(Featue Image: A CDO team in May 2025 inspects the Srisailam Dam to assess its structural safety. Souce: TNIE)

It’s been five years since the Parliament passed the Dam Safety Act and the institutions including National and State Dam Safety committees and authorities were set up. However, how safe are our dams and how far have we achieved the Dam Safety Compliance norms? The answer to that question is unlikely to be confidence inspiring. This feeling is reinforced with a number of reports in recent weeks.

(Feature Image: River Ravi at Makora Pattan. Photo: Abhay Kanvinde)

Rivers are the most important eco-systems, providing numerous economic, environmental social and cultural benefits. And in answer to the question, who governs India’s Rivers, we are generally likely to get response blank stares. Same is the likely response about the state of India’s rivers, who monitors our Rivers and so on.

(Feature Image: Godavari river in Nashik. Source: SANDRP Guest blog by Shilpa Dahake in Dec. 2017)

This week, the Question of Cities (QofC) has, with their focus on Godavari River in Nashik city in view of the 2027 Simhastha Kumbha Mela, once again sought to bring the question to centre stage: Can Kumbh Mela help improve the state of Godavari River rather than worsen it as seems to be the case currently? QofC has gone into depth related to various aspects that are worsening the state of Godavari River in Nashik, including concretization of the river bed and river banks, cutting down of large number of trees, destruction of kunds and generally worsening the water quality in the river. Currently, each Kumbh Mela seems to leave the river in worsening state, rather than improve it.

(Feature Image: The Tribune’s file photo of Pandoh dam)

The Bhakra Beas Management Board seems to be at cross roads in several senses this year. In a Super El Nino year, when deficit rainfall prospects loom large, one would expect BBMB advocating lower outflows to ensure reservoir has higher storages if rainfall is indeed lower than normal. Particularly when there is also news of lower (2.2 BCM against normal of 4 BCM) snow fall and snow reserve in the catchment and just about half the expected inflows currently. Another report says BBMB has cancelled the tendering process for pilot desilting project in Bhakra reservoir in Bilaspur district in Himachal Pradesh. No one is of course asking for investigation as to how so much silt has entered the reservoir in last couple of decades with the increasing upstream construction activities in terms of hydropower projects, highways and urbanization, all leading to illegal dumping of muck into the upstream rivers.

(Feature Image: MoEF&CC March 08, 2019 notification showing Suraha Tal Wetlands ESZ)

India may have proudly added Suraha Tal (Ballia) as its 100th Ramsar site this week, but ground realities tell a very different story. Even as wetlands receive international recognition, most continue to face degradation, most often due to state apathy. As we had earlier highlighted, Suraha Tal that got Ramsar tag this week, is under pressure from government-led encroachment, with construction inside its eco-sensitive zone leading to repeated flooding and damage.