The central theme of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji’s 40 minutes speeach at Himalayan pilgrimage centre of Kedarnath in Uttarakhand on Oct 21, 2017[i], was that we need to come out of the shadow of a disaster. It was to chart out new design, development and reconstruction of the temple, the road, the banks of River Mandakini and its tributary Saraswati and the memorial of Shankaracharya. The reconstruction was required since the disaster had destroyed all this and more. Continue reading “Prime Minister Modi at Kedarnath: What was said; what was left unsaid”
Tag: Pancheshwar
DRP News Bulletin 21 August 2017 (Unscientific Obsession With Dredging)
It seems the Chief Ministers of all the flood affected states are obsessed about dredging the rivers and reservoirs and are advocating massive scale dredging as a solution to flooding. This is partly triggered by the Rivers-as-waterways advocacy by Union Surface Transport Minister Shri Nitin Gadkari and partly by the need for showing to the people that they are doing something new to tackle floods, it seems. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar contributed to it in a way last year when he mentioned the accumulation of millions of tons of silt along Ganga due to the backwater impact of Farakka Dam. This year, the Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal[i] has been talking about dredging Brahmaputra as a solution to floods in Assam.
Continue reading “DRP News Bulletin 21 August 2017 (Unscientific Obsession With Dredging)”
Cancel Pancheshwar Dam Public Hearings: It involves too many violations and illegalities
From: SANDRP,
50-D, AD block, Shalimar Bagh, Delhi 88
we4earth@gmail.com, https://sandrp.wordpress.com/
August 11 2017
To
1. District Magistrate,
Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand
2. Chairman/ Regional office incharge,
Uttarakhand Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board,
Dehradun, dkjoshi21@yahoo.com
COPY to: 1. IA Division (River Valley Projects) MoEF, Delhi
2. Chairman and Members of Expert Appraisal Committee on River Valley Projects
Respected Members of Public Hearing Panel for Pancheshwar Dam,
The public hearing now being conducted for the massive Pancheshwar Dam at Pithoragarh today, as part of the requirement under the EIA notification of Sept 2006 is being held in complete violation of letter and spirit of many norms of the EIA notification. Hence these public hearings should be cancelled. They should be rescheduled after appropriate conditions are achieved for the public hearing. Some of the key reasons for this are listed below, but these are not exhaustive reasons, but only a list of key indicative reasons. Continue reading “Cancel Pancheshwar Dam Public Hearings: It involves too many violations and illegalities”
Nepal’s Everest sinking 7.9 Earthquake of April 25-2015: Himalayan warning
The massive Nepal earthquake of 7.9 intensity (Richter scale) on April 25, 2015 with epicenter 77 km north-west of Kathmandu in Nepal is a major noteworthy event in the Himalayas which also has warnings for what is in store for future. The earthquake left a major trail of destruction affecting over 20 districts of Nepal, of which 8 million live in 11 severely affected districts. Besides, it affected areas of India (Bihar, UP, W Bengal, Sikkim, Assam), Bangladesh, Tibet. The earthquake has now been given the official name of Gorkha Earthquake.
Continue reading “Nepal’s Everest sinking 7.9 Earthquake of April 25-2015: Himalayan warning”
An Epic Voyage along the Ganga comes to close!
From Burton and Speke’s expedition to the origin of Nile to the age old Narmada Parikrama or the Chaar Dhaam Yatras (which are as much river journeys as pilgrimages), River journeys have always enthralled travelers and listeners alike. Continue reading “An Epic Voyage along the Ganga comes to close!”
SANDRP 