Tag: Urban River

DRP 160924: Urban Flood lessons from Vadodara, Vijaywada
DRP News Bulletin

DRP 160924: Urban Flood lessons from Vadodara, Vijaywada

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(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.

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

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

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(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.

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DRP 020924: HYDRA to protect water bodies in Hyderabad – a landmark move?
DRP News Bulletin

DRP 020924: HYDRA to protect water bodies in Hyderabad – a landmark move?

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(Feature Image: An analysis of satellite imaging of 54 lakes taken in 1979 and 2023, secured by the HYDRAA from the NRSA shows that 40 lakes or nearly 75 per cent of lakes have shrunk by half. (Image: Twitter/DC)

The Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Monitoring and Protection Agency, or Hydra was established under GO 99, dated July 19 2024. A task the agency has taken up in all seriousness is protection of water bodies in the Hyderabad Capital Region (it includes 4 districts). To begin with it has started demolition of buildings illegally built inside the Full Tank Area (FTL) and Buffer area of the water bodies.

In July, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy replaced the Enforcement, Vigilance and Disaster Management (EVDM) wing of the government with Hydra, a body mandated to tackle illegal encroachment on water bodies in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits and surrounding areas. Its strength was upgraded from around 800 to 2,200 and its officials came directly under the principal secretary, municipal administration and urban development or the CM himself. “Hydra will also ensure the protection of water bodies in and around Hyderabad,” former EVDM commissioner and Hydra chief A V Ranganath said during its inception.

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DRP N260824: Urban flooding plan welcome, Urban Water Sector needs attention
DRP News Bulletin

DRP N260824: Urban flooding plan welcome, Urban Water Sector needs attention

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(Feature Image: Assam Floods: Commuters wade through a flooded road after incessant rains, in Guwahati, Friday, July 5, 2024. Image Source: PTI/ABP Live)

The Union Government plan to spend Rs 2517 Cr in 2 years in seven metro cities to mitigate floods is certainly welcome announcement. The key component of the plan, conservation and improving capacity of urban water bodies is noteworthy along with storm water drainage. Does it mean that the River Front Development projects that actually reduce the flood carrying capacity of the rivers will be closed, since one does not expect govt to be working at cross purposes in different schemes.

In fact, Urban Water Sector as a whole needs attention with National Urban Water Policy as a first step. This is because the groundwater aquifers that are fast being emptied out, can be least cost option for storing the excess rain water, serving the purpose of reducing storm water drainage load and also improving water conservation. There is huge scope for this in all the seven metros listed in the scheme as also in many other cities.

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

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(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.

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DRP 120824: Chalakudy community demand Prudent Dam Management Plan
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DRP 120824: Chalakudy community demand Prudent Dam Management Plan

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(Feature Image: Water flows through the gates of the Peringalkuthu dam on Chalakudy river after a sluice was opened following heavy rain in Thrissur on Aug. 04, 2022. Photo Credit: PTI/The Hindu)

One of the heartening development this week is from Kerala, where Chalakudy river community held a satyagraha to demand proper integrated dam management plan in the Chalakudy River basin to minimize flood risks. It is rather rare that communities come out for such a demand. It was also great to see that the satyagraha was supported by Chalakudy Puzha Samrakshan Samiti, Chalakudy municipal chairman and also environmentalists.

The satyagraha in fact had specific demand for each of the dams included in the Paramibikulam Aliyar Project, including in Kerala and upstream Tamil Nadu. We hope the Kerala government positively responds to these demands at the earliest.

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DRP 050824: Cities fail monsoon test
DRP News Bulletin

DRP 050824: Cities fail monsoon test

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(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.

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DRP 290724: Dam Floods need urgent attention
DRP News Bulletin

DRP 290724: Dam Floods need urgent attention

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(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.

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

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

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(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.

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DRP 010724: Time for independent review of Polavaram Project?
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DRP 010724: Time for independent review of Polavaram Project?

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(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.

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