Surface Water

This season in the region is commonly referred to as – Barh (flood). For centuries local people have treated it as ‘a way of life’, and found ways to deal with it. Post independence, this ‘way of life’ gradually transformed into an assured annual devastation. The once self-sufficient communities in the flood plains have been relegated to being highly dependent on sources external to the village for their survival during floods.

The river, along with its estuarine reach, provides the much-needed green lungs to the city in the form of mangroves. Neglect of this river was the main cause of the catastrophic floods in Mumbai on 26 July, 2005, which claimed nearly 1,000 lives. In what could be a monumental urban transformation initiative to be undertaken anywhere in India yet, ORF has proposed a grand vision for the reclamation of Mithi River. The study report and a documentary film ’Making the sewer a river again - Why Mumbai must reclaim its Mithi’ on the dreadful conditions of the river, was released in May, 2011 in Mumbai.

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Report questions ADB funded projects under the 'Himachal Clean Energy Development Programme'.

• ADB loans for four hydroprojects at eco-fragile zones
• Livelihood concerns and environmental issues un-addressed
• Section 17/4 – Urgency clause being used by HPPCL for forced acquisition of land
• Poor EIA reports and non compliance to environmental norms

Recently, a Public Hearing for the World Bank funded Luhri Hydro Electric had to be cancelled after public protests making it clear that the environmental and social impacts of Hydropower projects as well as the increasing gap between their promise and performance, especially in the Himalayan region have become issues of serious concern. And yet these projects continue to be promoted in the garb of renewable and clean energy. So much so that governments are borrowing millions of rupees from international banks and financial institutions to fund these so called 'green' projects.The four ADB financed hydro power projects being constructed by HPPCL include the 195 MW Integrated Kashang Stage I, II and III and the 402 MW Shongtong-Karccham in Kinnaur. The other two projects are the 111 MW Sawara-Kuddu hydropower projects in Shimla district and the 100 MW Sainj hydropower project in Kullu District.

Guest post by Priya Desai

Background

This was organised by the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE). Held on May 26th 2011, we were joined by around 150 to 200 student volunteers from various higher educational institutions in Kerala, such as the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, St. Albert's College in Ernakulam, School of Applied Life Sciences in Chuttippara and the School of Environmental Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University.

The Pamba Pilot Project’s aim was to deliver “Policy Support to Integrated River Basin Management” and to contribute to the continuing EU-India policy dialogue in the water sector.

Newsletter of South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP) for April - May 2011 (Volume 9 Issue 3-4), focuses on the following topics.

• Analysis of TAC guidelines and decisions in recent meetings
  The Advisory Committee in the Union Ministry of Water Resources for consideration of techno-economic viability of Irrigation, Flood Control and Multi Purpose Project Proposals (TAC in short) is supposed to discuss the techno-economic viability of the irrigation, flood control and multi-purpose project proposals as per the Resolution published in the Union of India Gazette Notification No. 12/5/86-P-II dated Nov 27, 1987.

Venue: Venkatappa Art Gallery, Kasthurba road, Bengaluru

Collaborated by: Subramani J, Ravikumar S M Halli & Shivaprasad S

Description:

The study focuses on Bangalore, highlighting its important rivers, lakes and its very lavish natural resources and how it is getting damaged due to its excessive urban growth and ignorance of the people. We started our documentation from Nandi hills to Hosur was our destination. Here we filmed and photographed various aspects of this river, the agricultural landscape and the urban scape. These documentations are archival materials, which have been focused during the process of research. Like how the death of a river takes place, where it used to begin and rebirth of the river due to the excess development of Broad Bangalore’s urban area.

The coastal areas of Gujarat especially the villages lying within 20-25 km from the seashore are suffering from the problem of salinity ingress. Most of the rivulets that drain this region like Goma and Somat are seasonal at best and their water does not last beyond monsoons. The other aquifers like ponds, which get water from these rivers, also dry up as early as October.

This report by Him Dhara, an environmental research and action collective, deals with the Asian Development Bank financed hydropower projects in Himachal Pradesh, which are leading to obstruction of the rivers and their consequent disappearance for harnessing energy and making ‘judicious’ use of the water. Within the hydro sector the attention has turned to the Indian Himalayan region which is estimated to have seventy nine per cent of the total hydropower potential of the country.

The technology of ‘run of the river’ (ROR) used to tap “the flow of rivers” in high gradient zones to generate power has given impetus to setting up of hydro-projects in the Himalayan states. In India, the mountainous region of the Himalayas offered the “perfect setting” for such projects, with the availability of several flowing water sources that could be tapped before they reached the plains. Of the Himalayan states, after Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh is second in line with a hydropower potential of about 21000 MW. The installed capacity has increased twenty fold (from 326 MW to 6370 MW) in the last ten years indicating the frenzied pace of hydropower development in the state.