2025: Polavaram Project Developments

December 16, 2025December 16, 2025 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Godavari river in flood spate at Polavaram project site in Aug 2025. Source)

Amid concerns over safety and construction quality, the Polavaram project work has moved during 2025 to achieve Dec. 2027 completion target. However, not much progress has been made regarding the backwater study and addressing the issues of affected tribals and areas in Telangana, Odisha and Chhattisgarh. Meanwhile, after failing to push PBLP (Polavaram Banakacherla Link Project), the Andhra govt has proposed another contentious PNLP to divert Godavari River waters. The Stop Work order issued by the MoEF in 2011 remains suspended for all these years, making a mockery of the MoEF regulations. Wrapping up the available information, this overview shares the year-round updates on safety, progress, backwater study and linking plans related to the controversial Polavaram dam project in 2025. Our previous overview on the project can be seen here.

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Groundwater

Groundwater 2024: Increasing Contamination: Tip of a Toxic-berg?

January 30, 2025January 30, 2025 SANDRP1 Comment

(Feature Image: Drain No 6 in Kundli, Sonipat filled with industrial effluents. BS Rawat/ SANDRP/ May 2023)

This annual overview compiles the top ten reports showing the rising contamination of groundwater resources in India during 2024. It includes some shocking facts from Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Telangana, Kerala, Ladakh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and W Bengal, in addition to reports from CGWB (Central Ground Water Board) a Parliamentary Committee. The contaminants reported in groundwater include nitrates, fluorides, arsenic, uranium, heavy metals (Chromium, cadmium, nickel, manganese, selenium, among others), Iron, salinity, among others. Since most people consume groundwater assuming it to be safe, what is reported here is only a tip of the proverbial toxic-berg. The easiest way forward, besides more regular monitoring and improved governance is rainwater harvesting on war footing. However, the government, busy pushing more big dams and interlinking projects, has little real priority for that.

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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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Wetlands

WWD 2024: Lot of schemes for India’s Wetlands-Little Credible Action

February 1, 2024February 4, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: A view of the Bahour Lake near Puducherry. Photo Credit: S.S. Kumar/The Hindu)

On the World Wetlands Day (WWD) 2024, this report compiles top ten developments related to Central and state govt actions for wetlands in India. The year 2023 has seen release of first water body survey and launch of Amrit Dharohar & MISHTI schemes by central govt. India has signed institutional framework agreement for the Central Asian Flyway (CAF) to strengthen conservation efforts for migratory birds and their habitats.

The state govts have announced more wetland plans which are becoming a routine with no change in ground situation. Despite judicial intervention the respective govts have not taken necessary actions to protect and restore Najafgarh jheel, Dhanauri wetlands and wetlands in Goa. Broadly, the year 2023 has passed with no remarkable achievement on govt front which provide hope for better future for India’s wetlands. Please see the first and second parts of yearend overviews covering the status of Ramsar sites and other wetlands in India.

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Groundwater

GW Overview 2023: Top ten Govt actions

January 18, 2024January 23, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Drona Sagar Taal in Kashipur, Uttarakhand being filled with tubewell water in April 2023. Bhim Singh Rawat/SANDRP)

This second part of yearend overview on Groundwater issues in India lists top ten Government actions. While the groundwater has become backbone for all types of consumption including domestic water supply, irrigation, industrial use; depletion of the finite resource continue; the government efforts particularly of central government have been limited to mapping and monitoring. There is neither a recognition that groundwater is India’s water lifeline, nor is there any serious attempt at effective bottom up, decentralised regulation of groundwater.

The aquifer mapping scheme ongoing since 2012 has been extended till March 2026. The govt has planned to increase the number of monitoring wells and equipped them with digital sensors. Meanwhile the Parliament panel report has revealed that the National Water Mission (NWM) lacks adequate funds and autonomy. Several state governments have taken respective measures for protection of groundwater sources however they have largely shown no noteworthy results so far.

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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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Dam Safety

Dam Safety Panel report of Medigadda Dam Disaster indicts Telangana, L&T and Dam Safety in India

November 3, 2023November 15, 2023 SANDRP6 Comments

The Dam Safety Panel from Union Ministry of Jal Shakti has submitted its report on Nov 1, 2023, which says the disaster at the Medigadda Dam occurred “due to a combination of issues involving planning, design, quality control and Operation and maintenance” of the Dam. The report concludes: “The barrage under the present condition is rendered useless until fully rehabilitated.”

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 010523: Water bodies census welcome, but how reliable?

May 1, 2023May 1, 2023 SANDRPLeave a comment

While the publication by the Union Jal Shakti Ministry of the first water body census of India is not only welcome but urgently required, the usefulness of the census findings will depend on the quality of the information in the report. Firstly, such a census should have been conducted in a bottom up way, starting from villages in rural areas and ward in urban areas. That way, the census findings would have not only been more reliable, but also the process would have helped create greater awareness about the water bodies and issues surrounding them.

In case of Karnataka, as the report below shows the survey by the Tank Conservation and Development Authority and Karnataka Public Land Corporation in 2021 showed the state had 40483 water bodies, whereas the Jal Shakti Ministry census of 2022 says the state has just 26994 water bodies, a huge 13489 less than the 2021 census. Clearly so many water bodies cannot disappear in a year. As some experts from Karnataka have asked, is the Jal Shakti Census a deliberate attempt to show that a much lower number of water bodies exist, allowing encroachers to go ahead to destroy water bodies not registered in the census?

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 200323: Time to Focus on Natural Water Storages

March 20, 2023March 27, 2023 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Cover page of World Bank report titled What the Future Has in Store: A New Paradigm for Water Storage)

On the occasion of World Water Day 2023, the United Nation will be organizing a conference (March 22-24) in New York, USA. In its latest report the World Bank has also raised concern over decline in fresh water storages and underlined the need of a new approach for integration of built and natural water storages as a measure to adapt to climate change related water challenges and better management of water resources.

There is no doubt that large parts of the world are facing water scarcity and insecurity from existing and looming threats both from man made reasons and changing climates. Given the omnipresent & increasing shortages of cumulative storage capacity and adverse impacts of built water storages especially big reservoirs and dams; it is time global bodies like UN, World Bank, policy makers and governments at large must focus on conservation and replenishment of natural water storages, which are far better, cost effective options available to address and mitigate ever increasing and evolving climatic threats on human water security and sources.

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 060223: Wetlands in India face damages, threats and Govt Apathy

February 6, 2023February 6, 2023 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image:-Nayapakkam a lake near Chennai and a bird hotspot. 190 species have been recorded here and is a refuge for migratory harriers. https://ebird.org/hotspot/L3396760 Excavators were filling one end of the lake yesterday. Allegedly the ACS group is building an International school over it. M Yuvan, 05 Feb. 2023)

On the occasion of World Wetlands Day 2023 on Feb 2, 2023, SANDRP brought out five overviews about state of India’s wetlands. These included overview related to: 1. India’s Ramsar Wetlands 2. General overview of India’s wetlands 3. Top Ten stories about govt actions about wetlands 4. Top ten stories about judiciary actions about wetlands and 5. Positive stories about India’s wetlands. The links to the five overviews are available below.

The first thing that strikes from these overviews is that state of wetlands in India is bad, getting worse, they continue to face systemic neglect, damages, threats and govt apathy including Ramsar wetlands, which are supposed to have better protection than other wetlands, which is unfortunately not true. The nameplate of Ramsar wetland has now been given to 75 wetlands, but that provides no additional protection to them. in the name of information of Ramsar sites, there is only a combined interactive map apart from two separate pdf file links with location map and state wise listing Ramsar wetlands on Wetlands of India portal by MoEF&CC. The govt has neither prepared any concrete plan to address the threats nor has it developed credible monitoring mechanism which clearly shows it has no intention to improve the governance of these sites.

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