Rivers

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.

Waterbodies/ Rivers

• Dams on the Himalayas: Environmentalists demand scrapping of projects in Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh
• Involve people to conserve Himalayas, stop big dams: Environmentalists argue
• Uttarakhand government halts work on a hydel project: priests and devotees resist the submergence of a temple 

This link on the CAG website provides the details of an international conference that was held on 15-16 March 2010, in the backdrop of the environmental audit proposed by the the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, for management and conservation of the environment .

The purpose of this conference was to deliberate on the causes of pollution, action taken by governments and civil society to address this and environmental, management and legal interventions needed to put lakes, rivers and ground water on the path of sustainability.

More than 20 experts on water and water pollution issues were invited to share their views as panelists during the conference. Apart from these distinguished panelists, the heads of supreme audit institutions from countries like Austria, Maldives, Bangladesh and Bhutan were also present to share their experiences regarding audit of water pollution in their countries.

Sridhar Gangolli, an artist with the concern about the life and the living, is once again on the pitch of art. In each of his works of art, he tries to be fresh and spontaneous. He bats with the objects and bowls some thoughts, thus he makes his art.

From:
Himanshu Thakkar
South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers & People,
c/o 86-D, AD block, Shalimar Bagh,
Delhi,

To: Shri Jairam Ramesh
Union Minister of State for Env and Forests (IC), New Delhi

Respected Sir,

I have just seen your letter dated Aug 18, 2010 to Orissa Chief Minister on the aboves subject, uploaded yesterday on MEF website.

1. Your letter says that the Forest Clearance has been given to the Polavaram Project on July 28, 2010 is subject to the condition, "... no submergence and displacement of people including STs take place in Orissa and Chhattisgarh...". However, this condition is in complete contradiction with the environment clearance given by your ministry on Oct 25, 2005, which says in para 2, "Total 1,93,35 persons are likely to be affected by this project, out of that 1,75,275 persons in Andhra Pradesh and 6,316 persons from Orissa and 11,766 are from Chattisgarh." It is clear the condition of no submergence and displacement on Orissa and Chhattisgarh, stated in your letter, in the Tribal Development Ministry's condition, and in the forest clearance letter is in complete contradiction with the environment clearance given by you. One of them have to be cancelled due to this contradiction, we would like to know, which one would be cancelled.

This paper published in the Economic and Political Weekly highlights the recently growing conflicts over water sharing between states in India and argues that the intensity and periodicity of these conflicts are increasing and that these conflicts are expected to get worse with the increasing uncertainty of rainfall and water availability. The document goes on to describe the latest one in the news, the conflict between Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh over the Babhli barrage.

This past weekend was the only international film festival on water, worldwide—Voices from the Water, held in Bangalore in several different locations. Working for a water NGO, I made my schedule free to catch up on some of these movies, to understand what the current issues are and what the film circle is capturing through their lens that we don’t necessarily see from our biased eyes.

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.

Reviews of some of the movies screened -

“Be water, My friend”

This UNESCO funded film, “Be water, My friend” tracks the research of Professor Gordon Lightgoot, an expert on ancient water monuments as he tries to understand and rectify the alarming drying up of Karez’s in northern Iragi region of Kurdistan.