Wetlands

Threats to East Kolkata Wetlands are threats to Kolkata: Majhi jo nau dubaaye…

June 22, 2016June 22, 2016 SANDRP3 Comments

Guest Blog by: Chicu Lokgariwar (chicu.l@gmail.com), Usha Dewani (usha.dewani7@gmail.com)

‘Majhi jo nau dubaaye, to usey kaun bachaaye’ laments a popular song[i]. It literally translates as: ‘If an oarsman sinks his boat, who can save it?’

This is a question that concerned citizens of Kolkata are asking themselves today in connection with the famed East Kolkata Wetlands. A notified Ramsar site, this extensive wetland spread over 12,500 Ha has been protected for decades by the communities who live within it and by The East Kolkata Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Act, 2006. Today, it is the Environment Minister of West Bengal who has taken it upon himself to destroy the wetlands. Continue reading “Threats to East Kolkata Wetlands are threats to Kolkata: Majhi jo nau dubaaye…” →

Wetlands

Press Release: World Wetlands Day 2016: Complete Regulatory Vacuum around India’s Wetlands

February 2, 2016February 2, 2016 SANDRP3 Comments

No National or State Wetlands Authority

No Wetland Rules for 4 yrs

The recent Chennai Flood Disaster of Dec 2015 and the Jammu and Kashmir Flood disaster of Sept 2014 have underlined that Wetlands are important not only for biodiversity & livelihoods of millions, but they are an integral mechanism for flood control and regulation in Rural and Urban India.

India is losing Wetlands at an alarming rate, as much as 38% in a decade (1991-2001). However, for the past four years, there has been a complete regulatory vacuum around the country’s wetlands, despite the Notification of Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules with much fanfare in 2010. Continue reading “Press Release: World Wetlands Day 2016: Complete Regulatory Vacuum around India’s Wetlands” →

Interlinking of RIvers

What ails DPR and EIA of Ken-Betwa Link Project: A Note for EAC of MoEF&CC

October 29, 2015October 29, 2015 SANDRP2 Comments

Above: Ken River in PTR – Glimpse of long deep gorge (Photo by RS Murthy, former Field Director of PTR)

Guest Blog by Hemendra Singh Panwar (Padma Bhushan, director of Project Tiger (1981-85 and first director of Wildlife Institute of India (1985-94)

My professional conscience impels me to make this submission, challenged as it is by the reliance on half-truths and misinformation by the Project proponents to justify environmental and wildlife clearances for Ken-Betwa River Linking Project (KBLP) from the State and Union governments. Let me at the outset clarify that I am not and have never been an activist even to promote conservation, though I did strive my best to this end within the system. I also have no phobia against dams and canals but do carry the conviction that ill-conceived such projects using wanton half-truths to present a mirage of unachievable benefits can but severely impact ecological and field conservation status while failing to deliver the claimed outcomes.
Continue reading “What ails DPR and EIA of Ken-Betwa Link Project: A Note for EAC of MoEF&CC” →

Dams

Book Review: GREEN SIGNALS: In search of a Middle Ground

September 28, 2015 SANDRPLeave a comment

(GREEN SIGNALS: Ecology, Growth, and Democracy in India; Jairam Ramesh; Oxford University Press; 605 pages; Rs 850)

Jairam Ramesh (JR for short) is arguably, India’s best ever Environment Minister. His book Green Signals is essentially providing records and some explanations of his own actions during his 25 month tenure at Paryavaran Bhawan, the Ministry of Environment and Forests. JR in general laments the industry mindset on environment and says the NDA government’s attitude is dangerous. Grow now, pay later mindset won’t work in India. He says in India sustainability & ecological issues are not luxury but necessity & he tries to explain what they mean in the context of economic growth. Continue reading “Book Review: GREEN SIGNALS: In search of a Middle Ground” →

Expert Appraisal Committee · River Valley Projects

Why the Decisions and minutes of the 86th meeting of EAC on River Valley Projects need to be reviewed

September 22, 2015September 22, 2015 SANDRP1 Comment

September 22, 2015

Chairman and Members,

Expert Appraisal Committee on River Valley Projects,

Ministry of Environment and Forests,

New Delhi

Respected Chairman and Members,

We have just seen the minutes of the 86^th meeting (uploaded on Sept 14, 2015, but clearance letters in some cases have already been issued even before the EAC minutes are made public or the minutes are finalised at the next EAC meeting) of the Expert Appraisal Committee on River Valley Committee, held on Aug 24-25, 2015.

The minutes make a disturbing reading. The EAC seems to be bending every ecological norm, facts and even legal stipulations to push ahead with every project that the government wants them to clear. There seems to be no application of mind from the EAC on the proposals. The minutes are not even internally consistent. It is putting forward facts in misleading fashion to give a wrong picture. Continue reading “Why the Decisions and minutes of the 86th meeting of EAC on River Valley Projects need to be reviewed” →

Interlinking of RIvers

Letter to MoEF Expert Appraisal Committee: Reject Ken Betwa Proposal

August 25, 2015 SANDRP6 Comments

August 21, 2015

To:

Chairman and Members,

Expert Appraisal Committee on River Valley Projects,

Union Ministry of Environment and Forests,

New Delhi

Subject: Concerns about Ken Betwa River Link Proposal

Respected Chairman and Members,

The agenda for the Aug 24-25, 2015 meeting of EAC includes the proposal to consider Environment Clearance for the Ken Betwa River Link Project in Madhya Pradesh. In that context, we would like to raise following concerns: Continue reading “Letter to MoEF Expert Appraisal Committee: Reject Ken Betwa Proposal” →

Ministry of Environment and Forests · Ministry of Water Resources

MoWR report on “Assessment of E-Flows” is welcome, needs urgent implementation

April 15, 2015June 17, 2020 SANDRP39 Comments

A three member committee set up by the Union Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (MoWR for short) has submitted a report in March 2015, which makes welcome recommendation on “Assessment of Environment Flows”. These recommendations on Environmental Flows (E-Flows) need to be implemented immediately for better health of our rivers. The committee members include Dr Vinod Tare of Indian Institute of Technology Consortium (IITC), senior officials of Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF for short, it was represented by Dr Shashi Shekhar, Special Secretary in MoEF) and MoWR (represented by Dr Amarjeet Singh, Additional Secretary, MoWR). Sushri Uma Bharti, Union Water Resources Minister[1] and even the recent meeting of National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGBRA) on March 26, 2015[2], headed by the Prime Minister referred to this committee. Continue reading “MoWR report on “Assessment of E-Flows” is welcome, needs urgent implementation” →

Dams

Mission on Small Hydro Projects: Ignoring social and environmental impacts will not help

February 16, 2015February 16, 2015 SANDRP1 Comment

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the RE-Invest 2015, India’s first Renewable Energy Global Investors’ Meet and Expo in New Delhi on February 15, 2015, full-page advertisements in the National Capital declared the target of adding 5000 MW of small hydro capacity by 2022, in addition to other renewable energy targets. A part of this renewed focus on small hydro, a subset of India’s new push for Renewable Energy, involves a new Mission for Small Hydro Projects. Even as it has some welcome features, the new Mission will not help if the government continues to ignore significant social and environmental impacts of small hydro projects. Continue reading “Mission on Small Hydro Projects: Ignoring social and environmental impacts will not help” →

Delhi

NGT Orders MAILY SE NIRMAL YAMUNA – WILL THIS LEAD TO A REJUVENATED YAMUNA?

February 14, 2015 SANDRP1 Comment

Guest Blog by Manoj Misra (yamunajiye@gmail.com), Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan, Delhi

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) in a landmark judgment pronounced on 13 January 2015[1], has set an ambitious road map for a rejuvenated river Yamuna by 2017. Naming it as “Maily se Nirmal Yamuna rejuvenation project, 2017” the green court in the judgment spread over almost 100 pages has detailed steps necessary to achieve what all previous efforts have miserably failed. Continue reading “NGT Orders MAILY SE NIRMAL YAMUNA – WILL THIS LEAD TO A REJUVENATED YAMUNA?” →

Ministry of Environment and Forests

The High Level Committee Report on Environmental Laws: A Recipe for Climate Disaster and Silencing People’s Voice

January 8, 2015January 18, 2015 SANDRP1 Comment

Above: 440 MW Vishnuprayag HEP post 2013 disaster in Uttarakhand. The project, its operation and location added significantly to disaster in the downstream. Photo: Matu JanSangathan

Post by- Ritwick Dutta, Lawyers Initiative For Forest and Environment, Debi Goenka, Conservation Action Trust, Manoj Mishra, Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan & Himanshu Thakkar , South Asian Network for Dams, Rivers & People

Continue reading “The High Level Committee Report on Environmental Laws: A Recipe for Climate Disaster and Silencing People’s Voice” →