Ravi Chopra

What do we see our rivers as? Are they merely conduits for water that is to be used to its fullest extent? Or are they valued and revered ecosystems? The Himmotthan Society, Dehradun and International Rivers, U.S.A., hosted a discussion a workshop on ‘Environmental Flows’ at Hotel Madhuban, Dehradun on 08 June 2012 that sought to clarify the issues around these questions.

A Primer on the What, Why and How of environmental flows, authored by Dr. Latha Anantha (River Research Centre, Kerala) and Parineeta Dandekar (South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, SANDRP) and published by International Rivers, was shared with the participants.  The presentations made during this workshop are presented in this article.

The legendary Jog falls are a shadow of their former self after damming (Courtesy: Dr.Latha Anantha)

Dr G.D. Agrawal’s tapasya, his third fast-unto-death, has finally achieved the desired result.  Since 2008, Dr Agrawal has been trying to persuade the Government of Uttarakhand and the Government of India that R. (Bhagirathi) Ganga must be allowed to flow in its natural state in the uppermost reach between Gangotri and Uttarkashi.  The two governments had plans to construct three new large hydropower projects in this stretch.  Dr Agrawal’s fasts have led to the scrapping of all the three projects.

Guest Post by: Ravi Chopra (People’s Science Institute)

I have before me PSI’s new calendar for 2010.  Even at the risk of sounding immodest, I think it is stunning.  I thought that our 2009 calendar on river Ganga could not be topped.  But I think that aesthetically this one is better! A pdf version is attached. 

I would like to urge you to order your copies before they are sold out.  The pricing structure is

The 2010 calendar features Gori Ganga, one of Uttarakhand’s remote and pristine rivers.  The photographs capture the sun-bathed beauty of the lower valley, the wilderness of the upper catchment and the quietude that comes with the remoteness.  Our dynamic photographers, Devraj Agrawal and Salil Das trekked on foot and pony for four days from Munsiyari to Milam glacier, the source of the river, to bring you some rare and breath-taking photos.

Pained by the unrelenting destruction of the Ganga river, especially by a series of dams in its upper reaches, Dr G.D. Agrawal, India's pre-eminent environmental quality scientist and a legendary Professor (and HoD) of Civil & Environmental Engineering at IIT-Kanpur. (Access:Biography Sketch Here) has decided to go on a fast-unto-death to oppose its continuing desecration. His conviction that we are staring at an unprecedented ecological and cultural catastrophe comes from his powerfully logical mind. Critique on proposed dams on Bhagirathi River. Access here: Critique on Dams