DRP 160924: Urban Flood lessons from Vadodara, Vijaywada

September 16, 2024February 27, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Vadodara: A flooded area after heavy monsoon rainfall, in Vadodara, Aug. 27). Photo Credit: PTI/The Hindu)

Like every monsoon, a number of cities have faced catastrophic floods in SW monsoon this year. Vadodara and Vijaywada have got the media attention more than any other city for urban floods this year. In both cases a number of factors are common: role of upstream dams, encroachment on water bodies including rivers, lakes, streams, role of illegal sand mining particularly in Vijaywada, not having learnt any lessons from past flood disasters.

It is interesting to see Andhra Pradesh CM hinting at bringing HYDRAA like enforcement institution to remove encroachments on Budameru and other water bodies. Considering the nature of his politics and track record, it is doubtful if this NDA CM will take such a bold step, but it is certainly worthy of consideration for almost all urban areas in India.

Continue reading →

DRP News Bulletin

DRP 090924: Question marks over Yettinahole should not be buried under money spent

September 9, 2024February 27, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: File photo of Yettinahole Project. Source: Daijiworld)

The Yettinahole project has seen protests and question marks right from the time when the project was proposed, none of them have been convincingly answered. As the Karnataka Chief Minister and his deputy commissioned a small part of it, those question marks remain as relevant today, including its hydrological viability, environmental impact assessments and sustainability, with hugely weakening of the western ghats by such major interventions without any credible impact assessments. (see: https://sandrp.in/2013/09/18/yettinahole-diversion-an-imprudent-rs-100-billion-proposition/)

It is good to see CWC and MoEF have also raised some questions and asked report even at this stage. One however expects CWC to raise such questions much earlier in the project cycle and before the project becomes fait accomplice. Else, it seems more like politicking. MoEF could have raised issues of violations before the violations happened on ground and should have refused to provide piece meal forest clearances as it has alleged.

Continue reading →

DRP News Bulletin

DRP 190824: Goa River group win important battle against illegal sand mining

August 19, 2024February 27, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Sand extraction in Mandovi river near Candola bridge. Image Credit: GRSPN)

This is indeed a rare and important victory by Goa River Sand Protectors’ Network (GRSPN) in their long fight against illegal river sand mining in Goa. Following a petition in the National Green Tribunal the state government has agreed to recall all the environment clearances granted by the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority.

Goa government has agreed since these clearances were given without a District Survey Report (DSR) as required under the sustainable sand mining guidelines of MoEF. While this may sound like a temporary respite based on some technical violation, the fact is most sand mining clearances across India are given without a credible DSR, but it has not been possible to stop such violations elsewhere.

Continue reading →

DRP News Bulletin

DRP 050824: Cities fail monsoon test

August 5, 2024February 27, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image by Cartoonist Alok/ Sakal, July 25, 2024)

This monsoon has again shown how our cities have been failing the monsoon test for decades. As rightly suggested in the Indian Express Edit this week, main reasons are: outdated drainage systems, planning that is blind to local hydrology and pathetic state of civic agencies. The last factor in fact needs to change to failed governance at all levels. There is no water or flood policy that guides our cities, nor is there any reward for improving governance, nor any penalties for lack of it.

In fact, with better rainwater management, cities can convert this problem into a blessing, both in terms of water security and also improved state of urban landscape. This would be possible if it prioritizes the city’s capacity to hold, store, recharge and drain the rainwater. Instead, the cities are busying destroying such capacities by destroying the rivers, ridges, forests, local water bodies, groundwater recharge capacities and also the drainage capacity.

Continue reading →

DRP News Bulletin

DRP 290724: Dam Floods need urgent attention

July 29, 2024February 28, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Officials said it was very important to identify a dry area for construction of the diaphragm wall and the earth-cum-rock-fill dam on top of it, this being the main dam of the Polavaram project. DC Image)

The floods last week in Pune, with significant contribution from dam releases from upstream has led to Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar directing the water resources department to keep the Khadkwasla Dam only half full to avoid repeat of the floods. While this is welcome and needs to be implemented, it also raises a number of questions.

The phenomena of water releases from dams contributing to downstream floods is not new, it has been going on for decades as SANDRP has been pointing out. Even in 2023 monsoon, several dams were found guilty of this including Sardar Sarovar on Narmada in Gujarat and Bhakra & Pong dams in Punjab (this was highlighted at a meeting in Chandigarh on Saturday by SANDRP and others), among others. In 2019 floods in Maharashtra and Karnataka too this happened in Krishna basin. So, the minister’s statement post disaster is surprising.

Continue reading →

DRP News Bulletin

DRP 150724: Celebrating Monsoons

July 15, 2024February 28, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: People visit the seaside as dark clouds hover over the city, in Mumbai, Monday June 03. Image Credit: PTI/ Source: TNIE)

It is rather rare when we find anything in media about celebrating our monsoons. We find this week more than one piece about such celebration in various ways including through creating works like Bollywood songs and poetry in various languages of India.

In a detailed article famous Bollywood related author Jerry Pinto writes about the fascinating Bollywood songs related to monsoon and their picturization. He writes that the great tradition seems to be fading out, but hopefully that will not be the case. Incidentally the article should have mentioned the name of one of the best lyricist, author and film maker, Gulzar, who has shown more love for monsoon that possibly anyone else in Bollywood.

Continue reading →

DRP News Bulletin

DRP 080724: Why IMD & CWC are unable to improve forecasts, reporting & help improve flood management?

July 8, 2024February 28, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Flood-affected people move to a safer place on a boat in Nalbari district on Friday, July 5, 2024. Image Credit: PTI/Source HT)

We are in the thick of monsoon and also flood season. To manage floods, key inputs are accurate forecasts and prompt, accurate, location, river specific rainfall. India Meteorological department has a key role to play in all these aspects that can help us manage floods, as a very pointed Editorial in Indian Express stated in the context of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s flip flops.

The edit referred to the 2021 parliamentary panel report that asked the Centre to set up modern weather stations in the upstream catchment of the Northeast’s rivers and install sirens to alert people downstream of floods. North East and rest of the country continues to lack such systems.

Continue reading →

DRP News Bulletin

DRP 010724: Time for independent review of Polavaram Project?

July 1, 2024February 28, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Work going on Polavaram Project at Polavaram in West Godavari. DC Image: Narayana Rao, Dec. 2020)

The sequence of events over the last two decades that ended this week with white paper on Polavaram project being released by the newly elected Andhra Pradesh govt underlines urgent need for an independent assessment of the multi-state Polavaram Project on Godavari River in Andhra Pradesh.

The story of the project similar to, though a bit longer than that of the ill-fated Kaleshwaram Project of the neighbor Telugu speaking state of Telangana. Both are ill-conceived, expensive, high impact projects on same Godavari River, both taken forward without sufficient studies and implemented without sufficient checks and balances.

Continue reading →

Yamuna River

Yamuna Manthan 050624: Time to review UYRB to address Delhi water crisis & save river

June 5, 2024June 5, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: River Yamuna at Panipat on June 05, 2024. Photo by Rakesh Gautam)

In the wake of water crisis in Delhi, the Supreme Court on June 3, 2024 has directed Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB) to convene urgent meeting on June 5, 2024 and submit status report in the court by June 6, 2024. The direction came following Delhi government claim that the state of Himachal Pradesh is ready to share surplus water with it and for that it required cooperation from Haryana government. The outcome would hopefully be known by the evening on June 5 2024.

Given the prevailing political equations among the basin states, there is uncertainty whether the board would be able to effectively resolve the issue. The UYRB suffers from some flaws in formation and functioning. The board is working in an opaque manner. Presently its website is inaccessible and meeting minutes are not in public domain. It is also reportedly crippled by shortage of staff as against originally sanctioned post of 58, it is currently functioning with just 5 officials.

Continue reading →

DRP News Bulletin

DRP 060524: Study on dam induced river flooding in Peninsular India

May 6, 2024February 28, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: (a) Locations of streamflow gauges with catchment boundaries in six major river basins of Peninsular India, (b) elevation map and mean annual maximum runoff rate (streamflow per unit catchment area), (c) Aridity Index (AI) and (d) Baseflow Index (BFI). The maps in first row are prepared in QGIS (Version 2.14.0 ‘Essen’ (2016), URL: http://qgis.org) and the maps in second row are generated using R (Version 4.2.2 (2022), URL: https://www.R-project.org/). Source: Baseflow significantly contributes to river floods in Peninsular India )

A recently published study, see details given below throws light on the role of groundwater contribution to baseflow in rivers and their flooding in Peninsular India’s river like Narmada, Tapi, Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery. The found that while baseflow contributes more to river flows, its share in the flood event flow magnitude decreases as surface runoff accounts for a larger proportion of flood discharge on the day of the flood.

Most significant are the findings related to dam induced flood that SANDRP has been writing for long and the finding corroborate exactly what SANDRP has been saying: Sudden releases of water from a dam can raise river levels during extreme rainfall events, especially when the dam is nearly full. The impact of sudden floods is more destructive because people living in nearby areas are often unprepared. Without a dam, floodwaters rise slowly over time, allowing people to take preventive measures. However, sudden floods caused by dam releases offer little or no time to prepare, increasing the risks associated with dam-induced flood hazards. Furthermore, the construction of dams alters the natural regime of rivers, leading to changes in sediment transport and erosion patterns. These changes can heighten the risk of flooding downstream from a dam.

Continue reading →