Yamuna Manthan 090525: Will we STOP Commercialization of River Floodplains?

May 9, 2025May 12, 2025 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Redstone stuctures at Vasudev Riverfront site on Yamuna. BS Rawat, SANDRP/ April 2025)

The rhetoric of Sabarmati type river front project for Yamuna in Delhi is getting louder. For over a decade, the DDA has already been working on 11 projects disguised as ‘floodplain restoration’. In recent past, none other than the NGT has flagged concerns over permanent structures and concretization work in some of these projects. Notably, all these cosmetic projects have suffered huge damages in the July 2023 floods.

Despite this, showing no regard to laws and sanctity of floodplains, DDA (Delhi Development Authority) has commercialized some of the projects including the Vasudev riverfront and the Baansera park. Since there is no autonomous body functioning in Delhi to hold the DDA accountable, every week there is news about a new riverfront or park project aiming at further commercializing the Yamuna floodplain.

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 150124: The Catchment degradation in Cauvery Basin

January 15, 2024January 15, 2024 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 News Bulletin

DRP NB 25122023: Justice Swaminathan: SC closes its eyes to big-scale environmental violations

December 25, 2023December 25, 2023 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 News Bulletin

DRP NB 110923: Another independent institution-CEC destroyed

September 11, 2023September 12, 2023 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Ramganga River near Marchula. SANDRP 08 Sept. 2023)

The Govt of India’s Sept 5 2023 notification reconstituting the Central Empowered Committee completely destroys the independent nature of this institution of accountability and course correction. This institution, set up by the Supreme Court in 2002 and reconstituted in 2008, worked as eyes and ears of the Supreme Court on environmental issues. The new committee has no independent members, it will be constituted by the MoEF, MoEF itself has such an abysmally poor track record.

The notification, reports said, diluted the CEC’s autonomy on four key counts: the committee will report to the ministry, instead of the SC; the ministry will pick all the members and the SC will have no role in the process; the ministry, and not the court, will fund the committee; the provision of having two NGOs in the committee has been done away with.

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 290523: Goa Fights to save Mahadayi River

May 29, 2023May 29, 2023 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Thousands form human chain along Mhadei river to celebrate #MahadaiAmchiMai festival. Source: ToI)

On May 20, 2023 when thousands of people of Goa, Rakhondars (protectors) came out to form a 7 km long human chain to save Mhadei or Mahadayi river, they were not only celebrating Goa’s unique Mahadayi River festival, but were also coming together to declare their resolve save and rejuvenate the River that is lifeline of Goa.

A large number of organizations came together, including Earthivist Collective, Goa Heritage Action Group, Save Mhadei Save Goa front, among many others. It was a unique attempt to reconnect with the river, its history, its soul. The people from all kinds of art forms and all walks of life came together in a state where the connection with the river has always been strong for the people.

One hopes their tribe multiplies and they succeed in saving the river from dam building plans and other river affecting activities. That success will provide an example and impetus for river conservation activities elsewhere too.

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 240423: The world is moving away from Big Dams: Are we?

April 24, 2023April 24, 2023 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Construction works going on at Polavaram Dam site. Source: The Hans Media, May 2021)

This well substantiated report from Yale School of Environment this week shows that the end of the big dam era is approaching. The well argued report from Jacques Leslie uses the reports from UN University, International Renewable Energy Agency, Oxford University, Inclusive Development International, China, among others to show how the pace of construction of dams and hydropower projects and also pace of financing such projects have hugely reduced in recent years and decades.

Even the International Hydropower Association, sensing the change, is now advocating pump storage hydro rather than conventional hydro and that too off stream version, to complement the power from solar and wind. Emerging economics with rising cost of hydropower projects and rising cost of power from such projects compared to solar, wind (onshore and offshore) are a major reason for the massively slowing pace of new hydropower projects.

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 060323: India’s regulators blind to increasing threats in Himalayas

March 6, 2023 SANDRP2 Comments

This week the weekly DRP bulletin brings news of increasing threats from changing climate in inherently disaster prone Himalayas. The news come from Ladakh in the NW to Nagaland in the NE, and includes Uttarakhand among others. The news is about retreating glaciers, increasing threats of Glacial Lake Outburst floods and landslides. The news also notes that factors like indiscriminate infrastructure development and lack of drainage are worsening the disaster potential of the Himalayan states. Most importantly, implicitly more than explicitly, the news reports highlight complete inattention of the regulators to these increasing threats and risks in inherently vulnerable Himalayas while considering new infrastructure projects like Highways, Railways, Hydropower projects, Dams and urbanization and also in terms of disaster management laws and practices.

It underlines that the threats and risks in the Himalayan states is also increasing due to changing rainfall patterns due to changing climate. This trinity of inherent vulnerability, changing climate and inattention to the risks of indiscriminate infrastructure projects is clearly very very dangerous, but there is little hope for any immediate change. One clear indication is the handling of the Joshimath disaster, a clear case of how not to handle communication as Dave Petley has noted. The Prime Minister’s office is sitting on the report submitted by the investigating agencies several weeks ago. Why should this report be a secret or will we get a negotiated report?

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Urban Rivers

Do we have space for Rivers in our cities?

February 9, 2023 SANDRPLeave a comment

Is it a legitimate, valid question, or is this question a product of old fashioned, romantic mind? If we go by the way we are treating the rivers and its various essential components in big cities or small, the answer seems a clear no.

State of Urban Rivers The urban rivers in India are not only in poor state, but their condition is worsening with every passing day [i]. Pollution, encroachments, solid waste dumping, damming, water diversions, groundwater over-exploitation, catchment degradation, destruction of water bodies, wetlands and forests, indiscriminate mining, the impact of building bridges, flyovers and metros are some of the known physical threats to the Urban rivers. Complete lack of any legal or institutional protection, and a mindset that sees rivers as non-essential, expendable entities are some of the major causes for this situation. This is true of rivers like Yamuna (Delhi, Agra, Mathura), Ganga (Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna), Gomati (Lucknow), Mithi (Mumbai), Mula-Mutha (Pune), Sabarmati (Ahmedabad), Dravyawati (Jaipur), Khan (Indore), Kshipra (Ujjain), Jhelum (Srinagar), Mahi and Vishvamitri (Vadodara), Tapi (Surat), Arkavathi & Virishabhavati (Bangalore), to name a few.

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 071122: Increasing focus on Urban Rivers; they continue to face destruction

November 7, 2022November 7, 2022 SANDRP1 Comment

(Feature Image Source: Question of cities)

It is good to see that focus on Urban Rivers is increasing not only in media, but also by the government. The focus of the latest edition of “Question of Cities” is on Urban Rivers, carrying articles on, beside the lead article by SANDRP coordinator, Article “Rivers & Cities”, Sabarmati (Ahmedabad), Mula-Mutha (Pune), on River Centric Urban Planning Guidelines from Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning. In addition, this SANDRP DRP update also carries articles on Dravyawati River of Jaipur, Godavari river in Nasik and a report on Mandakini river in Badrinath.

All this increased focus is welcome, but will be worthwhile only when we see an effective impact of this on rejuvenated Urban rivers. We have yet to see that. In fact, if at all, the movement is hugely in opposite direction, with increasing destruction of Urban Rivers.

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Urban Rivers

Top Ten Judicial Actions on Urban Rivers 2022: Executors Deliberately Delaying, Diluting, Defying orders

July 8, 2022 SANDRP1 Comment

(Feature Image: The order is subject to the orders of the SC which is pending. NGT on Nov. 24, 2021ordered the BMC to deposit within three months an environmental penalty of ₹28.20 crores to the CPCB for discharging raw sewage into the city creeks, rivers and drains. HT Photo)

During past one year, the judicial bodies including National Green Tribunal, Supreme Court, various High Courts have passed several orders and made critical observation while dealing with multiple issues afflicting Urban Rivers in India. This report highlights top ten such judicial interventions across India. The stories underline that the responsible agencies particularly pollution control boards and district, state and union governments have been failing miserably in timely and efficient implementation of these judicial orders, some of which are quite remarkable. If the executive bodies do not show right spirit and seriousness in enforcing the existing rules and court orders the state of India’s urban river only go downhill.

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