Industrial and other Manmade Disasters

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October 26, 2021 Flash flood fury in Uttarakhand, a classic example of extended stay of monsoon
Floods in Uttarkashi, India. June 2013 (Image: Oxfam International)
May 6, 2021 81% of the workers reported that work has stopped due to locally declared lockdowns: SWAN study
Jeevan Rath 2.0 helped people get back home in June 2020. Migrants from Chhattisgarh were stuck in Pune when CYDA came in contact with them and arranged their transportation and food through support of Jeevan Rath and SwissAid. (Image: Maha C19 PECONet Collaborative/IWP Flickr)
May 6, 2021 A coalition of nonprofits highlights the unique challenges that confront rural India and provides suggestions on how to respond to the second wave of COVID-19.
As healthcare systems in urban cities across India grapple with the second wave of COVID-19, smaller towns and villages too are facing devastating consequences. (Image: ©Gates Archive/Saumya Khandelwa)
February 10, 2021 The Uttarakhand disaster reaffirms earlier warnings on the fragility of the Himalayan region calling for more careful planning and preparedness in the future!
A view of the Himalayas. (Source: IWP Flickr photos--photo for representation purpose only)
December 6, 2019 Dr. Aradhana Yaduvanshi, a hydro meteorologist at WOTR, talks to us about what current research on global warming shows, and possible adaptation and coping mechanisms.
Flooding in Mumbai during the monsoons (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Water management across space and time in India – A working paper by the University of Bonn
This paper links development of water management and its practices with social, religious, economic development with the rise and fall of the ruling regime. Posted on 17 Dec, 2010 10:09 PM

This working paper by the University of Bonn attempts to give a spatial and temporal overview of water management in India. It traces how people and the successive regimes made choices across space and time from a wide range of water control and distribution technologies. The paper divides the water management in India into four periods –

  • the traditional system of water management before colonial times;
  • response from the colonial rulers to manage the complex socio-ecological system;
  • large scale surface water development after independence; and
  • finally, the small-scale community and market-led revolution.

Water security for India: The external dynamics - An IDSA Task Force Report
India to be 'water-stressed' by 2025 and 'water scarce' by 2050; what forces drive the demand and political dynamics? What are the hindrances & opportunities? Posted on 01 Dec, 2010 08:44 PM

The report by Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses is premised on the fact that India is facing a serious water resource problem and is expected to become 'water stressed' by 2025 and 'water scarce' by 2050. It raises fundamental questions about the forces driving water demand and the political dynamics of riparian relations, both in terms of hindrances and opportunities, amongst states in the subcontinent. Rivers, a crucial source of water resources, physically link upstream and downstream users and at the same time create barriers.

Ecological destruction of Loktak, the largest freshwater lake in North East India – A five-part FES-InfoChange series
Tradition v. development; the damaged Loktak river sings a saga that falls on deaf ears. An anomaly that has become a standard and none acknowledge it. Posted on 13 Nov, 2010 07:18 PM


Fisherman LoktakThis series by Thingnam Anjulika Samom deals with the impact of modernisation, development and state policy on the traditional use, control and management of Loktak lake, the largest common property aquatic resource in Manipur. The Loktak Hydropower Project commissioned in 1983 has damaged the ecology of the largest freshwater lake in the northeast, and has altered the culture, agricultural and livelihood patterns of communities residing around Loktak. The series looks at what this common property resource used to be and what it has become.

Loktak, the 300-square-km lake is spread over three districts in the valley – Imphal West, Bisnupur and Thoubal and covers 61% of the total identified wetlands of Manipur. Besides being the source of livelihood for hundreds of people, Loktak also houses the floating national park Keibul Lamjao, the only home in the world to the endangered Sangai deer. It is not only the geographical topography of the lake that has changed in the last few decades. The lake is also beset by increasing pollution, siltation, rapid proliferation of phumdis and the commissioning of the Loktak hydel project in the 1980s Manipur or Imphal River, with the Loktak lake forming the headwaters to provide regulated storage for power generation.

Storage above design full tank level in Pichola-Swaroop Saagar and Fatah Saagar lakes of Udaipur - A threat to safety
The hidden danger in the safety of Udaipur's century-old dams. The old design and construction gives way slowly hinting at the impending doom Posted on 10 Nov, 2010 10:02 PM

The historical lakes of Udaipur, Rajasthan, namely Pichola - Swaroop Saagar and Fatah Saagar are more than a century old. Filling them above original design full tank level on public demand or over enthusiasm may prove to be a threat to safety.

The national environment tribunal act - Ministry of Environment and Forests (1995)
This document gives the details of the Act devised to provide for strict liability for damages arising out of any accident occurring while handling any hazardous substance and for the establishment of a National Environment Tribunal for effective and expeditious disposal of cases arising from such accident, with a view to giving relief and compensation for damages to persons, property and the environment and for matters connected therewith. Posted on 12 Oct, 2010 10:57 AM

The document describes the details of the Act in terms of:

Kerala state disaster management policy - Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (2009)
A document that highlights the need for a disaster management strategy for Kerala and includes the need, objectives and implementation steps to be taken. Posted on 11 Oct, 2010 04:28 PM

This document highlights the vulnerable status of the state in terms of natural disasters and highlights the urgent need for a disaster management strategy for the state.

The objectives of the Kerala state disaster management policy include:

  • To develop and ensure policy, institutional and techno – legal frameworks for disaster management in the state
  • To develop and maintain proactive governance and systems, and promote research and development for Disaster risk management strategies for  disaster prevention and mitigation.
  • To establish effective disaster crisis management through the organisation and management of resources and responsibilities for dealing with all aspects of emergencies with respect to response, rehabilitation and reconstruction.
  • To strengthen the capacities and resilience of vulnerable communities with special emphasis on empowerment of women and establish community level systems for pre, during and post disaster interventions.
  • To build capacities and promote positive changes in the administrative systems, procedures and personnel that would facilitate efficient and effective pre and post disaster activities.
  • To institutionalise disaster management in government as envisaged in DM Act, 2005 and to mainstream disaster management in to developmental planning.
Save agriculture in Narmada valley
Demand exclusion of canal network from irrigated villages Posted on 20 Sep, 2010 04:44 PM

Narmada valley is facing yet another crisis beyond the gigantic dams, which has arisen due to the huge canal network of the Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar canals. The canals of these two dams are not yet fully planned, yet certain estimates, which are not yet final by the Narmada Valley Development Authority show that not less than 10,000 hectares of agricultural land is to be acquired, but a larger acquisition is yet to come up in numerous villages, where even a basic socio-economic survey of the affected land and families is yet to be undertaken.

Power finance: Financial institutions in India's hydropower sector - A report by SANDRP, Urgewald and IRN
What is really at stake in the two most important power projects of India? A background into India's power and financial sectors Posted on 12 Aug, 2010 05:01 PM

This report published by SANDRP, Urgewald and International Rivers Network (IRN) provides a brief background on India's power and financial sectors and illustrates the issues at stake by giving examples of two important power projects in India, the Dabhol project and the Maheshwar project.

The next part of the report describes the role that the domestic and international financial institutions have played and continue to play and the controversies that have been associated with the functioning of these institutions in the implementation of the hydropower projects in India.

The report emphasises the importance of the role of NGOs and civil society movements in making these institutions accountable to the common people whose lives are affected by the projects/ interventions.

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