Tag: Yamuna

DRP 260623: National Framework for Sediment Management
DRP News Bulletin

DRP 260623: National Framework for Sediment Management

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A National Framework for Sediment Management is certainly a long standing requirement and any move in that direction would have been welcome. Not only because the sediment accumulation destroys storage capacity of India’s Dams, created at such massive costs. But also because sediment is an integral part of river flow and also very important for the rivers to stop or reduce erosion at deltas. There are other issues related to sediment including creation and disposal of toxic sediment and impact of sediment free water flowing downstream from the hydropower projects.

But we need much more serious and sincere efforts in this direction than what has been suggested in following government press release. The movement on such an important subject is so snail paced, half hearted, non-comprehensive, unscientific and non-sincere that it is not clear how this is going to help.

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Vyasi Hydro: Village Drowned; River Dried but little power generation
Yamuna River

Vyasi Hydro: Village Drowned; River Dried but little power generation

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(Featured Image: Submerged Lohari village houses in Vyasi HEP ‘RoR’ dam reservoir. SANDRP, June 2023)

The 120 Mw Vyasi HEP built by Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (UJVN Ltd.) in Vikas Nagar tehsil of Dehradun is on its way to become the textbook example of how thoughtlessly pushed hydro power projects are proving a nightmare for local people, a costly affair for the state and the nation and a disaster for free-flowing living river.

The project offers some bitter lessons for the policy-makers, experts and society who have been assuming that hydro power is a cheap, green source of energy and the Run of River (RoR) projects don’t dam and cause much harm to the environment, people or rivers.

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DRP 190623: Ten years of Uttarakhand Flood disaster
DRP News Bulletin

DRP 190623: Ten years of Uttarakhand Flood disaster

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(Feature Image: Thousands of people have been rescued but the inability of rescue teams to navigate disaster-struck areas has left over 60,000 people stranded in Uttarakhand. The Hindu, 19 June 2013)

This week marks ten years since the Uttarakhand flood disaster of June 2013, the worst recorded disaster in the state. The deaths and destruction in the disaster were unprecedented. Large parts of the deaths and destruction were due to man-made causes. Climate Change played its anthropogenic role too as the unprecedented rainfall happened even before the monsoon was set in. Even the Supreme Court took suo motu cognizance of the disaster and ordered halt to all hydropower projects and independent review of them. One of the major human causes that worsened the disaster was the lack of credible disaster prevention and management systems.

One expected that we and particularly our all powerful governments in the state and the Centre would learn lessons from such an unprecedented, such a massive destructive disaster. The first step to that would have been credible reporting of what exactly happened during the disaster, which agencies played what role and how the destruction could have been reduced. That such a report does not exist even today says a lot.

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DRP 120623: Tip of Karnataka irrigation scam?
DRP News Bulletin

DRP 120623: Tip of Karnataka irrigation scam?

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(Feature Image: A decade old Amul caricature on Rs. 70, 000 crore irrigation scam in Maharashtra.)

It’s not very frequent that irrigation scams come to light. Somewhat inadvertently, the Karnataka irrigation scam seems to be getting exposed when the newly elected state government stopped two irrigation projects in the constituency of the irrigation minister of the previous state government, the Gatti Basavanna Dam and the Ammajeshwari Lift Irrigation Project. In both cases, the department officials are saying that they prepared the project reports based on instructions from above. In both cases, the costs proposed at one stage were 3 to 9 times higher than the revised estimated cost.

One only hopes that the government, media and the judiciary will go to the bottom of these revelations and bring to light the full dimensions of what seems like a tip of the Karnataka Irrigation Scam. It is public knowledge that Karnataka has been spending tens of thousands of crores each of the last few years in the name of big irrigation or dam projects, without commensurate benefits.

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मनोज मिश्र: नदियों के संरक्षण को समर्पित एक वनाधिकारी
Yamuna River

मनोज मिश्र: नदियों के संरक्षण को समर्पित एक वनाधिकारी

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(फीचर इमेज: कौशाम्बी उत्तर प्रदेश में यमुना की ऑक्स बो लेक अलवारा में भ्रमण के दौरान मनोज मिश्र। फोटो: डॉ एस आर टैगोर, दिसंबर 2012)

“मेरे जीवन काल में तो यमुना की हालत में सुधार संभव नहीं है पर आने वाली पीढ़ी शायद एक जीवित नदी देख पाएं”, यह बात मनोज मिश्र जी ने वर्ष 2013 में उस समय कही थी जब वे यमुना में आई बाढ़ का मुआयना कर रहे थे। आज यमुना नदी संरक्षण को समर्पित प्रख्यात पर्यावरणविद मनोज मिश्र हमारे बीच नहीं हैं। विगत दो माह तक करोना से जूझने के बाद, 04 जून 2023 को मनोज जी का निधन हो गया।

देश की राजधानी दिल्ली में सालभर मृत अवस्था में रहने वाली यमुना, केवल बाढ़ के समय ही थोड़ी अवधि के लिए खुद को साफ़ करते हुए उद्गम से संगम तक एकरूप में बहती है। इसे मनोज जी नदी के लिए वरदान मानते थे और सरकारों से यमुना बाढ़ क्षेत्र (खादर) को बचाने और नदी में अविरल बहाव को लाने के लिए समग्र सोच के साथ गंभीर प्रयास की अपेक्षा रखते थे। वास्तव में नदी खादर का बचाव एवं नदी में प्राकृतिक बहाव की बहाली मनोज जी के यमुना शोध एवं संरक्षण कार्य का केंद्र बिंदु रहे।

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The Natural Water Systems that Make Ken a Living River
Ken River

The Natural Water Systems that Make Ken a Living River

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(Feature Image: Water pools (Dabras) formed in Ken (left) & Patne (right) rivers confluence in Pawai block, Panna district, MP. (Image taken during Ken River Yatra by SANDRP & Veditum) 

This report is based on the experiences and understandings made during a thirty-three-day long walk along Ken River covered in three phases in June & October 2017 and in April 2018 by Bhim Singh Rawat, South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP), Delhi and Siddharth Agarwal, Veditam India Foundation, Calcutta.

The objective of the report is to share the observations with common public as we have done in past which can be seen here Part 1, Part, 2, & Part 3. In future also we would try to prepare similar reports to highlight the unexplored aspects and lesser-known stories of Ken river. The Hindi version of this report can also be seen here.

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केन नदी को जीवित रखते, झीरा, झीना, डबरा, डबरी, दहार
Ken River

केन नदी को जीवित रखते, झीरा, झीना, डबरा, डबरी, दहार

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(Feature Image:-  पवई में सिमरा बहादुर के पास केन नदी के घुमाव पर बने दहार का एक फोटो। (Image taken during Ken River Yatra by SANDRP & Veditum) 

यह रिपोर्ट भीम सिंह रावत, साउथ एशिया नेटवर्क आन डैमस्, रिवर्स एंड पीपल (सैनड्रप) दिल्ली और सिद्धार्थ अग्रवाल, वेदितम इंडिया फाउंडेशन, कलकता द्वारा केन नदी की तैंतीस दिवसीय पदयात्रा के अनुभव पर आधारित है। इस पदयात्रा को जून एवं अक्टूबर 2017 और अप्रैल 2018 के दौरान तीन चरणों में पूरा किया गया था। रिपोर्ट का उद्देश्य यात्रा से मिले अनुभवों और समझ को साँझा करना है। पहले भी हम नदी यात्रा के विभिन पक्षों के बारे में लिख चुके हैं। जिसे आप यहाँ पढ़ सकते हैं –एक, दो, तीन,। आगे भी हम केन नदी के अनसुने पहलुओं को उजागर करने का प्रयास जारी रखेंगे।

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DRP 290523: Goa Fights to save Mahadayi River
DRP News Bulletin

DRP 290523: Goa Fights to save Mahadayi River

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(Feature Image: Thousands form human chain along Mhadei river to celebrate #MahadaiAmchiMai festival. Source: ToI)

On May 20, 2023 when thousands of people of Goa, Rakhondars (protectors) came out to form a 7 km long human chain to save Mhadei or Mahadayi river, they were not only celebrating Goa’s unique Mahadayi River festival, but were also coming together to declare their resolve save and rejuvenate the River that is lifeline of Goa.

A large number of organizations came together, including Earthivist Collective, Goa Heritage Action Group, Save Mhadei Save Goa front, among many others. It was a unique attempt to reconnect with the river, its history, its soul. The people from all kinds of art forms and all walks of life came together in a state where the connection with the river has always been strong for the people.

One hopes their tribe multiplies and they succeed in saving the river from dam building plans and other river affecting activities. That success will provide an example and impetus for river conservation activities elsewhere too.

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DRP 220523: Water Options as we await South West Monsoon 2023
DRP News Bulletin

DRP 220523: Water Options as we await South West Monsoon 2023

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(Feature Image: Waster Chest nut cultivators removing weeds from Giri Taal of Kashipur. April 2023)

As we await the onset of South West Monsoon 2023, we would like to highlight the water options stories in lead story here, that includes examples from Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Chennai, among others. It is important to remember these as we need to be ready to welcome and nourish the coming annual bounty that monsoon brings.

It also reminds us the fascination our poets have for this season, particularly the wonderment that Gulzar keeps expressing. In this one of his non filmy poetry “Baarish” he warns:

“Mujhko ye fikr, ke is baar bhi sailab ka paani…

Kud ke utrega kohsahr se jab..

tod ke le jayega ye kachhe kinaare..”

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Yamuna Basin Storm Water Drain No 8 now Effluents Disposal Drain
Yamuna River

Yamuna Basin Storm Water Drain No 8 now Effluents Disposal Drain

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(Feature Image: DN 8 full of untreated effluents near GTK road on May 13, 2023. Bhim Singh Rawat)

In the past, the Storm Water Drains (SWD) used to be seasonal streams feeding Yamuna river in upper segment of Haryana. After introduction of canal based irrigation system, most of the SWDs dissected by Western Yamuna Canal (WYC) networks have been converted into flood escape channels.

In recent decades, many of these SWDs have been degraded into waste water disposal drains. The Dhanaura escape in Karnal, Drain Number (DN) 2 in Panipat and DN 6 in Sonepat districts of Haryana state are glaring example of the deliberate abuse.

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