DRP NB 290424: Why is Climate Change not major election issue?

April 29, 2024May 2, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Vehicles stuck in debris following a recent cloudburst at Saat Meel in Mandi, on August 20, 2023. (PTI Photo/Money Control)

World’s largest democratic exercise is now ongoing in India to elect the members of India’s Lok Sabha. Over 97 crores are eligible to vote in these elections. One of the biggest factors that is adversely affecting people across India currently is Climate Change. It is affecting almost every aspect of life and the adverse impacts are only increasing with every passing year. This is man-made disaster basically happening due to anthropogenic reasons, affecting air, water, climate, food, health, livelihoods, disasters and so on, affecting everyone. Currently, India is also a major contributor to the climate change causing green-house gas emissions, even though historically, the developed countries have contributed much more.

More importantly, the development options that the elected government choose will decide how the people will be impacted by climate change. The government has large number of options for pathways to development. Considering all this, one expected that climate change responses will be a major issue in these elections. But that is clearly not the case. BJP and Congress, two of the biggest parties fighting the elections, have mentioned climate change in their manifestos, but neither has dealt with this important issue with the detail and seriousness required. Nor are any of them making climate change a major election issue. One expects the ruling party to at least respond in greater detail and seriousness to this issue, but that is not the case.

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 220424: International Energy Agency accepts high-cost high risk hydro is no longer High Priority

April 22, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has accepted in its latest World Energy Investment Special Report titled “Reducing the Cost of Capital: Strategies to unlock clean energy investment in emerging and developing economies” has candidly accepted that hydropower (excluding pump storage) is no longer the high-priority sector.

Among the challenges hydropower faces, according to IEA, include long permitting time necessary considering the high and complex impacts of hydropower projects amd delays during construction. IEA figures show that the capacity of Chinese developed hydropower projects that had high proportion of installed hydropower capacity globally in any year for decades, was the lowest in 2023 since 2014. The report accepts that high cost of capital with high interest rates can have a major impact on Cost of electricity, affecting competitiveness of the hydropower projects.

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 150424: Supreme Court’s order on right to be free from climate change impact is welcome, BUT…

April 15, 2024April 15, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Polluted Hindon river flowing through Ghaziabad in March 2024. Bhim Singh Rawat/SANDRP)

On March 21, 2024, a case related to the Grean Indian Bustard, a critically endangered bird – numbering less than 150 individuals – has led the Supreme Court of India to expand citizens’ constitutional right to life and equality to include the right to be free from the adverse impact of climate change. The PIL filed by M.K. Ranjitsinh asked to protect the GIB from extinction. In 2021, in this PIL, the Supreme Court had passed directions restricting and regulating power lines and renewable energy projects in an area of 99,000 sq km in Rajasthan and Gujarat.

The Supreme Court’s latest order modified directions passed in the earlier judgment. Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud – writing for the 3-judge bench including Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra – has expanded the contours of environmental jurisprudence: from the oft-repeated polluter pay principle–precautionary principle–public trust doctrine to the larger arena of climate justice, environmental inequity and gender justice. However, in the process, the protection the SC gave through earlier order has been withdrawn.

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Wetlands

Controversial Road Project Threatens Bhopal’s Bhoj Wetlands, Forest & Wildlife

April 15, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Statue of great Parmar King Raja Bhoj in Upper lake in Bhopal. Bhim Singh Rawat/SANDRP, May 2023)

The Bhoj wetlands in Bhopal city is one of the oldest man-made lake in Asia. The waterbody is a fountainhead of environmental services and a designated Ramsar wetlands site. Despite this, the wetlands eco-system has been facing gradual degradation on account of growing encroachments, pollution [i] and extravagant tourist projects. Amid this, a new road project cutting through the catchment area of Bhoj wetlands and forest land around Bhopal city has raised alarm bells among concerned citizens who term its unnecessary and suggest better options as win-win solution.

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 080424: Demand to include River protection measures in election manifestoes

April 8, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Ganga river at Garhmukteshwar in March 2024. Bhim Singh Rawat/SANDRP)

The demand of NAPM to political parties going to the National elections in next couple of months to include protection of rivers and communities dependent on rivers in their manifestoes is most appropriate and urgently required.

Some key components of the demand include strengthening of decentralized river governance, role in decision making related to rivers for the fisherfolks, boats people and other river dependent communities. A draft of the People’s River Protection Bill has also been sent to the political parties. The NAPM also opposed indiscriminate construction of dams, hydro projects, embankments, barrages, river front developments, illegal sand mining, dumping of solid and liquid waste in the rivers and also interlinking of projects, all being done in the name of development, with least concern for the rivers. The draft bill also demands removal of unjust encroachments into riverbeds and floodplains. NAPM also demands continued flow in the perennial rivers by way of adequate environment flows throughout the length of the rivers from origin to its confluence with other rivers or sea.

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Sand Mining

Why Existing Rules, Regulations Fail to Deter Illegal Sand Miners of Ken River?

April 6, 2024May 1, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Screenshot of Bundeli Junction video report dated Nov. 19, 2023 on large scale mechanized, instream sand mining in Ken river in Banda district. )

Ken is lifeline of Bundelkhand and among key tributaries of Lower Yamuna basin. The river is relatively clean and free of industrial pollution. However, its existence is under threat due to catchment degradation and the proposed Ken-Betwa interlinking proposal. Apart from this, the river eco-system and dependent people have been at receiving end of large scale mechanized and unsustainable, mostly illegal mining practices for the past many years.

Some recent short video clips, media reports and satellite images have again revealed that sand miners continue to indulge in river destructive mining activities in government approved mine sites in three districts of two states namely Panna and Chhatarpur districts of Madhya Pradesh and in Banda district of Uttar Pradesh. The miners here have blatantly violated the existing mining rules, MoEF guidelines and NGT orders while the respective regulatory agencies have miserably failed to enforce the laws and ensure compliance.

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Yamuna River

Yamuna Manthan 030424: DDA Continues to Destroy River Floodplains

April 3, 2024May 1, 2024 SANDRP1 Comment

(Feature Image: Huge part of Yamuna floodplain raised by massive soil dumping near Bela Estate just upstream Shashtri Park Metro Depot in North East Delhi. Photo Credit: Vivek Nigam, Photo Journalist Amar Ujala, Source: Principal Correspondent in Amar Ujala, Delhi)

In latest example proving Delhi Development Authority’s (DDA) utter failure in protecting Yamuna River floodplains from abuse and encroachment, a large part of floodplain land has been levelled by soil dumping thus raising it by several meters at Bela Estate farm near Shashtri Park Metro Depot. As per the reports, the DDA has allotted about 19.5 ha of floodplain to forest dept for compensatory plantation. The plantation work at the site like at most of the sites on Yamuna floodplain in Delhi has suffered damages during July 2023 floods. And the levelling at the Bela Estate site is being done in the name of protecting the compensatory plantation.

The site is among few remaining floodplain patches available for spread of flood waters. The floodplain area on western bank at the location is less and already developed. Due to natural gradient, the part of floodplain on eastern side undergoes periodic floods. The patch was under several feet floodwater in July 2023. The floodplain immediately downstream the site has already been encroached by the bridge road, metro depot and buildings. Hence, raising of floodplain here would not only reduce spread of flood waters but also hamper the groundwater recharge.

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 010424: As Krishna basin faces drought and scarcity, water diverted from the basin to Konkan

April 1, 2024May 1, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature image: Map of Bhivpuri Hydropower Project, one of the Tata Dams)

Large parts of South India, including Maharashtra are facing depleted reservoir levels with the beginning of summer and water scarcity. However, the Krishna Bheema basin, the second largest basin of peninsular India, is diverting water to outside the basin to Konkan. The Krishna Bheema basin has the largest live storages of Maharashtra in Koyna dam (1347.5 MCM) and Tata dams (617.67 MCM), but the water in those storages won’t be available to the drought hit residents of Krishna basin in water scarce Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

This is because Koyna and Tata dams divert the water from Krishna Bheema basins to Konkan for power generation. Even in March, according to Maharashtra Load Dispatch Centre, Koyna had generated 128.87 Million Units (MU) of power and Tata Dams had generated 130.47 MU, both by March 30. This implies diversion of millions of Cubic meters of water from Koyna and Tata Dams during March 2024, which mostly gone down from Konkan to Arabian sea.

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 250324: Celebrating 50 years of Chipko Movement and Message

March 25, 2024March 25, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: A photo taken in March 1974 of people in Raini village, Uttarakhand, a few days after they protested against the felling of trees in order to make tennis racquets. Source: Varsha Singh/Third Pole report dated 30 Nov. 2022. The original photograph was taken on 30 March, 1974 by Chandi Prasad Bhatt and has been reproduced in The Third Pole with permission)

As we celebrate the golden jubilee of Chipko Movement, one of the most iconic and memorable environmental movements of India, we need to remember the key messages of the movement. It may seem gloomy situation at the place where the movement originated in Raini village in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. In fact, as we travel from Raini to Chamoli to Uttarakhand and beyond, as far as environmental situation is concerned, there is not too much around us to celebrate about.

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Urban Water Sector

World Water Day 2024: Top Ten Positive Water Stories from Urban India

March 22, 2024March 22, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: An arial view of restored Bingipura lake in Bengaluru. Image: Idrees Mohammed/AFB, Source: Forbes India)

Marking World Water Day 2024, this report compiles top ten positive actions and initiatives by resident groups, organizations and local government bodies on water issues in urban India during the past one year. The report shows that joint and persistent efforts by citizen activists, experts and urban local bodies for protection and revival of water bodies including lakes, ponds, step-wells; optimum rain water harvesting and effective treatment of sewage can greatly resolve the water problems in Urban India. Undoubtedly, the most pressing issue is abysmal condition of waste water treatment and reuse of treated waste water in urban areas.

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