“If you really want to see Panihars, you should visit Chhatradi” says the shy Aditya. He is 15 years old and studies in class X. We are standing on a busy and dusty bridge across a tributary of Ravi in Chamba, Himachal Pradesh. Beside us is the legendary Fulmutala spring fountain (Panihar). Hundreds of people come here every evening to collect cool and clear drinking water. Most have piped water supply in their homes but insist that waters of Fulmutala are peerless. Spring Fountains are a way of life in the Ravi Basin. And yet, very little is said about these beautiful places bringing together groundwater, rivers, ecology and culture.
Continue reading “Chhatradi: Thirty-Six Spring Fountains of the Ravi”Tag: Ravi
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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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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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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2025: Dam Induced Flood Incidents in India
(Feature Image: Locals assist in moving flood affected people to a safer place as floodwater enters villages in Ajnala, near Amritsar. Source)
India has witnessed several incidents of dam induced floods during south west monsoon 2025. The most remarkable and devastating episode unfolded in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh states in August 2025 largely due to mismanagement of Bhakra, Pong and Ranjit Sagar dams by BBMB. While negligence of BBMB has invited FIRs in Himachal Pradesh, warnings by Punjab govt and petition in NGT, there is no report in public domain suggesting the authority taking any credible action to make its dam operation scientific and accountable after the disaster.
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Rivers Crossing the Highest Flood Levels in Aug 2025
In the third month of South West Monsoon season 2025, we have been able to track at least 23 flood monitoring sites of the Central Water Commission (CWC) where the respective rivers have crossed their Highest Flood Level (HFL). These 23 sites are spread over 5 river basins -11 sites in Ganga basin, 9 sites in Indus basin & 1 each in Mahi, Godavari and Krishna basins.
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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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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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Himachal Pradesh: Why CWC’s Forecasting is Unavailable Amidst Flood Disaster?
(Feature Image: Screenshot of inactive hydrograph for Solang station on Beas river in Mandi district. Source: CWC Flood Forecast website)
Despite disastrous flood events causing significant destruction to human lives and infrastructures for past three years, the state of Himachal Pradesh has not seen much required improvements in flood monitoring and forecast servicesby the Central Water Commission’s (CWC) to help minimize the destruction toll.
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Himachal Pradesh: ‘Cloudburst’ Incidents in SW Monsoon 2024
(Feature Image: Cloudburst ravaged Bagipul area along Kurpan khad in Kullu district. in Aug. 2024. Source: Aaj Tak)
We have been able to identify 27 reported incidents of ‘cloudburst’ in Himachal Pradesh during the SW monsoon 2024. A table with some basic information about these incidents can be seen here.
The ‘cloudburst’ incidents have been reported from all geographical areas of the state spanning 8 districts throughout the season beginning with May 12 in Gharshu village of Kinnaur to September 26 from Paonta Sahib area of Sirmaur. The maximum 18 of these incidents have occurred in areas close to glaciers or snow-clad mountains followed by 5 in middle segment of Himalaya and 4 in Shivalik range of the state.
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SANDRP 