Dam floods · Floods · Hydropower · Indus · Ravi River

Ravi ka Kinara Kaisa hai? River Ravi through its people

Flowing under many names: Vedic Parushni, Puranic Iravati, Greek Hydraotes, River Ravi is arguably the most storied of the five rivers meeting the Indus.

Ravi’s flow from the glacial heights of Himalayas to the fertile plains of Punjab has been embellished in songs and stories for centuries. Heth Vage Ravi Dariya or “Below flows the River Ravi” is a ubiquitous phrase in songs and poems.[1] On the banks of Ranjit Sagar Dam on Ravi, Manbhavan Singh Kahlon, himself a poet-activist muses, “We Punjabis have always written poetry around our rivers. Perhaps even too much, I sometimes think. But most of Ravi’s poetry has been left back in Pakistan.” Pakistan, on the other hand, thinks most of Ravi’s water has been left back in India.

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Climate Change · Dams · Floods · Himachal Pradesh · Himalayas · Hydropower · Indus · Ravi River

Gaddis: Storytellers of the Ravi Basin 

As we stood on a ridge near the Lakke Wali Mata shrine, a tributary of the Ravi roared below in a deep gorge. Across it rose a shaded, Devdar (Himalayan Cedar)-covered mountain slope, etched by a steep brown trail. As we stood there observing the headwaters of Ravi, we noticed that the trail was moving.

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Climate Change · Dam floods · Dams · Floods · Hydro Disaster · Hydropeaking · Hydropower · Indus

The Day Salun Village Fell: Impacts of Cascading Hydropower Projects in the Ravi Basin

Salun village, perched roughly 50 feet above the Ravi River, had its moment of fame on the 26th August 2025 — a moment that also became its last. On the dark, rainy afternoon, the small village with homes, rajma fields, apple orchards and cattle sheds collapsed into the flooded River Ravi like a house of cards. In a matter of 30 minutes, ancestral homes with warm hearths, blankets for the coming winter, old report cards and wedding albums, adhar cards and bankbooks-entire archives of living-were erased. Villagers, who managed to escape in time stood in awe and saw their village going extinct before their eyes.

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Dam Induced Flood Disaster

2025: Dam Induced Flood Incidents in India

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CWC - Central Water Commission · Floods · Highest Flood Level · Monsoon · River Basin

Rivers Crossing the Highest Flood Levels in Aug 2025

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Dam Induced Flood Disaster

Punjab Floods 2025: Role of Bhakra, Pong and Ranjit Sagar Dams

Every dam can potentially help moderate floods to some extent in the downstream area. This is possible only when the dam is operated with that objective in mind. However, when the dam is NOT operated with that objective and is filled up as soon as there is water available, the same dam can in fact bring avoidable flood disaster in the downstream area.

This is exactly what has happened in Punjab ONCE AGAIN during the 2025 SW Monsoon. This has happened on numerous occasions in the past including in 1978, 1988 and 2023, for example.

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Beas · Chenab · Climate Change · Dams · Floods · Himalayas

Vulnerable Nallahs in the Himalayas Need Urgent Attention

“When Jahlma Nallah starts roaring, we cannot sleep. It has been flooding for the past three years at least” said octogenarian Devi Singhji in October 2024. Jahlma Nallah, which joins the Chenab and blocks it occasionally, flooded again catastrophically in the monsoon of 2025.

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CWC - Central Water Commission · Floods · Indus

Himachal Pradesh: Why CWC’s Forecasting is Unavailable Amidst Flood Disaster?

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Cloud Burst

Himachal Pradesh: ‘Cloudburst’ Incidents in SW Monsoon 2024

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Ministry of Environment and Forests

2023: EAC & FAC Decisions on Dams, Hydro, Irrigation Projects

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