GW Overview 2023: Top Ten Judicial Actions

January 19, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Filled with untreated industrial effluents Drain No. 6 in May 2023, passing through Kundli industrial area in Sonipat and causing groundwater pollution along its course. Bhim Singh Rawat/SANDRP)

This third and concluding 2023 yearend overview on Groundwater in India, compiles top ten judicial interventions dealing with the depletion and contamination of groundwater. The SC asking Punjab govt to review groundwater conservation law in the face of air pollution crisis in Delhi is the biggest judicial development of 2023. The Kerala HC directing state govt to bring selling of well water under Food Safety & Standards Act 2006 & Regulation 2011 comes next.

The NGT too on its part has taken note for groundwater depletion and contimination across the country and issued notices to central and state governments. Following NGT orders, there have been action against commercial and industrial units extracting groundwater without permission in Delhi and NCR areas. In another ongoing noteworthy case, the NGT has asked MoJS consider prohibiting groundwater use for cricket ground maintenance.

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DRP 150124: The Catchment degradation in Cauvery Basin

January 15, 2024February 28, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

The study by Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore has brought to light one of the key reasons for the water problems of Cauvery basin: 12850 Sq km of Cauvery basin has lost natural vegetation over the fifty years between 1965 and 2016. The trend is likely to have continued, possibly at an accelerated pace in the eight years since 2016. It may be useful to assess the hydrological implications of this massive destruction of the Cauvery basin.

SANDRP has been highlighting that the reason for the more frequent floods and followed by water scarcity and drought, in spite of somewhat increased rainfall under changing climate is exactly this, the degradation of the Cauvery catchment, including destruction of local water bodies, groundwater recharging mechanisms and natural vegetation.

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DRP 080124: Supreme Court stays Sham post facto clearances

January 8, 2024February 28, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: A Ramganga tributary before joining the river at Marchula, Ramnagar in Nov. 2022. Bhim Singh Rawat/SANDRP)

Post facto environment clearances are indeed a sham as the Hindustan Times Edit has said. It is welcome that the Supreme Court of India has stayed, on Jan 2, 2024, the MoEF memorandums allowing such post facto environmental clearances. Following a petition filed by the Mumbai based environmental group Vanashakti, the sham practice that has been going on since March 2017. Such clearances are clearly contradictory, in letter and spirit to the prior environment clearances as required under the EIA notification of 2006.

The Sham practice should have been stayed much earlier, for example when the Madras High Court gave an interim stay on the MoEF notification of 2017. But unfortunately, the Supreme Court then interpreted that the Madras High Court order will only be limited to Tamil Nadu. Or it may have been stayed earlier by NGT.

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DRP NB 010124: Looking back at 2023 as we welcome 2024

January 1, 2024January 1, 2024 SANDRP1 Comment

As we welcome the new year on its first day, it is also worth looking back at the year just gone by. Some of the major trends of 2023, relevant to us here were: Larger number of dam disasters, including spillway disasters and hydropower project disasters; more severe dam flood instances including in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, among others; rather low hydropower generation, raising questions about dependability of hydropower projects; very huge number of pump storage projects getting sanctioned by the Expert Appraisal Committee of MoEF on River Valley Projects, raising question mark over their viability; record breaking high temperatures and changing rainfall patterns with 5.5% deficit rainfall in SW Monsoon and 19% below normal rains in Post Monsoon period; increasing trend of unregulated sand mining with media more frequently using the term sand mafia; increasing instances of disastrous urban floods including Bangalore, Chennai and Delhi; river front development getting pushed even as people’s protests like in Pune increasing; question marks about compromised decisions of the Expert Appraisal Committee that includes people involved in conflict of interest.

There have also been numerous positive developments, including the successful mission to rescue the 41 workers trapped in Silkyara tunnel even though question mark about the disaster remains; High Court asking that the reports related to the sinking Joshimath; Meghal river revival effort by communities in Gujarat as reported in this bulletin; Dibang Resistance getting the Bhagirath Prayas Samman and beginning of decommissioning of the biggest dam in US, among others.

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DRP 251223: Justice Swaminathan: SC closes its eyes to big-scale environmental violations

December 25, 2023February 23, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image:- Justice G.R. Swaminathan of the Madras HC speaking at a seminar organised jointly by Madurai Bar Association and Wildlife Trust of India in Madurai on Sunday (Dec. 17). Photo Credit: G. Moorthy/The Hindu)

The statement of Justice R Swaminathan of Madras High Court is so true: When it comes to violations in big ticket environment projects, the Supreme Court closes its eyes, including the current CJI DY Chandrachud. As he mentioned the SC has such a poor track record whether it is Narmada or Tehri project or the Kundakulam Nuclear Power project or even the Navi Mumbai Airport project. The list can be much longer.

It is indeed high time that there is a comprehensive review of track record of higher judiciary (including the Supreme Court, High Courts and even the National Green Tribunal) in judging violations in environmental governance of big projects. Even on eminently justiciable matters like adequacy of rehabilitation of the displaced, the adequacy of environment and social impact assessments, adequacy of public consultation process, adequacy of environmental appraisal, monitoring or compliances, not only the track record of the governments pathetic, but the track record of higher judiciary is also nothing to write about. Unfortunately, there is no pressure on the judiciary to amend this.

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DRP 111223: NMCG failure: Wither Ganga Rejuvenation?

December 11, 2023February 23, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Najafgarh drain at Wazirabad barrage Delhi in June 2023. Bhim Singh Rawat/SANDRP)

A careful reading of the PIB release on the statement of Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Shri Bishweswar Tudu in Rajya Sabha on Dec. 04 regarding Namami Gange Program shows that the NMCG has actually failed to make any significant improvement in cleaning of River Ganga so far. Firstly, the program has been extended upto March 2026 without any course correction during its first 7 years of implementation between June 2014 and March 2021.

Secondly, the program since beginning has primarily been focusing on creation and upgradation of sewage treatment capacity and river bank infrastructures without even looking into the root causes including ineffective and undemocratic governance affecting the ecosystem of Ganga rivers let alone the questions of addressing them.

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DRP 271123: India Rivers Week 2023

November 27, 2023February 27, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(IRW 2023 organizers, participants visiting Pun RFD project on Nov. 26, 2023. Image Source: India Rivers Forum)

The Tenth India River Week function was organized at BAIF, Pune on Nov 25-26, 2023, with participation of over a hundred people. The focus of the event was on Pune River Front Development (RFD), being pushed by Pune Municipal Corporation, and RFD in other cities around India, and it was strongly critiqued and opposed at the meeting, including by Bhagirath Prayas Samman winners Sarang Yadwadkar and Jeevit Nadi. A field visit of the participants was also organized to the proposed site of the work of the project. (Also see: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/greens-criticize-approval-rfd-project-pune/articleshow/105523479.cms)

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DRP 131123: Another Himalayan Disaster: 40 workers trapped in a tunnel in Uttarakhand

November 13, 2023February 27, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Ongoing rescue work inside Badkot-Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi. Image Source: HT)

In yet another disaster in the Himalayas, at least 40 workers are trapped in an under-construction tunnel being constructed by National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (NHIDCL), among others. The Hindustan Times has wrongly named the construction company as Hydroelectricity Investment & Development Company Limited (HIDCL) possibly of Nepal govt. Some people at the location have informed us that it may take another day before the workers are rescued.

NHIDCL was not even sure of the total of number of workers, as they gave the number as 36, which was corrected by the district administration later on to 40. It is also strange to see the work going on even on a Diwali day. Another disturbing aspect is that all the workers are reportedly mostly from outside Uttarakhand, when Uttarakhand villagers are known to migrate in large numbers to outside the state for employment. This disaster thus raises a lot of questions, which will need answers once the workers are rescued safely. The workers are still trapped over 30 hours after the disaster. The work at the 4.5 km long tunnel is being built under Char Dham Road Widening project since over 4 years, and violations have been happening in the work since then, as we reported in 2019.

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DRP 301023: Top scientist Rajeev Raghavan emphasizes need to conserve River Fish

October 30, 2023February 27, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image:- Fish catch from a Ramganga stream in Pauri in June 2022. Bhim Singh Rawat/SANDRP)

It is rather rare when we hear the sane voice of a scientist like Rajeev Raghavan neglect of riverine fish conservation in India, from government, research bodies to down to grassroots level. Rajeev Raghavan, incidentally is among the 2% top scientists of the world by the Stanford University, USA. The over emphasis on fish in food, on marine fish, on exotic fish that has such a huge adverse impact on our biodiversity and lack of effort towards conservation of riverine fish are some of the key issues Raghavan emphasizes in this interview. He says most of the fish in the IUCN red list are riverine fish and yet there is so little understanding or effort to conserve such fish or their habitat.

If we see the discussions in the minutes of the meetings of the MoEF’s Expert Appraisal Committee on River Valley Projects in spite of there being permanent presence of a representative of Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, we see non-existence of any concerns about the impact of the project in riverine fisheries or those who are dependent on them for livelihoods. In fact, we see the shocking spectacle of CIFRI scientists working as consultants to the hydropower companies, working to justify such projects on the highly biodiverse rivers including those of North East India.

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DRP 231023: Need to be a little serious about Dam Safety, Flood Forecasting, Use of Early Warnings

October 23, 2023February 27, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Landslide warning board at Lakhwar dam site on Yamuna river. SANDRP, June 2015)

India need to relook the Dam Safety Act Experts say the Sikkim incident exemplifies blind spots in both legislation and implementation. The DSA does not promote risk-based decision-making and fails to incentivise transparency. Himanshu Thakkar, an environmental activist and coordinator of South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, says that the frequency and scale of such disasters reveal a pattern of neglect: “It keeps happening regularly, people face disastrous consequences and we call these ‘natural disasters’. But there’s nothing natural about them.”

A robust DSA should allow different stakeholders to access information easily, but India’s framework falls short. “Dam safety is a public purpose function. Everything about dam safety, functions of all the institutions and committees and authorities, their reports, decisions minutes and agendas, everything should be promptly available to the public,” says Mr. Thakkar. “But nothing is in the public domain.” He adds that transparency is further obstructed when national and State bodies comprise government employees and engineers who worked on these projects, compromising objective decision making and lacking “people with a proven track record of taking independent decisions.”

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