Guest Article by: Aishani Goswami and Rahul Singh

Walking through Dhimarpura village, in Seondha block, Datia district, Madhya Pradesh, heaps of broken clay tiles, wooden logs and other construction materials could be seen. Temporary tent-like shelters made of plastic sheets were erected in place of the houses that fell due to the floods in River Sindh in 2021.

In this article we try and put together available information to understand the role played by the Madhikheda system of dams in worsening the flood disaster in Sindh River basin in first week of August 2021. It may be noted that whenever a dam proposed, one of the claimed benefits is that the dams can help moderate floods in the downstream area. This is indeed true, provided, the dam is operated with the objective. However, when the dam is not operated with that objective, then the dam can actually end up acting like a force multiplier for the flooded downstream areas. Let us see if Madhikheda dam played that role in August 2021.

Continue reading “Role of dams: 2021 Flood Management In MP’s Sindh River” →