DRP NB 25 Oct 2021: J&K HC concerned about Sindh River

October 25, 2021October 25, 2021 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature image: Sindh river seen from Duderhama bridge. Source Wikipedia.)

In a noteworthy development this week, on Oct 21, 2021, the Jammu & Kashmir High Court bench of Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal and Jutice Sanjay Dhar has sought reports about the Sindh River from Secretaty Revenue and Seccretary Irrigation & flood control by Nov 15, and both officers have been directed to be present in the court. The HC has been following up on this issue through earlier orders on Sept 18, Aug 12. The High Court has been asking for demarcation of Sindh River in Ganderbal district of J&K and removal of encroachments.

The River originates in the Machoi Glacier at an elevation of 4800m east of the Amarnath temple and south of the Zoji La and passes through the alpine hill station Sonmarg. The river is facing the worst kind of pollution through constructions- hotels, tourist hut, resorts etc – being undertaken at various places on the river beds and floodplains. The River is the natural habitat of trout, and other fish, the most famous among them are: brown trout, rainbow trout, snow trout, Shuddgurn and Anyour. The River also suffers from mechanised mining and pollution.

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 14 June 2021: IPCC-IPBES Scientists: Biodiversity protection & climate change action HAVE TO work together

June 14, 2021June 14, 2021 SANDRP4 Comments

In a remarkable new report, the 50 top scientists of Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) have come together to deliver the first ever joint collaboration report with the message that Biodiversity crisis and climate change crisis are not independent of each other. The message from scientists is clear: The claimed Climate “solutions” that hurt biodiversity or their habitat are false solutions.

By protecting and restoring nature, the report said, we can safeguard biodiversity, help limit warming, improve human well being and even find protection from the consequences of climate change, like intensified flooding and storms.

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Sand Mining

Haryana Riverbed Mining 2019: Yamuna Robbed of Minerals, Flows

January 22, 2020August 2, 2020 SANDRP1 Comment

For past two years, large scale mechanized and illegal mining is happening in Yamuna River in Haryana state. The miners have created deep pits across the riverbed in Yamuna Nagar, Karnal, Panipat and Sonipat districts. Year 2019 has been a deficit monsoon year in Yamuna basin and the river had started shrinking unusually during October month. The rampant riverbed excavation has further robbed it of lean season flows. This detailed overview of river sand mining in Haryana in 2019 shows the severe impact of unsustainable and illegal mining practices on the river and villagers due to insensitive government and inefficient administration.

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Sand Mining

Punjab Sand Mining Overview 2019: Story of Political Patronage & Goonda Tax

January 18, 2020August 2, 2020 SANDRPLeave a comment

Sand and gravels forming riverbed materials hold immense ecological value for living and healthy rivers systems. The inbuilt water filtration capacity and absorbing characteristic of the minor minerals plays critical functions in groundwater recharge and in ensuring lean season flow in the rivers. However for over two decades the brazen illegal and mechanized mining activities across the country have been irreversibly affecting the rivers and riverbank communities. The state of Punjab is among leading states where state government has failed [I] to ensure sustainable sand mining practices. The 2019 overview the state shows strong clout of political parties over the illegal sand mining operations without sharing a thought for the rivers and public.

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Satluj Basin

Shivalik Streams Going Going……..?

November 26, 2019 SANDRP4 Comments

Several streams of Ghaggar and Sutlej river basins originate from Shivalik foothills lying in Haryana, Punjab state and Chandigarh union territory. These rivulets along with main rivers have been facing threat from ever increasing industrial effluents and sewage loads. Moreover the degradation of catchment has transformed them from perennial to seasonal rivers.

Here is a short pictorial report showing pathetic situation of Markanda, Tangri, Sukhna, Kaushalaya and Patiala Ki Rao streams feeding Ghaggar and Sirsa river (a tributary of Sutlej) which over past few decades are abused as dumping ground of untreated industrial and domestic waste. At the same time there are revival hopes, if sincere restoration efforts are made.

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP News Bulletin 04 Nov. 2019: Rain fed farmers suffer disaster due to excessive October rain, need urgent attention

November 4, 2019 SANDRPLeave a comment

This report shows pretty bad situation of rain fed farmers in Marathwada due to excess Oct Rains. Severe and wide spread damage to crops. https://www.gaonconnection.com/desh/massive-crop-damage-in-marathwada-due-to-heavy-and-continuous-rain-farmers-are-looking-support-for-pm-fasal-bima-yojana-46581 (31 Oct. 2019)

Here is some figures about the massive impact of untimely rain in Marathwada and rest of the Maharashtra. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/after-drought-marathwadas-farmers-hit-by-untimely-rain-6098730/ (2 Nov. 2019)

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP News Bulletin 14 Oct 2019: Whither Environmental Jurisprudence in India?

October 14, 2019October 14, 2019 SANDRPLeave a comment

India’s environmental Legal system is in deep trouble. Ritwick Dutta shows this through two brilliant articles, but this is also apparent from the failure of pollution control mechanism and people, rivers and environment continues to suffer as is apparent from the poisonous Hindon river basin water that people of over a hundred villages are forced to drink while the cases have been going on in National Green Tribunal. The Yettinahole verdict of the Supreme Court now and NGT earlier seem to have completely ignored all the illegalities and falsehoods involved in the case. The verdict thus also ignored the severe vulnerabilities of the Western Ghats that is getting worse with such mindless developmental interventions. And the government seems happy to destroy the independence status of the NGT through problematic appointments, as Ritwick Dutta shows through another article. What is the hope when the judiciary itself is blind to such glaring disasters?

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CWC - Central Water Commission

Overview of CWC Flood Forecasting Sites 2019: North India

September 25, 2019 SANDRP1 Comment

Flood forecasting is an important activity during monsoon, considering the huge and increasing flood prone area, flood frequency, intensity and flood damages. Accurate and timely flood forecasting can hugely help reduce the damages due to floods. Central Water Commission (CWC) is the only agency responsible for flood forecasting in India. To understand the CWC’s flood forecasting better, we have compiled the list of the various flood, inflow forecasting sites and flood monitoring sites in India.

In this compilation, we have given state wise list of CWC’s flood forecasting, flood monitoring and inflow forecasting sites in North India, comprising of states of Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Chandigarh. It includes available details like name of river, sub basin, Warning level (WL), Danger Level (DL), High Flood Level (HFL), Full Reservoir Level (FRL), Maximum Water Level (MWL), as applicable. As we see below, there are many gaps in this basic information for the sites that are part of CWC’s list. A similar zonewise overview of CWC’s sites was compiled in 2018, which can be seen here. Overview of CWC Flood Forecasting Sites 2018: North India. We have brought this updated compilation for 2019 as there are large number of changes as ou can see.

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP News Bulletin 15 April 2019: Bundelkhand villages demand ponds for votes, not Ken Betwa Link

April 15, 2019April 16, 2019 SANDRPLeave a comment

A pond dug a few years ago in Jignanda village of Hamirpur district still holds plenty of water despite scanty rainfall (Photo by Soumya Sarkar)

In a remarkable campaign during the ongoing general elections, Bundelkhand villages have demanded PONDs for Votes. This is exactly what is required for Bundelkhand, and not the destructive, costly and contractor driven Ken Betwa link that BJP has been trying to push here. Congratulations to the Bundelkhand people and People’s Science Institute that has led this campaign.

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP News Bulletin 10 Dec. 2018: Yamuna Pollution; Will NGT Panel Make Any Difference?

December 10, 2018 SANDRP1 Comment

Feature image: A Hindu woman worships the sun god in the polluted waters of River Yamuna during Chhath Puja in New Delhi, on Nov. 14. (Image Source: Quartz India.)

In its latest report, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) appointed monitoring committee overseeing Yamuna River cleaning progress in Delhi says that the river is “fighting to stay alive” and it would not be possible to rejuvenate the Yamuna unless minimum environmental flow is provided as it is “virtually reduced to a trickle and remains dry in some stretches for almost nine months of the year”.

In the action plan, it is mentioned that “Although the Yamuna river flows only for 54 kilometres from Palla to Badarpur through Delhi, the 22 km stretch from Wazirabad to Okhla, which is less than 2 per cent of the river length of 1370 km from Yamunotri to Allahabad, accounts for about 76 per cent of the pollution level in the river”.

The committee has suggested that a team of scientists be formed from CPCB, DPCC and other institutions like IIT Delhi or NEERI to carry out inspections and submit reports to it for remedial action. The team can look into the risks and benefits of an alternative way of routing the same quantity of water which can help in reducing the pollution level, it said.

The monitoring committee also raised objection to the capacity utilisation of common effluent treatment plant (CETP) which is as low as 25 per cent. There are 28 industrial clusters in Delhi and 17 of these are connected to 13 CETPs. The remaining 11 clusters are not connected to any CETP. Another area of concern is the direct discharge of completely unregulated waste from industries and residences into the river.

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