2025: Govts, Judiciary Actions on Dam Safety in India

December 13, 2025 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Experts visit Srisailam dam to assess its structural safety in May 2025. Source)

At national level, the NDSA has carried safety audit of 1853 large dams out of 6545 as of Nov. 25, 2025. In July 2025, the Central govt announced to reconstitute NCDS for a period of three years. Before this the NDSA in April 2025 organized a symposium on Dam Safety Act 2021. It has also released the updated version of National Register on Specified Dams 2025. At state level, the Tamil Nadu govt in July 2025 has planned to set up separate dam safety wing. The Punjab govt in May 2025 moved resolution in state assembly to annul Dam Safety Act and planned to enact its own dam safety bill.

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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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Dams

2024: Dam Affected Continue to Struggle across India

December 25, 2024January 19, 2025 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Tribals in Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh protesting against Basania dam in March 2024. Image: ETV Bharat)

The part 3 of annual 2024 overview on the dams and hydro projects covers the ongoing movements of dam affected people in India. All through the year 2024, the Narmada Bachao Andolan continued peaceful protests seeking justice for Sardar Sarovar Project affected villagers. Tribals in upper Narmada Valley have also been fiercely opposing the Basania dam. The Hirakud dam displaced people have demanded formation of statutory national commission to hear their grievances.

The plight of Pong dam affected villagers have worsened as they again face displacement from rehabilitated lands due to new development projects while most of the land given to Renuka dam affected has been damaged by floods. It is indeed tragic that despite sacrificing their land and livelihoods for the ‘development’ of the country decades back, thousands of dams affected villagers are still forced to fight for promised rehabilitation.

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 091224: “Kale Pani Da Morcha”: A Landmark people’s movement

December 9, 2024December 9, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Women activists who were standing and displaying placards were detained by the Ludhiana police during the protest. Photo: By special arrangement/The Wire)

‘Kale Pani da Morcha”, the people’s movement against Pollution of Buddha Nallah, a tributary of Sutlej River in Ludhiana (Punjab) is a landmark movement in more than one sense. Firstly, while severe pollution of rivers is the usual story from across the country, a courageous people’s movement to address is the issue is such a rare event.

The fact that the industries association actually threatened this movement with a counter from the industries and their workers is shocking and shows the impunity of these industries. While the state government has to take quick action to address the issue, there is also a huge role for the central government, which has abjectly failed to perform its basic duty of providing credible governance of rivers, including their pollution in India. They including CPCB and MoEF know since decades that CETPs are completely failed model, and no worthwhile action has been taken to address the failure, including by the World Bank which has funded many of them. The filthy rivers all over India are violating the fundamental rights of millions of people, without any credible action even by the judiciary.

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 300924: Focus on River Studies

September 30, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

Rivers are the most important ecosystems (eco here includes ecology and economy) and yet possibly least studied entities. Some news below this week about some river studies brings the focus on need to take up many more river related studies.

Most important aspect of river related studies is the need for credible, independent studies, not influenced by the needs of the governments. Otherwise, the government is likely to not only influence the study, but also decide not to make it public as they did in case of the studies related to Joshimath town and role of Chamoli disaster.

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 170624: Sardar Sarovar Power House to operate to reduce Dam Water level in anticipation of surplus rains: Welcome, but…

June 17, 2024June 17, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Sardar Sarovar Dam. Image Source: The Economic Times, Sept. 2022)

The news this week that SSNNL has decided to operate the 1200 MW River Bed Power House and the 250 MW Canal Head Power house to reduce the water level in Dam from 122.28 meters on June 14 to around 115 m before the monsoon inflows start, in anticipation of the above average rainfall anticipated during SW Monsoon 2024 is welcome. One hopes this is sign of SSNNL, Gujarat Government and the Narmada Control Authority have learnt some lessons after the avoidable flood disasters brought by SSP in 2023 and earlier in 2019 and 2020, as revealed by SANDRP’s analysis in each of these years.

One hopes this is not just one-off ad-hoc decisions, but part of a systemic change. This will require an integrated basin level reservoir operation policy including all the major dams of the Narmada Valley and put it out in public domain along with clearly defined Standard Operating Procedure, and names of the responsible officials for each of such major dam in the basin. The Central Water Commission will also need to be held accountable for its flood forecasting including the 7-day advance forecasts.

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 230123: Welcome decision of FAC to deny clearance to Etalin HEP

January 23, 2023 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image:- Upper Dibang Valley District, Arunachal Pradesh, India (Source: Wikipedia Commons/IWP)

It’s rather rare that we get a hydropower project related decision from official decision makers that can be welcomed. It has happened this week when the MoEF’s (Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change) Forest Advisory Committee declined to give forest clearance to the controversial 3097 MW Etalin Hydropower Project in Dibang sub basin of Brahmaputra basin in Arunachal Pradesh and North East India. The project was under consideration for this clearance since 2014 and finally in the meeting on Dec 27, 2022, FAC conveyed that the current proposal cannot be considered for the clearance and revised proposal may be submitted. It is not a blanket rejection of the project, but considering the history of consideration of this project in FAC, it is closest we can come to that.

It is also welcome to know that the FAC has also looked at the poor track record of compliance of conditions of earlier forest clearances for the hydropower projects in Arunachal Pradesh among the many reasons why the project is rejected in current form. Arunachal Pradesh may do well to improve its track record before applying for forest clearance to any new projects in the state.

This decision is also a lesson for the MoEF’s Expert Appraisal Committee on River Valley Projects and also for MoEF itself for not even looking at the track record of compliance of the conditions of environment clearances that the EAC and MoEF give to the river valley and hydropower projects. They also never look at the implementation of the Environment Management Plans. Same is the case with the MoEF’s National Board of Wildlife.

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 31×22: Unviable Hydro Projects rejected in Himachal, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam

October 31, 2022 SANDRP1 Comment

(Feature Image: Group photo during No Means No campaign in April 2022 against destructive hydro power projects in Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh. Source: The Pahari Zone, You Tube)

A number of developments this week once again show how unviable large hydropower projects are facing rejection in a number of states. In Kinnaur (Himachal Pradesh) the local youth are demanding that the candidates in the state assembly elections to be held in November 2022 promise to work against the hydropower projects in the district.

In Arunachal Pradesh, the state government has told that High Court that they have cancelled all the 44 large hydropower projects proposed in Siang basin when locals alleged in the petition “the projects have been initiated in a reckless manner without any regard to the consequences of the same and without following any scientific research”.

In Assam with new accidents, the commissioning of the 2000 MW Lower Subansiri HEP has been pushed back further, making the over Rs 20000 crore project even more unviable. In J&K, the landslides killing 4 people at the under construction Ratel Hydropower project in Kishtwar district on Chenab River has again rung a warning as to what is in store for future if proper appraisal studies are not done. In Uttarakhand, the bid to take over the Lanco Hydropower project on Mandakini river, now undergoing bankruptcy case in the court have been rejected and same is likely to be the fate for the revised bid.

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 070222: Union Budget provisions for ILR inappropriate, shows disrespect to statutory clearances and processes

February 7, 2022February 7, 2022 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature image source Money Control:- https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/economy/union-budget-2022-live-updates-nirmala-sitharaman-crypto-bill-rail-itr-pf-contribution-cryptocurrency-income-tax-news-custom-duty-relief-gold-etf-8006461.html)

The Union Finance Minister (FM) Smt. Nirmala Seetharaman in her budget for 2022-23 presented in the parliament on Feb 1, 2022 provided Rs 4300 Cr for the controversial Ken Betwa Project in Revised Estimates for 2021-22 and Rs 1400 Cr in Budget estimates for 2022-23. The KBP has not received the final forest clearance. In fact its stage I forest clearance conditions cannot be implemented without changing the project and its cost benefits and impacts. Its wildlife clearance has been questioned by the Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court of India and the comprehensive scathing report of the CEC Is yet to be heard by the SC. Its environmental clearance is under challenge before the National Green Tribunal. The hydrological figures that are supposed to provide the scientific basis for the project are neither in public domain, nor has it gone through any independent scrutiny. In this situation, the allocation of the funds for the project in the Union Budget and inclusion of a statement about the project in the speech of the President of India before the Joint Session of Parliament on Jan 31, 2022 are inappropriate. They seem to be timed in view of the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections.

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 03 Jan 2022: Are we any safer from Dam Disasters?

January 3, 2022January 3, 2022 SANDRP1 Comment

In the 2021 year-end review by the Ministry of Jal Shakti (Ministry of Water Resources), the passage of the Dam Safety Bill by the parliament figures in headlines. The question is are we any safer from dam disasters due to this? If we take a quick review of the numerous dam disasters just this year and also look at the dam disasters mentioned in this Bulletin that happened just in the last week of the passing year, the answer is clear no. Such disasters include ones in Himachal Pradesh, Nepal and Brazil.

There is also the news here of the Uttarakhand agency report about the Feb 2021 Chamoli disaster, about which the official govt agency has said failure of Early Warning System was a factor in the disaster. The bigger disaster is that the state govt has promptly issued show cause notice to the authors of the paper blaming the lack of EWS!

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