On the Occasion of World Fisheries Day (WFD) 2025, SANDRP shares the top ten reports underlining the growing impacts of river obstruction projects on freshwater fish species and dependent fisherfolks in India. Indeed, damming free flowing rivers has become the single biggest reason behind growing extinction rate of aquatic life by severely disrupting their migration routes. The iconic hilsa and mahaseer fish in Ganga and Narmada have declined sharply due to construction of Farakka and Sardar Sarovar dams respectively, among others.
Continue reading “WFD 2025: Impacts of Dams on Inland Fish, Fisherfolks”Tag: Yamuna
2025: Hydro Projects Accidents & Disasters in Himalaya
The accidents and disasters occurring particularly during monsoon months have affected several Hydro Electric Projects (HEP) both built and under construction in Himalayan states of India. In this overview, we put together information about such disasters to underline their increasing vulnerabilities to climatic disasters endangering the lives of workers and local people living in the vicinity of these projects.
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2025 South West Monsoon in Upper Yamuna Basin
(Feature Image: Screenshot of IMD River basin wise cumulative rainfall map dated 30.09.2025 showing the Yamuna basin)
This report presents monthly rainfall figures during South West (SW) monsoon season 2025 for 16 districts located in 4 states of Himachal Pradesh (3 districts), Uttarakhand (3 districts), Haryana (5 districts), Uttar Pradesh (5 districts) which forms parts of the upper Yamuna basin. The India Meteorological Département (IMD) has divided Delhi in 10 divisions which entirely comes in upper Yamuna basin and the report has rainfall figures for entire Delhi area.
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DRP 101125: Does the world still need the annual jamboree of COP, given its record?
(Feature image is from the New York Times)
The annual Conference of Parties (COP) on climate change begins its annual meeting in Brazil today. Consider the track record of the annual meetings so far, it is a valid question to ask, as the Question of Cities asks, Does the World still need this meeting with such a huge carbon footprint of its own? Is it a futile exercise now?
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DRP 271025: Without reliable data, is there any hope for our Rivers?
(Feature Image: Drain No. 2 carrying untreated effluents in Yamuna river in Panipat. March 30, 2025, SANDRP)
The following report this week about lack of reliable data on Rivers raises right questions, including if there is any hope for our rivers without such reliable data? The report however, misses the point that Central Water Commission, which works more like a lobby for large dams, has clearly no interest in sustaining, reviving or rejuvenating our works.
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Open Letter Regarding Water Polluting Activities Around WYC in Bawana, Delhi
Respected Sirs, Oct 26, 2025
1. Shri Pravesh Sahib Singh,
Hon’ble Water Minister,
Delhi Government.
pss-pwd.minister@delhi.gov.in; dspwddelhi@gmail.com
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Yamuna Flood 2025: Is River Carrying Capacity, Pattern Changing?
(Feature Image: Sept. 06, satellite image showing Yamuna flood spread downstream Delhi. Credit: Raj Bhagat P)
During South West Monsoon 2025, the Yamuna has witnessed one low, one medium and one high flood spells in its upper segment. On account of good rainfall in the catchment, the river also received significant flows for about one and half month from last week of July 2025 upto first week of Sept 2025. Due to this flood spells and flows the water quality in Delhi stretch of the river improved significantly, though temporarily.
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DRP 201025: Indian Cities Drowning in Crisis of Governance
(Feature Image: A flooded housing society in Bangaluru after heavy rainfalls in Sept. 2022)
The excellent opinion piece below by Soumya Sarkar clearly explains how absence of hydrological governance has been root cause for increasing incidents of urban flooding across the country. Indeed, the urban development in India is construction centric where resilience has become a postscript rather an inbuilt feature.
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Did Ichari, Vyasi Dams Influence Yamuna Floods in 2025?
(Feature Image: Ichari (Koti) Dam on Tons river in Dehradun in empty condition in first week of Sept. 25)
In the South West Monsoon 2025, the Yamuna river witnessed 3 flood spells in a span of two weeks between Aug. 17 and Sep 1. In the first and medium scale flood spell, hourly discharges crossed 1 lakh cusecs for 12 hours on Aug 17 and 1,78,996 cusecs flood was recorded at 16 hour at Hathnikund Barrage (HKB), in Yamuna Nagar, Haryana.
In the second and low scale flood spell, river received above 50,000 cusecs discharges for 21 hours on Aug. 29 with the peak volume of 83,774 cusecs at 16 hour. In the final and first high scale flood spell, hourly water volume in the river crossed 1 lakh cusecs for about 129 hours beginning at 4.00 hour on Sep 1 till 12:00 hour on Sep 5, and 3,29,313 lakh cusecs was recorded as peak flood volume at 9:00 hour on Sep 1.
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Oct 2025: 12 Drowned in Sand Mine Pit in Utangan river, Uttar Pradesh
(Feature Image: Search operation going on in Utangan river Agra to recover the bodies of victims)
In the latest example of how illegal sand mine pits are proving to be a death trap across the country; 12 people have lost their lives after falling in deep sand mine pit in Utangan river in Agra district. The incident occurred when 13 young and adult villagers entered the river and suddenly fell into the cavity around 1 pm Oct 2 on Dussehra near Dungarwala village under Khairagarh tehsil.
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