Rivers

Government starts river transport project with eight waterways

Karnataka to seek more time to release Cauvery water

Meghalaya in the northeast of India is richly endowed with natural resources such as streams and rivers as well as mineral resources such as coal, limestone, clay, sillimanite, uranium, and more. The estimated coal reserve in Meghalaya is around 576.48 million tonnes while limestone reserves are around 15,100 million tonnes.

Ganga polluted with heavy metals and pesticides: CPCB

Cauvery river dispute: Karnataka to share less water, SC raps the two states over protests

Even as Karnataka and Tamil Nadu fight over their rights on Cauvery water, not much thought has gone into the place where the river originates. Kodagu district, earlier known as Coorg, lies on the eastern slope of Western Ghats, a biological hotspot which is home to the Cauvery and is also the primary catchment area of the river.  

River Cauvery has been in the epicentre of agitation and violence in the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu--both fighting over their share of the Cauvery water. Thanks to the deficit monsoon this year, the Cauvery basin reservoirs in both these neighbouring states are only filled half as much as they should be![1].

Raghunath Lakhpat is a terrified man. He can only watch warily as the land on either side of his modest home is being dug up by huge earthmovers. “We are stuck in the middle. Sooner or later, we will have to leave. But where will we go? What will we eat?” he asks helplessly.

Despite the severe water management crisis India is going through, hydro energy continues to be the second leading source of power, next only to thermal-based energy in the country. Hydropower generates over 16 percent of India’s electricity.

River Yamuna, the largest tributary of river Ganga, is the most threatened river system in the country. It faces over abstraction of water and increasing pollution load (municipal and industrial) throughout its course.