Tag: Tata Power

“Water is not a private property of some groups”: Bombay High Court directs release of water from Private Dams like the Tata Dams
Dams · Hydropower · Maharashtra

“Water is not a private property of some groups”: Bombay High Court directs release of water from Private Dams like the Tata Dams

SANDRP1 Comment

In a welcome move, Hon. Bombay High Court vacation bench of Justices Bhushan Gavai and Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi, while hearing multiple clubbed petitions about drought and the state’s response, has passed a strong order recommending release of water stored in PRIVATE DAMS and sources for drinking water purposes of drought hit region.

“Observing that natural resources are property of the entire nation and not just an individual or a private entity, the Bombay High Court directed the state government to consider supplying water from privately operated dams and wells to water-scarce areas.”   Continue reading ““Water is not a private property of some groups”: Bombay High Court directs release of water from Private Dams like the Tata Dams” →

Letter to PM: Devise a policy for curbing hydropower water diversions during drought years
Dams · Drought · Hydropower

Letter to PM: Devise a policy for curbing hydropower water diversions during drought years

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Above: Red arrows indicate diversion of water from Tata Dams into surplus basin. Source: Google earth images and SANDRP

Since past three years, SANDRP has been raising the issue of West-ward water transfer during drought years by hydropower dams. Maharashtra annually diverts 3324 Million Cubic Meters of water from its water deficit Bhima and Krishna basins into the water surplus Konkan basin for hydropower generation. This happens though 6 dams on Bhima Basin privately owned by Tata Power and the Koyana Hydropower Project. Although drinking water is the first priority for any society and this is enshrined in the National and State Water Policies, there is no system in place to allocate the waters of these dams to the downstream, when there is dire need. During this drought, which is possibly Independent India’s worst droughts, Tata Dams have released nearly no water to the Bhima Basin and Maharashtra Government on its part has taken no stand on this issue.

After raising this issue several times at many platforms, SANDRP has sent a letter to the Prime Minister as well as to the National Human Rights Commission on this issue. If you agree with the points raised in the letter below, please send similar letter to the authorities.  Continue reading “Letter to PM: Devise a policy for curbing hydropower water diversions during drought years” →

Open letter to Tata Sustainability Group to stop westward diversion of Bhima basin water by Tata Hydro projects
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Open letter to Tata Sustainability Group to stop westward diversion of Bhima basin water by Tata Hydro projects

SANDRP5 Comments

From: Parineeta Dandekar (Pune) & Himanshu Thakkar (Delhi)

South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers & People (SANDRP)

parineeta.dandekar@gmail.com, ht.sandrp@gmail.com

August 20, 2015

TO:

Tata Sustainability Group

Army & Navy Building, 2nd Floor

Mahatma Gandhi Road,

Mumbai 400001, tsg@tata.com

  1. Shankar Venkateswaran

Chief – Tata Sustainability Group: svenkateswaran@tata.com

  1. Dr. Avinash Patkar

Head – Environment Services: apatkar@tata.com

  1. Sudhakar Gudipati

General Manager – Community Services: sgudipati@tata.com

  1. Alka Upadhyay

General Manager – Environment Services: aupadhyay@tata.com

  1. Ajit Chaudhuri

General Manager – Community Services: achaudhuri@tata.com

  1. Sourav Roy

Program Leader – Tata Uttarakhand Program: aroy@tata.com

  1. Abhishek Goyal

Senior Manager – Environment Services: agoyal@tata.com

  1. Zarir DeVitre

Manager – Environment Services: zdevitre@tata.com

  1. Manjula Sriram

Manager – Community Services: msriram@tata.com

  1. Lucas Saldhana

Assistant Manager – Tata Sustainability Group: lsaldhana@tata.com

Dear members of Tata Sustainability Group,

We are encouraged to write to you on this subject, thinking that considering the name, objective of the TSG and also the various statements on the TSG website, you will take prompt and necessary action on this subject.

We are writing to you in the context of Bhima basin in Maharashtra and Krishna river basin in general facing the worst monsoon deficit, crop loss and water scarcity. Millions of farmers are facing crop loss, livelihood loss and worst. Ujani dam on Bhima River is below its live storage level now and in the downstream Telangana, Nagarjunsagar is at zero live storage level and Srisailam has just 9% water in its live storage. Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have said they have no water to save farmers’ crops; they are reserving the available water for drinking water. Continue reading “Open letter to Tata Sustainability Group to stop westward diversion of Bhima basin water by Tata Hydro projects” →

Open Letter to Chief Minister of Maharashtra: Stop Westwards diversion of water from Krishna basin
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Open Letter to Chief Minister of Maharashtra: Stop Westwards diversion of water from Krishna basin

SANDRP10 Comments

OPEN LETTER TO HON. CHIEF MINISTER OF MAHARASHTRA:

Water Diversion from Krishna basin by Koyna and Tata Dams:

Maharashtra is violating Human Rights, National & State Water Policy

August 18, 2015

Dear Shri Devendra Fadnavis,

As we all know, large parts of Maharashtra, including Marathawada and Western Maharashtra (part of IMD division called Madhya Maharashtra) are in the grip of biggest monsoon deficit in the country with deficits of 48% and 33% respectively at the end of August 17, 2015 as per IMD[1]. Even beyond the state border, North Interior Karnataka has monsoon deficit of 45%, Rayalseema 36% and Telangana 23%.

Farmers in all these regions are in distress, rainfed Kharif crop, the only crop for most of them, may have been jeopardised for almost all of them. Most of the reservoirs have paltry storages, the biggest in the Krishna basin, Ujani in Maharashtra and Nagarjunsagar in Telangana (also catering to parts of Andhra Pradesh) have zero % in live storage, Srisailam has paltry 9%[2]. Millions of farmers and people are facing the prospects of livelihood loss and severe water scarcity.

While the situation is this serious in Krishna River Basin and adjoining basins, in Maharashtra, huge amounts of water is being diverted from the Krishna basin to the water surplus Konkan region which has seen close to 1600 mm rainfall already. This westward diversion of water from the east flowing Krishna-Bhima basin ultimately takes the water to Arabian Sea, while the Krishna basin, which should have the first right over this water, remains plunged in massive water scarcity. Krishna basin is thus being deprived of its water. Continue reading “Open Letter to Chief Minister of Maharashtra: Stop Westwards diversion of water from Krishna basin” →

Tata Power responds on the issue of Tata dams diverting water from Drought hit Bhima Krishna basin to Konkan, but it is a vacuous, insensitive response
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Tata Power responds on the issue of Tata dams diverting water from Drought hit Bhima Krishna basin to Konkan, but it is a vacuous, insensitive response

SANDRP6 Comments

On the 7th August 2015, SANDRP published a Press Release titled “As Krishna Bhima basin farmers in Maharashtra, Karnataka, AP & Telangana face drought, crop failure, Water scarcity, Maharashtra DIVERTED 350 MCM water from the basin & stored another 2535 MCM reserved to release, literally to sea!”[1]. On August 9, 2015[2], DNA, a leading newspaper in Mumbai published a report based on this story as their front page top story titled “Drought? Last month alone Maha govt drained 350 MCM water into sea!” Continue reading “Tata Power responds on the issue of Tata dams diverting water from Drought hit Bhima Krishna basin to Konkan, but it is a vacuous, insensitive response” →