, 2025.

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