Late on Friday (Oct 30 ,2020) night the gate no 31 of the Durgapur barrage suffered heavy damage, leading to emptying of the barrage and major disruption of the domestic, industrial and irrigation water supply. Shockingly, the Dam Safety aspects of the 65-year-old barrage on the border of Bankura-W Bardhaman districts of West Bengal[i] on Damodar river is under the World Bank and AIIB funded projects. This episode again[ii] puts a big question mark over credibility of the World Bank’s performance on dam safety issues in India, just a day after the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs headed by the Prime Minister cleared massive Rs 10211 Cr WB funded dam safety project[iii].
Continue reading “Durgapur Barrage on Damodar Damaged again: Its Dam Safety under World Bank-AIIB projects”Tag: The World Bank
Khanda Dam Breach in Chhattisgarh in Sept 2020
The earthen Khanda dam in Korea district[i] in Chhattisgarh’s Mahanadi basin breached around 6.30 hrs on Wednesday, Sept 23, 2020. Local farmers alleged negligence by the Water Resources Department officials, who were informed about the dilapidated condition of the dam. The engineers even came and inspected, they said, and went away. They alleged that if they had reduced water storage and in stead opened the two canal gates, this situation may not have come.
Continue reading “Khanda Dam Breach in Chhattisgarh in Sept 2020”
Is there hope from National Mission for Clean Ganga? Listen to official agencies
In this second part of the Ganga article, let us listen to some official agencies about the state of Ganga River following the recent efforts.
Parliamentary Committee: Why is Ganga among the five most polluted rivers of the world? Said Parliamentary estimates committee (2016-17) for Ministry of Water Resources, Ganga Rejuvenation and River Development (MoWR for short) in a report on “Ganga Rejuvenation” submitted to the Lok Sabha (lower house of India’s Parliament) on 11th May, 2016[i]: “However, indiscriminate anthropogenic interventions like construction of HPPs[ii] in the seismically active and fragile Himalayas, diversion of 80 to 90 percent of water, discharge of extremely hazardous effluents by 144 drains and dumping of solid waste has converted the Ganga into one of the ten most polluted rivers of the world. Alarmed by the drying-polluted Ganga and taking note of the solemn resolve of the Prime Minister to rejuvenate the Ganga, the Committee decided to select the subject for in depth examination and report with a view to accelerate the work of Ganga rejuvenation.” The report also noted, “The Public Accounts Committee (2014-15) in their 8th Report on Water Pollution had expressed distress that the Ganga has become one of the five most polluted rivers in the world, despite launching of the ‘Ganga Action Plan’ and the ‘Mission Clean Ganga’ (2009) by the NGRBA[iii].” Continue reading “Is there hope from National Mission for Clean Ganga? Listen to official agencies”
SANDRP 