2022: People’s Resistance against Unviable HEPs, Destructive Dams

December 22, 2022December 30, 2022 SANDRP1 Comment

(Feature Image: No Means No Campaign message against hydro projects on a rock in Kinnaur. Source: ToI)

There have been many instances of opposition by local people, organizations and experts against unviable hydroelectric power (HEP) and destructive dam projects in 2022. Such instances of the resistance from across the country have been successful in a number of ways including leading to the funding agencies, corporate houses and government agreeing to withdraw from the project in many cases. This overview presents top ten stories highlighting successful opposition to hydro and dams projects in 2022 in India followed by some relevant reports on the issue. In first part of the annual overview, SANDRP has tracked the dam failures and dam induced floods incidents in India in 2022, along with separate report on unraveling of Polavaram project and another one on breaches of fly ash dams.

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Hydropower

2021 International Day of Action for Rivers: Opposition against HEPs, dams in India

March 13, 2021March 14, 2021 SANDRP4 Comments

(Feature image source:-A Sikkim tribe trying to save ‘paradise’ from woes of development.)

March 14 is International Day of Action for Rivers, against destructive projects. The main objective is to ensure that the river people have their say in the decision-making processes which affect their rivers and related livelihoods sources and that the decisions are informed decisions.

Here we are bringing forth the struggles of riverine communities in India in past one year to make decision makers aware of their hardships and impacts of destructive hydro and dam projects on the riverine eco-system.

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Dams · India Rivers Day

India Rivers Day 2015 Press Release: Nov 28, 2015

November 28, 2015December 5, 2015 SANDRP4 Comments

Above: India Rivers Day Function – from Left: Manu Bhatnagar (INTACH), Anupam Mishra (GPF), Kapil Mishra (Delhi Water Minister) and Manoj Misra (Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan)

INDIA RIVERS DAY CELERBRATED in Delhi, Pune and elsewhere

Bhagirath Prayas Samman Awards given to four for exemplary work on river conservation

Delhi Water Minister Kapil Mishra: “Delhi does not need Renuka dam, Sharda Yamuna River link or any new external source of water”; Minister in dialogue with school kids

Anupam Mishra gives Iyer Memorial lecture: “Change the mindset to conserve rivers”

At a well attended India Rivers Day 2015 function held at the INTACH auditorium, New Delhi on 28^th of November, 2015, Delhi Water Minister Kapil Mishra declared that he personally takes the responsibility for ensuring that Yamuna will have bathing quality water in three years. He also made it very clear that Delhi does not any more water from external sources like Renuka dam or Sharda Yamuna River link. He also said that his government has asked Delhi Jal Board to shelve its Rs 20 000 Crore Delhi Sewerage master plan and in stead work on decentralized sewage treatment and recycle plan and welcomed suggestions from all concerned, how to make this possible. Continue reading “India Rivers Day 2015 Press Release: Nov 28, 2015” →

Expert Appraisal Committee · River Valley Projects

Why the Decisions and minutes of the 86th meeting of EAC on River Valley Projects need to be reviewed

September 22, 2015September 22, 2015 SANDRP1 Comment

September 22, 2015

Chairman and Members,

Expert Appraisal Committee on River Valley Projects,

Ministry of Environment and Forests,

New Delhi

Respected Chairman and Members,

We have just seen the minutes of the 86^th meeting (uploaded on Sept 14, 2015, but clearance letters in some cases have already been issued even before the EAC minutes are made public or the minutes are finalised at the next EAC meeting) of the Expert Appraisal Committee on River Valley Committee, held on Aug 24-25, 2015.

The minutes make a disturbing reading. The EAC seems to be bending every ecological norm, facts and even legal stipulations to push ahead with every project that the government wants them to clear. There seems to be no application of mind from the EAC on the proposals. The minutes are not even internally consistent. It is putting forward facts in misleading fashion to give a wrong picture. Continue reading “Why the Decisions and minutes of the 86th meeting of EAC on River Valley Projects need to be reviewed” →

Arunachal Pradesh · Bhutan · Cumulative Impact Assessment · Dams · Hydropower

Cumulative Impact Assessment of Tawang Basin: Highlights from the NEHU Study

April 10, 2015April 15, 2015 SANDRP4 Comments

“We want sacred rivers of Tawang to flow freely, not inside Tunnels!” What makes the assertion on this banner more remarkable is the fact that the people holding it up are not fiery activists, but peace-loving Buddhist monks of the Monpa community, from the farthest corner of Arunachal Pradesh: Tawang (photo by Urmi Bhattacharjee). About 13 hydropower projects are slated to come up on main river stem and tributaries of Tawang Chhu (River) in Tawang in a distance of just 160 kms[1].

Monpa Child from Tawang Photo: tawang.nic.in

Tawang is a tiny district of Arunachal Pradesh nestled between Tibet and Bhutan. The region has had a troubled past and is home to Monpa Buddhists who practice an ancient form of Buddhism. Monpa culture itself is unique and fragile, with less than 50,000 Monpas in Tawang and less than one lakh globally. The region is famed for Tawang Monastery, Galden Namgey Lhatse (which literally means Celestial Paradise on a Clear Night), which is the 2^nd largest monastery in the world. Continue reading “Cumulative Impact Assessment of Tawang Basin: Highlights from the NEHU Study” →