New Delhi, The World Bank has agreed to provide $1 billion for the Mission Clean Ganga being implemented by the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for restoring the “wholesomeness” of the river system by minimising its pollution level, the Centre has informed the Supreme Court.
The first meeting of the authority decided to ensure that no untreated municipal sewage and industrial effluents would be allowed to flow into the Ganga by 2020, Attorney-General and Additional Solicitor-General Mohan Jain informed a three-member Bench headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia on Friday.
The meeting, chaired by the PM, also approved an action plan to achieve the objectives of the mission that would restore the purity of the Ganga system and improve its ecological health, according to documents submitted to the apex court by the AG and ASG.
Importantly, the mission would use both scientific application of modern tools and technologies and “traditional wisdom”. For this, a joint team comprising postgraduate and doctoral students of all seven Indian Institutes of Technology would prepare a comprehensive river basin management plan. An agreement has been signed recently between the Environment Ministry and the IITs, the SC was informed.
The NGRBA has set up a standing committee headed by Pranab Mukherjee to take quick decisions and periodically review and assess the work. For better coordination and implementation of the conservation activities at the state level, the empowered State Ganga River Conservation Authorities has been notified for all the NGRBA states, Uttarakhand, UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Pure Ganga in 10 years, Centre promises SC (Times of India 23 October 2010)
NEW DELHI: The Ganga will be pure and free of pollutants by 2020, the Centre promised before the Supreme Court on Friday. Without dwelling on the past when nearly 1,000 crore was spent under the failed Ganga Action Plan initiated in the late 1980s, attorney general G E Vahanvati assured a Bench comprising Chief Justice S H Kapadia and Justices K S Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar that the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) headed by the prime minister would deal with river pollution in a comprehensive manner. The work has been entrusted to a consortium of seven IITs -- Kanpur, Delhi, Madras, Bombay, Kharagpur, Guwahati and Roorkee. Vahanvati said discussions have been initiated with the World Bank for long-term support for NGRBA's work programme. The National River Conservation Directorate under ministry of environment and forests in its affidavit said, "An assistance of $1 billion has been indicated in the first phase by the World Bank. A project preparation facility advance of $2.96 million has been sanctioned by WB." But amicus curiae Krishan Mahajan, who was part of the public interest litigation filed by M C Mehta for cleaning of Ganga since 1985, was sceptical about the success and said unless the government was serious about punishing those responsible for polluting the river, no action plan would succeed in restoring Ganga's pristine glory. The Bench asked him to place his objection on record. The directorate also talked of plans to save the gangetic dolphin, which was declared national aquatic animal on May 10. Terming the animal as critically endangered, it said it has set up a working group under the chairmanship of Dr R K Singh to submit an action plan. "A list of other project proposals to be taken up under the World Bank assistance has been drawn up in consultation with the state governments. Investments totalling over Rs 1,200 crore have been identified by the states," it said.
Centre, states to share cost of cleaning Ganga by 2020 (The Financial Express 23 October 2010)
New Delhi: A comprehensive plan under ‘Mission Clean Ganga’ was being prepared to ensure that the river will be free from the flow of untreated municipal sewage and industrial effluents by 2020, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Friday.
The ministry of environment and forests said for attaining the objective, IITs have been roped in to prepare a comprehensive ‘River Basin Management Plan’ for Ganga and the investment required for creating the necessary infrastructure will be shared by the Centre and state governments.
The World Bank has also promised finacial assistance for the project. It said steps have already been taken in that direction and by a notification on February 20, 2009, National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) which is empowered for planning, financing, monitoring and coordinating authority for river Ganga. The Prime Minister is the ex-officio Chairperson of the authority with union ministers concerned as its members and chief ministers of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, the states through which river Ganga flows.
“The first meeting of NGRBA was held on October 5 last year under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister. It was decided in the meeting that under Mission Clean Ganga it will be ensured that by 2020 no untreated municipal sewage and industrial effluents flow into Ganga,” a six-page affidavit placed by attorney general GE Vahanvati before a Bench headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia said. “Investments required to create necessary treatment and sewerage infrastructure over the next ten years will be shared suitably between the Centre and the state governments,” the affidavit said.
The affidavit was filed in the apex court which is monitoring the plan to clean Ganga since 1985. This work has been entrusted to a consortium of seven IITs. In this regard, a memorandum of agreement has been signed on July 6 this year,” the affidavit said.
The ministry of environment and forests said for attaining the objective, IITs have been roped in to prepare a comprehensive ‘River Basin Management Plan’ for Ganga and the investment required for creating the necessary infrastructure will be shared by the Centre and state governments.
The World Bank has also promised finacial assistance for the project. It said steps have already been taken in that direction and by a notification on February 20, 2009, National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) which is empowered for planning, financing, monitoring and coordinating authority for river Ganga. The Prime Minister is the ex-officio Chairperson of the authority with union ministers concerned as its members and chief ministers of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, the states through which river Ganga flows.
“The first meeting of NGRBA was held on October 5 last year under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister. It was decided in the meeting that under Mission Clean Ganga it will be ensured that by 2020 no untreated municipal sewage and industrial effluents flow into Ganga,” a six-page affidavit placed by attorney general GE Vahanvati before a Bench headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia said. “Investments required to create necessary treatment and sewerage infrastructure over the next ten years will be shared suitably between the Centre and the state governments,” the affidavit said.
The affidavit was filed in the apex court which is monitoring the plan to clean Ganga since 1985. This work has been entrusted to a consortium of seven IITs. In this regard, a memorandum of agreement has been signed on July 6 this year,” the affidavit said.
Monday, October 25, 2010
CWG woes expose Private-Public Partnership pitfalls (Hindu 25 October 2010)
Urban Development Ministry had to ‘bail out' private developer paying Rs. 766 crore for half of his share of the flats
Government's own builder not uniformly efficient
UD Ministry claims minimal role in CWG projects
NEW DELHI: The fiasco of the Commonwealth Games Village construction, with its dirty toilets, unfinished plumbing, scattered debris and unsightly race to the finish line is an example of the dangers of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) in such large projects with national interests at stake, highly placed sources at the Union Ministry of Urban Development (UD) told The Hindu.
They point out that the crash of the real estate market nearly resulted in a disaster situation where the Village would not have been ready in time for the Games. When the private developer Emaar-MGF found that its liquidity had dried up, with banks unwilling to make real estate loans, it wanted to terminate the contract and walk out of the project.
This would have left the government stranded just months before a global event, said a senior UD Ministry official. Therefore, the Ministry, through the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), agreed to what it calls a “buyback” — and what its critics call a “bailout” — paying Rs. 766 crore in return for half of Emaar's share of the flats.
With 711 flats now at its disposal in a recovering real estate market, the DDA is likely to make a profit of about Rs. 350 crore, resulting in what the Ministry calls a “win-win” situation. The Ministry has also taken action against the developer, directing the DDA to encash its Rs. 183 crore bank guarantee and take further legal steps. However, officials point out that even if the DDA had made losses through its deal with Emaar-MGF, it would have had no choice, as national prestige was at stake.
The solution may lie in avoiding PPP projects, which are at the mercy of ruthless marketplace vagaries, in favour of initiatives with national significance, said a senior Ministry official.
He admitted that the government's own builder — the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) — was not uniformly efficient.
However, the advantage of using the CPWD or any other government outfit is that they have the backing of public funds and cannot simply walk out of a project.
While the CPWD has been facing flak for delays and defects in the construction and refurbishment of CWG stadia, the UD Ministry cannot be held accountable, say Nirman Bhavan officials.
If a stadium was not completed on time, or had leaky roofs, it was the responsibility of the Sports Ministry. If it felt the CPWD was deficient, the Sports Ministry in turn could have complained to the UD Ministry. “But no such complaint has come to us,” say UD Ministry officials, who insist that their ministry played only a small role in the actual execution of CWG projects.
The money trail backs up their argument. Central government funds for the five major stadia and other sports infrastructure were routed through the Sports Ministry, mostly to the Sports Authority of India (SAI), which owns these venues. The total allocation to the Sports Ministry amounts to Rs. 6,382 crore, with the SAI getting Rs. 2,474 crore of the pie. The SAI then paid the CPWD to do the job.
On the other hand, the UD Ministry was allocated only Rs. 827 crore — all intended for the DDA and the Games Village. This is the only amount for which the UD Ministry is accountable to Parliament, say officials.
By way of analogy, a senior official pointed out that while the Defence Research and Development Organisation was constructing the Revenue Bhavan, any defects in the building would be the responsibility of the Finance Ministry, and not the Defence Ministry.
Government's own builder not uniformly efficient
UD Ministry claims minimal role in CWG projects
NEW DELHI: The fiasco of the Commonwealth Games Village construction, with its dirty toilets, unfinished plumbing, scattered debris and unsightly race to the finish line is an example of the dangers of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) in such large projects with national interests at stake, highly placed sources at the Union Ministry of Urban Development (UD) told The Hindu.
They point out that the crash of the real estate market nearly resulted in a disaster situation where the Village would not have been ready in time for the Games. When the private developer Emaar-MGF found that its liquidity had dried up, with banks unwilling to make real estate loans, it wanted to terminate the contract and walk out of the project.
This would have left the government stranded just months before a global event, said a senior UD Ministry official. Therefore, the Ministry, through the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), agreed to what it calls a “buyback” — and what its critics call a “bailout” — paying Rs. 766 crore in return for half of Emaar's share of the flats.
With 711 flats now at its disposal in a recovering real estate market, the DDA is likely to make a profit of about Rs. 350 crore, resulting in what the Ministry calls a “win-win” situation. The Ministry has also taken action against the developer, directing the DDA to encash its Rs. 183 crore bank guarantee and take further legal steps. However, officials point out that even if the DDA had made losses through its deal with Emaar-MGF, it would have had no choice, as national prestige was at stake.
The solution may lie in avoiding PPP projects, which are at the mercy of ruthless marketplace vagaries, in favour of initiatives with national significance, said a senior Ministry official.
He admitted that the government's own builder — the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) — was not uniformly efficient.
However, the advantage of using the CPWD or any other government outfit is that they have the backing of public funds and cannot simply walk out of a project.
While the CPWD has been facing flak for delays and defects in the construction and refurbishment of CWG stadia, the UD Ministry cannot be held accountable, say Nirman Bhavan officials.
If a stadium was not completed on time, or had leaky roofs, it was the responsibility of the Sports Ministry. If it felt the CPWD was deficient, the Sports Ministry in turn could have complained to the UD Ministry. “But no such complaint has come to us,” say UD Ministry officials, who insist that their ministry played only a small role in the actual execution of CWG projects.
The money trail backs up their argument. Central government funds for the five major stadia and other sports infrastructure were routed through the Sports Ministry, mostly to the Sports Authority of India (SAI), which owns these venues. The total allocation to the Sports Ministry amounts to Rs. 6,382 crore, with the SAI getting Rs. 2,474 crore of the pie. The SAI then paid the CPWD to do the job.
On the other hand, the UD Ministry was allocated only Rs. 827 crore — all intended for the DDA and the Games Village. This is the only amount for which the UD Ministry is accountable to Parliament, say officials.
By way of analogy, a senior official pointed out that while the Defence Research and Development Organisation was constructing the Revenue Bhavan, any defects in the building would be the responsibility of the Finance Ministry, and not the Defence Ministry.
Narmada Bachao Andolan completes 25 years (Hindu 25 October 2010)
“In the Narmada valley/The fight is still on” – thus sang the people of Bhadal in Madhya Pradesh, where Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar was heading a prayer meeting as part of the activities marking the completion of 25 years of the people's movement.
Rallies, meetings, folk songs and dances formed part of the struggle that asserted the right of the people to their land, water and forests and set a precedent for the subsequent social movements.
“The NBA is oxygen for other movements, giving them the strength to fight,” general secretary of the National Hawkers Union Shaktiman Ghosh told The Hindu.
Milestone
Convener of the National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM) from Orissa Prafulla Samantra said, “The Andolan is a milestone for people's movements in India. Although not successful, as the dam could not be prevented, the NBA has created an anti-big dam opinion in India and outside. It questioned the paradigm of development. As a democratic movement, it followed the Gandhian way 100 per cent. Democratic movements have been suppressed by State violence and the counter-violence has been taken over by Maoists. The Andolan mobilised people's strengths and gave a strong leadership. Any democratic movement depends upon sincere and dedicated leadership. People have become more organised. Fundamental rights of the displaced have been put forth.”
Shalmali Guttal from Focus on Global South and once associated with the movement drew a stark comparison between “horrific violence” in Laos and Cambodia, with the non-violence of the NBA.
“Non-violence and civil disobedience embodied in the movement are important. In the beginning, people were sceptical, but the Andolan showed that people can challenge financial power.”
Show of solidarity
In a grand show of solidarity, activists, environmentalists, farmers, adivasis and supporters, young and old, thronged the village square in Dhadgaon for a public meeting. Swami Agnivesh, B.D. Sharma, former Commissioner of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and Ramaswamy R. Iyer, former Union Secretary for Water Resources, attended the event.
“God made the earth, water and jungles for those who toil, not for looters,” said Swami Agnivesh to a packed village ground.
Pramod Kumar from Samvada, Bangalore, said, “Our organisation sends youths every year to the valley to sensitise them about social issues. It may change their values, their lives, and may inspire them to do something for the society.”
On their bus back to Mumbai, members of Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action (YUVA) carried with them the spirit of the Andolan. Their tambourines played, as they sang, “In the Narmada valley/The fight is still on.”
Rallies, meetings, folk songs and dances formed part of the struggle that asserted the right of the people to their land, water and forests and set a precedent for the subsequent social movements.
“The NBA is oxygen for other movements, giving them the strength to fight,” general secretary of the National Hawkers Union Shaktiman Ghosh told The Hindu.
Milestone
Convener of the National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM) from Orissa Prafulla Samantra said, “The Andolan is a milestone for people's movements in India. Although not successful, as the dam could not be prevented, the NBA has created an anti-big dam opinion in India and outside. It questioned the paradigm of development. As a democratic movement, it followed the Gandhian way 100 per cent. Democratic movements have been suppressed by State violence and the counter-violence has been taken over by Maoists. The Andolan mobilised people's strengths and gave a strong leadership. Any democratic movement depends upon sincere and dedicated leadership. People have become more organised. Fundamental rights of the displaced have been put forth.”
Shalmali Guttal from Focus on Global South and once associated with the movement drew a stark comparison between “horrific violence” in Laos and Cambodia, with the non-violence of the NBA.
“Non-violence and civil disobedience embodied in the movement are important. In the beginning, people were sceptical, but the Andolan showed that people can challenge financial power.”
Show of solidarity
In a grand show of solidarity, activists, environmentalists, farmers, adivasis and supporters, young and old, thronged the village square in Dhadgaon for a public meeting. Swami Agnivesh, B.D. Sharma, former Commissioner of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and Ramaswamy R. Iyer, former Union Secretary for Water Resources, attended the event.
“God made the earth, water and jungles for those who toil, not for looters,” said Swami Agnivesh to a packed village ground.
Pramod Kumar from Samvada, Bangalore, said, “Our organisation sends youths every year to the valley to sensitise them about social issues. It may change their values, their lives, and may inspire them to do something for the society.”
On their bus back to Mumbai, members of Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action (YUVA) carried with them the spirit of the Andolan. Their tambourines played, as they sang, “In the Narmada valley/The fight is still on.”
Sunday, October 24, 2010
New plan: Store monsoon water in ponds to revive Yamuna (Hindustan Times 24 October 2010)
The excessive rainfall in this year’s monsoon will provide a possible answer to revive the Yamuna to its past glory, said a plan prepared by the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA). The plan is simple: replenish the Yamuna flood plain in Delhi and it will ensure the river has water even during dry months. “At present, there is no water in the river during the lean season because of decline in the water table,” said a concept note prepared by NGRBA engineers.
The river is dry most of the year, because Yamuna’s flood plain in Delhi is a concrete jungle, where underground water is extracted for different purposes resulting in the river running dry.
In the years when the monsoon is bad, the authority has suggested that treated sewage water can be flown into these ponds.
Most of Yamuna’s water is because of underground contribution — a reason for its high flow during monsoon — as most of the glacier melt is abstracted at Haryana’s Hathnikund barrage, from which just 250 cusecs of water is released for ecological purpose. “Practically, there is no water in the river after Jagadhari (in Haryana),” the note said.
To tide over this problem, the new plan proposed to maintain underground water level higher than the riverbed. To make this happen, the NGRBA identified areas between Palla in Haryana, from where Yamuna enters Delhi, and Wazirabad, where there is a barrage on the river, to create artificial ponds to store excess water that flows into the river during monsoon.
“These ponds will sustain the underground water table to ensure Yamuna is a perennial river,” said environment minister Jairam Ramesh, who will discuss the concept note with Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit this week, where it is likely to be approved. “The concept note assumes special importance in view of the fact that Yamuna finally is full in the Delhi stretch after 30 years.”
According to the data available with the Central Ground Water Board, Delhi allows 280 million cubic meters of water, half of its monsoon runoff, to flow out of the city as waste. If a portion of this water is stored in artificially created surface and sub-surface reservoirs for utilisation during non-monsoon period, many of the Yamuna’s water problems can be solved, the note said.
The authority identified more than 100 sq km of area between Palla and Wazirabad for the artificial ponds and has also asked to revive 35 waterbodies.
The river is dry most of the year, because Yamuna’s flood plain in Delhi is a concrete jungle, where underground water is extracted for different purposes resulting in the river running dry.
In the years when the monsoon is bad, the authority has suggested that treated sewage water can be flown into these ponds.
Most of Yamuna’s water is because of underground contribution — a reason for its high flow during monsoon — as most of the glacier melt is abstracted at Haryana’s Hathnikund barrage, from which just 250 cusecs of water is released for ecological purpose. “Practically, there is no water in the river after Jagadhari (in Haryana),” the note said.
To tide over this problem, the new plan proposed to maintain underground water level higher than the riverbed. To make this happen, the NGRBA identified areas between Palla in Haryana, from where Yamuna enters Delhi, and Wazirabad, where there is a barrage on the river, to create artificial ponds to store excess water that flows into the river during monsoon.
“These ponds will sustain the underground water table to ensure Yamuna is a perennial river,” said environment minister Jairam Ramesh, who will discuss the concept note with Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit this week, where it is likely to be approved. “The concept note assumes special importance in view of the fact that Yamuna finally is full in the Delhi stretch after 30 years.”
According to the data available with the Central Ground Water Board, Delhi allows 280 million cubic meters of water, half of its monsoon runoff, to flow out of the city as waste. If a portion of this water is stored in artificially created surface and sub-surface reservoirs for utilisation during non-monsoon period, many of the Yamuna’s water problems can be solved, the note said.
The authority identified more than 100 sq km of area between Palla and Wazirabad for the artificial ponds and has also asked to revive 35 waterbodies.
New Delhi corridor to reach INA, Noida (Hindu 21 October 2010)
NEW DELHI: Once the first phase of the newly commissioned Barapullah elevated road corridor here gets completed by December, the Public Works Department plans to begin work on the second phase comprising construction of the remaining part of the road from the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to INA Market.
It will also provide more connections on Lala Lajpat Rai Marg and Ring Road that include crossing over a railway line as well.
Project Manager Sarvagya Srivastav said: “At present if people want to get on to the elevated road from Ashram they have to take a U-turn and then get on to the left carriageway and then get on to the elevated road. To solve the problem we will provide a direct connectivity from Ashram to the elevated road in the second phase. Similarly, to come from Barapullah elevated road to DND side, one has to take a left and a U-turn. So we will provide a direct connection between the two sides in the subsequent phase of the project.”
In addition, two more connections for ‘left in and left out' on Lala Lajpat Rai Marg and ‘in and out' connections on Ring Road would be provided to facilitate direct access to and from the Barapullah elevated road to various existing roads.
The third and final phase would involve extension of the elevated road to Noida by construction of a bridge across the Yamuna. Pegged at a budget of about Rs.600 crore, the second phase is likely to be completed in two years after award of the contract.
It will also provide more connections on Lala Lajpat Rai Marg and Ring Road that include crossing over a railway line as well.
Project Manager Sarvagya Srivastav said: “At present if people want to get on to the elevated road from Ashram they have to take a U-turn and then get on to the left carriageway and then get on to the elevated road. To solve the problem we will provide a direct connectivity from Ashram to the elevated road in the second phase. Similarly, to come from Barapullah elevated road to DND side, one has to take a left and a U-turn. So we will provide a direct connection between the two sides in the subsequent phase of the project.”
In addition, two more connections for ‘left in and left out' on Lala Lajpat Rai Marg and ‘in and out' connections on Ring Road would be provided to facilitate direct access to and from the Barapullah elevated road to various existing roads.
The third and final phase would involve extension of the elevated road to Noida by construction of a bridge across the Yamuna. Pegged at a budget of about Rs.600 crore, the second phase is likely to be completed in two years after award of the contract.
Ganga pollution: Central body shuts four UP industrial units (Financial Express 14 October 2010)
New Delhi: Acting tough on industrial units polluting the Ganga, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has closed down four enterprises while issuing a closure notice to one for discharging effluents directly into the river.
The central pollution watchdog took the action in the last three weeks following its ongoing intensive monitoring of pollution in the 500-km stretch of the Ganga between Kannauj and Varanasi, wherein it inspected a total of 26 industrial units.
“Of these, seven were found to be closed during inspection, two were found to be complying with discharge standards, nine required minor improvements while four issued directions for closure,” a senior environment official said. Three units have been asked to take remedial action while one has been issued a show-cause notice for closure, he said.
“This is for the first time that the CPCB has invoked Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 which empowers it to issue such directions. “So far, the central pollution watchdog has depended exclusively on issuing directives to State Pollution Control Boards under Section 18 of the Water Act, 1974,” he added.
The initiative came following environment minister Jairam Ramesh's observation that the SPCB, most of the times due to political compulsion, were finding difficult to take stringent measure against the erring industrial units. Ramesh had also visited Kanpur in August to take stock of the condition of Ganga which has been declared as a national river.
In continuing with its aim to ensure a clean Ganga, the CPCB will take up the inspection of around 402 tanneries in Kanpur that are connected to common effluent treatment plant in the 500-km stretch of Kannauj to Varanasi. Besides, around 600-700 industrial enterprises are also discharging effluents into the drains and tributaries which flow into the Ganga.
The CPCB is also constituting a dedicated division for monitoring and controlling pollution in the Ganga as part of plans and programmes of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. “The central pollution control body has also asked the distillery units to install zero-liquid discharge facilities such as reverse osmosis, multi-effected evaporators and boilers to ensure that there is no liquid discharge into the river from these units,” the official added.
The central pollution watchdog took the action in the last three weeks following its ongoing intensive monitoring of pollution in the 500-km stretch of the Ganga between Kannauj and Varanasi, wherein it inspected a total of 26 industrial units.
“Of these, seven were found to be closed during inspection, two were found to be complying with discharge standards, nine required minor improvements while four issued directions for closure,” a senior environment official said. Three units have been asked to take remedial action while one has been issued a show-cause notice for closure, he said.
“This is for the first time that the CPCB has invoked Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 which empowers it to issue such directions. “So far, the central pollution watchdog has depended exclusively on issuing directives to State Pollution Control Boards under Section 18 of the Water Act, 1974,” he added.
The initiative came following environment minister Jairam Ramesh's observation that the SPCB, most of the times due to political compulsion, were finding difficult to take stringent measure against the erring industrial units. Ramesh had also visited Kanpur in August to take stock of the condition of Ganga which has been declared as a national river.
In continuing with its aim to ensure a clean Ganga, the CPCB will take up the inspection of around 402 tanneries in Kanpur that are connected to common effluent treatment plant in the 500-km stretch of Kannauj to Varanasi. Besides, around 600-700 industrial enterprises are also discharging effluents into the drains and tributaries which flow into the Ganga.
The CPCB is also constituting a dedicated division for monitoring and controlling pollution in the Ganga as part of plans and programmes of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. “The central pollution control body has also asked the distillery units to install zero-liquid discharge facilities such as reverse osmosis, multi-effected evaporators and boilers to ensure that there is no liquid discharge into the river from these units,” the official added.
CPCB shuts four industrial units for polluting Ganga (Business Standard 14 October 2010)
Acting tough on industrial units polluting the Ganga, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has closed down four industrial enterprises as part of its monitoring the 500-km stretch of the river between Kannauj and Varanasi.
Out of the 26 industrial units inspected by the central pollution watchdog, seven were found closed, two were found complying with discharge standards, nine required minor improvements, while four issued directions for closure. One unit has been issued a showcause notice for closure as there was no room for quick improvement in meeting discharge standards. The remaining three units have been asked to take remedial action.
This is for the first time that CPCB has invoked Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, which empowers it to issue such directions. “So far, the central pollution watchdog has depended exclusively on issuing directives to the state pollution control boards under Section 18 of the Water Act, 1974,” the board said in a statement.
Currently, the sewage treatment capacity of 1.025 billion litres a day is available against about 3 billion litres a day being generated in the towns along Ganga.
Moreover, CPCB is also setting up a dedicated division for monitoring and controlling pollution in the river as part of the programmes of the National Ganga River Basin Authority headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
To ensure a clean Ganga, the board will start inspecting around 402 tanneries in Kanpur that are connected to common effluent treatment plant in the stretch between Kannauj and Varanasi.
Besides, 600-700 industrial enterprises are also discharging effluents into the drains and tributaries which flow into the Ganga.
Out of the 26 industrial units inspected by the central pollution watchdog, seven were found closed, two were found complying with discharge standards, nine required minor improvements, while four issued directions for closure. One unit has been issued a showcause notice for closure as there was no room for quick improvement in meeting discharge standards. The remaining three units have been asked to take remedial action.
This is for the first time that CPCB has invoked Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, which empowers it to issue such directions. “So far, the central pollution watchdog has depended exclusively on issuing directives to the state pollution control boards under Section 18 of the Water Act, 1974,” the board said in a statement.
Currently, the sewage treatment capacity of 1.025 billion litres a day is available against about 3 billion litres a day being generated in the towns along Ganga.
Moreover, CPCB is also setting up a dedicated division for monitoring and controlling pollution in the river as part of the programmes of the National Ganga River Basin Authority headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
To ensure a clean Ganga, the board will start inspecting around 402 tanneries in Kanpur that are connected to common effluent treatment plant in the stretch between Kannauj and Varanasi.
Besides, 600-700 industrial enterprises are also discharging effluents into the drains and tributaries which flow into the Ganga.
4 units ordered to shut for polluting Ganga (Business Line 14 October 2010)
The Central Pollution Control Board has issued closure notices to four industrial units for discharging effluents directly into river Ganga in the 500 km stretch between Kannauj and Varanasi.
Directions for closure have been issued to Shri Lakshmi Cotsyn Ltd, Bharat Pumps and Compressor Ltd, Rahaman Industries and J.S. International, CPCB said in a statement.
CPCB, as part of its intensive pollution monitoring drive over past three weeks, has found that some 26 industrial units were discharging effluents directly into the Ganga.
Of these, seven companies including that of ITI Ltd and Deys Medical Pvt Ltd were found were found to be closed during the inspection, while two firms IFFCO and Mirza International Ltd were found to be complying with the discharge standards.
Nine units have been found to be requiring minor improvements, while three have been issued directions for remedial action, CPCB said.
This is the first systematic initiative of CPCB to invoke Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, which empowers it to issue such directions. So far the CPCB depended exclusively on issuing directives to state pollution control boards.
Further, CPCB said it is also setting up a dedicated division for monitoring and controlling pollution in River Ganga as part of plans and programmes of National Ganga River Basin Authority.
Directions for closure have been issued to Shri Lakshmi Cotsyn Ltd, Bharat Pumps and Compressor Ltd, Rahaman Industries and J.S. International, CPCB said in a statement.
CPCB, as part of its intensive pollution monitoring drive over past three weeks, has found that some 26 industrial units were discharging effluents directly into the Ganga.
Of these, seven companies including that of ITI Ltd and Deys Medical Pvt Ltd were found were found to be closed during the inspection, while two firms IFFCO and Mirza International Ltd were found to be complying with the discharge standards.
Nine units have been found to be requiring minor improvements, while three have been issued directions for remedial action, CPCB said.
This is the first systematic initiative of CPCB to invoke Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, which empowers it to issue such directions. So far the CPCB depended exclusively on issuing directives to state pollution control boards.
Further, CPCB said it is also setting up a dedicated division for monitoring and controlling pollution in River Ganga as part of plans and programmes of National Ganga River Basin Authority.
Taming the rivers (The Tribune 08 October 2010)
If flood storage is made a part of all dam projects, miseries caused by floods and drought can be minimised. The strategy, therefore, should involve integrated planning and management of land and water resources
THE wet season this year has led to a rude awakening, particularly in J&K, Himachal, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. The importance and complexity of water-related problems attributed to several causes is being voiced by a cross-section of society. While normal life in the hills was paralysed by landslides and soil erosion, the plains got inundated for weeks, causing a massive loss of lives, crops and property. On other side, states like Bihar, eastern UP, Jharkhand and parts of West Bengal faced a drought syndrome. In both cases, normal life and socio-economic conditions were affected by a revealing contrast of an excess of and deficiency of the monsoon.
Victims of a flood fury near Patiala. Tribune photo: Rajesh Sachar
We cannot alter the weather pattern or influence an occasional El-Niño phase controlling it over a period varying from three to seven years. However, distress resulting from such events can be minimised to a great extent by integrated management of the land and river system comprising the catchments, drainage lines, feeding streams, floodplain and the main river channels.
For many years decision-making over land use has paid limited attention to hazards associated with the water environment. Short-term and piecemeal commercial interests are often pushed through in a compartmentalised mode ignoring the fact that the river, its catchments, floodplain and groundwater are essentially a hydrological, geomorphologic and ecological continuum. A holistic approach generally emphasised is not compulsorily translated into a master plan format for sustainable development of the resource.
Guidelines for the preparation of a river basin master plan with a 25-year perspective were prepared by the Central Water Commission in 1990. These can be modified and used as per the local terrain, climatic conditions, basin specific features, including the frequency of floods and drought. A periodic review of the plans is necessary to update and improve them incorporating changes on account of new developments in the intervening period.
While some states and central agencies have already taken the initiative, most others are still pursuing a project-to-project approach with overlapping features and conflicting interests. The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank are funding projects for the preparation of the master plan for the basin's water resource to promote its integrated development. The states can take benefit of such institutional funding.
Every state should have a master plan for each of the river system within its territory. For inter-state rivers, the master plan prepared by a state for river reach within its jurisdiction may be amalgamated and approved by the central government.
The problem of floods and drainage congestion faced by Delhi is not new. A master plan for drainage was prepared way back in 1976. Its implementation could not keep pace with fast urbanisation. Later, a technical committee was constituted by the Lt Governor of Delhi in 1993 (this writer was its member from the CWC) to find out inherent defects in the existing drainage system and suggest measures for improvement. The committee studied all aspects in detail, undertook field visits, interacted with various functionaries and public representatives in Najafgarh, Barapulla, Shahdara, Bawana and also drainage basins in the neighboring Haryana territory falling into the Yamuna river from its right bank.
Apart from coordination with multiple construction agencies for rigorous enforcement of the drainage standards as well as its pre-approved layout plan, the other important issues requiring the attention of the Delhi government are: pre-monsoon cleaning of drains and removal of obstructions, floodplain zoning and regulation, flood-risk mapping, flood insurance and improving embankments to contain backwater effect of three barrages viz Okhla, ITO and Wazirabad when the Yamuna is in spate. The old master plan for each major drain should be updated every alternate year for incorporating changes in the landscape. The area-wise action plan evolved earlier may also be updated and implemented keeping pace with rapid urbanization.
In case of Haryana, the major river Yamuna flowing along its eastern boundary has two barrages at Dakpathar and Asan in Uttrakand territory upstream. The third barrage at Hathnikund is located in Haryana. None of them has flood storage. Maneuvering of the excess influx due to heavy rain in the upper basin is not possible. Embankments along the river have provided some defence from floods but once breached, inundation of the adjoining areas in Yamunanagar, Karnal, Panipat, Sonepat, Faridabad etc is imminent.
The other small rivers in Haryana -- Tangri, Markanda, Ghaggar and its tributaries originating in the fragile shivalik hills, Som and Pathrala -- have sufficient damage potential during the monsoon. NH-1 is often submerged and damaged affecting mobility in the entire region. These rivers are seasonal and carry quasi totality of sediment in a flash flood. It is important to prepare a separate master plan for each of them. Water and sediment yield of these small basins may be assessed for constructing cascade of small dams to intercept sediment and store run-off. The emptying of dams and flushing of sediment before the onset of the monsoon starting from the most upstream are necessary. The filling of the empty dams should start from the most downstream one. When properly constructed, maintained and operated, these measures can moderate floods, enhance water availability in the lean season, recharge aquifers and improve the ecology of the degraded Shivalik ranges.
Three major rivers -- Beas, Ravi and Satluj -- meander through Punjab in their lower stretches. Most of the annual flows to these rivers is contributed from Himachal territory upstream. The monsoon run-off in Punjab area is evacuated by seasonal streams like the Ghaggar, White Bein, Black Bein, Sakkikiran and numerous "choes" carrying debris in flash flood . Ranjit Sagar on the Ravi river is the only dam in Punjab. It is primarily a hydropower project having irrigation as an additional component. All the main rivers in Punjab territory are mostly embanked supported by spurs. When breached, large areas in the Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar, Ferozepur, Phagwara, Nawanshahar and Ropar areas are affected by floods.
Jammu and Kashmir does not have a serious problem of floods except that the Tawi river occasionally inundates low-lying areas before exiting to join the Chenab in Pakistan territory. Flash floods in seasonal streams and landslides are but matters of concern. The Leh region was severely jolted by a catastrophe during the early part of August. Several inhabitations were wiped out and hundreds of lives lost. The state has three hydroelectric projects at Baglihar, Dulhasti and Salal on the Chenab river. Uri-I and Uri-II hydropower projects are on the Jhelum river. Though on the main rivers, none of them has a flood cushion to hold the monsoon run-off.
Before entering the neighboring states, the major rivers originating in Himachal or flowing through it have the Bhakra reservoir on the Satluj river. The Nathpa-Jhakri project on the same river is a run of the river type for power generation and has to be shut down for weeks during the monsoon due to an excess sediment load. In between the Kol dam in the offing is also for hydropower. The Beas river has the Pong dam for irrigation and power generation. The Pandoh dam in the upstream is for the diversion of the Beas water to the Satluj river for supplementing Bhakra irrigation and power generation. The other projects in the Beas basin like Larji, Parbati-I, II, III and Malana are for hydropower generation. In the Ravi basin, the power projects are Baira-Siul and Chamera. All of them are in HP territory.
Each off these major river basins has three or even more dam projects but none with dedicated flood storage. The leverage of extra flood cushion would have given the much-needed flexibility to hold excess water and regulate its release for attenuating the high flow. This at a small cost of the entire project could have also taken care of the peak load of power and irrigation demand in a lean season. In its absence, the inundated areas downstream may have to learn to live with similar floods unless the future projects are designed for flood moderation and their integrated management resorted to by the co-basin states. At present only the empty space out of the designed storage in the Bhakra, Pong and Ranjit Sagar dams can absorb some of the monsoon inflows to provide incidental flood relief, which as already seen, is not enough to mitigate the real problem.
Some sense of flood security is provided by embankments along the rivers in the plain reach and the location specific dykes in the urbanised areas. These structures are generally at risk from floodwaters flowing under, through and over them undermining their stability. It is difficult to protect or reconstruct them during floods Therefore, vulnerability of the structures should be assessed well before monsoon and strengthening measures taken with proactive planning.
River form is the end product of complex fluvial processes and keeps on changing in response to water flows or sediment inputs. It is a proven fact that any kind of obstruction in the natural river domain could lead to serious consequences. There being no mechanism to regulate the floodplains in the country, several industries, habitations and institutions have come up on the river right-of-way and cannot escape the fury of floods.
The antidote to distressful floods and drought has to be pursued with more powerful multi-disciplinary means. Plantation in denuded catchments can be a part of it but not enough by itself due to the inherent saturation limit of the soil. Holding part of the peak flow in storage reservoirs for regulated release is the most effective way for flood moderation. Easier said than done.
Many a time the areas under floods during the monsoon face a drought-like situation during long dry spells in a lean season. If flood storage is made an inbuilt component of all dam projects and a small portion of the net storage dedicated to drinking water and critical irrigation, alternating miseries caused by floods and drought can be effectively staved off. The planning strategy, therefore, should foster integrated planning and management of land and water resources of the basin through legislation.
Local decision-makers vis-à-vis implementing agencies must appreciate the scale and complexity of the river basin as a whole and evolve programs within its carrying capacity to fit in to the approved master plan. Clearance and coordination of projects of multiple agencies directly or indirectly involved with water resources in a basin may be assigned to an independent regulatory body comprising reputed professionals from different disciplines. All stakeholders and even co-basin states for programmes of inter-basin ramifications should collaborate to achieve the objective of holistic development and management of the water resources.
The writer is a former Chairman of the Brahmaputra Board (GOI)
THE wet season this year has led to a rude awakening, particularly in J&K, Himachal, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. The importance and complexity of water-related problems attributed to several causes is being voiced by a cross-section of society. While normal life in the hills was paralysed by landslides and soil erosion, the plains got inundated for weeks, causing a massive loss of lives, crops and property. On other side, states like Bihar, eastern UP, Jharkhand and parts of West Bengal faced a drought syndrome. In both cases, normal life and socio-economic conditions were affected by a revealing contrast of an excess of and deficiency of the monsoon.
Victims of a flood fury near Patiala. Tribune photo: Rajesh Sachar
We cannot alter the weather pattern or influence an occasional El-Niño phase controlling it over a period varying from three to seven years. However, distress resulting from such events can be minimised to a great extent by integrated management of the land and river system comprising the catchments, drainage lines, feeding streams, floodplain and the main river channels.
For many years decision-making over land use has paid limited attention to hazards associated with the water environment. Short-term and piecemeal commercial interests are often pushed through in a compartmentalised mode ignoring the fact that the river, its catchments, floodplain and groundwater are essentially a hydrological, geomorphologic and ecological continuum. A holistic approach generally emphasised is not compulsorily translated into a master plan format for sustainable development of the resource.
Guidelines for the preparation of a river basin master plan with a 25-year perspective were prepared by the Central Water Commission in 1990. These can be modified and used as per the local terrain, climatic conditions, basin specific features, including the frequency of floods and drought. A periodic review of the plans is necessary to update and improve them incorporating changes on account of new developments in the intervening period.
While some states and central agencies have already taken the initiative, most others are still pursuing a project-to-project approach with overlapping features and conflicting interests. The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank are funding projects for the preparation of the master plan for the basin's water resource to promote its integrated development. The states can take benefit of such institutional funding.
Every state should have a master plan for each of the river system within its territory. For inter-state rivers, the master plan prepared by a state for river reach within its jurisdiction may be amalgamated and approved by the central government.
The problem of floods and drainage congestion faced by Delhi is not new. A master plan for drainage was prepared way back in 1976. Its implementation could not keep pace with fast urbanisation. Later, a technical committee was constituted by the Lt Governor of Delhi in 1993 (this writer was its member from the CWC) to find out inherent defects in the existing drainage system and suggest measures for improvement. The committee studied all aspects in detail, undertook field visits, interacted with various functionaries and public representatives in Najafgarh, Barapulla, Shahdara, Bawana and also drainage basins in the neighboring Haryana territory falling into the Yamuna river from its right bank.
Apart from coordination with multiple construction agencies for rigorous enforcement of the drainage standards as well as its pre-approved layout plan, the other important issues requiring the attention of the Delhi government are: pre-monsoon cleaning of drains and removal of obstructions, floodplain zoning and regulation, flood-risk mapping, flood insurance and improving embankments to contain backwater effect of three barrages viz Okhla, ITO and Wazirabad when the Yamuna is in spate. The old master plan for each major drain should be updated every alternate year for incorporating changes in the landscape. The area-wise action plan evolved earlier may also be updated and implemented keeping pace with rapid urbanization.
In case of Haryana, the major river Yamuna flowing along its eastern boundary has two barrages at Dakpathar and Asan in Uttrakand territory upstream. The third barrage at Hathnikund is located in Haryana. None of them has flood storage. Maneuvering of the excess influx due to heavy rain in the upper basin is not possible. Embankments along the river have provided some defence from floods but once breached, inundation of the adjoining areas in Yamunanagar, Karnal, Panipat, Sonepat, Faridabad etc is imminent.
The other small rivers in Haryana -- Tangri, Markanda, Ghaggar and its tributaries originating in the fragile shivalik hills, Som and Pathrala -- have sufficient damage potential during the monsoon. NH-1 is often submerged and damaged affecting mobility in the entire region. These rivers are seasonal and carry quasi totality of sediment in a flash flood. It is important to prepare a separate master plan for each of them. Water and sediment yield of these small basins may be assessed for constructing cascade of small dams to intercept sediment and store run-off. The emptying of dams and flushing of sediment before the onset of the monsoon starting from the most upstream are necessary. The filling of the empty dams should start from the most downstream one. When properly constructed, maintained and operated, these measures can moderate floods, enhance water availability in the lean season, recharge aquifers and improve the ecology of the degraded Shivalik ranges.
Three major rivers -- Beas, Ravi and Satluj -- meander through Punjab in their lower stretches. Most of the annual flows to these rivers is contributed from Himachal territory upstream. The monsoon run-off in Punjab area is evacuated by seasonal streams like the Ghaggar, White Bein, Black Bein, Sakkikiran and numerous "choes" carrying debris in flash flood . Ranjit Sagar on the Ravi river is the only dam in Punjab. It is primarily a hydropower project having irrigation as an additional component. All the main rivers in Punjab territory are mostly embanked supported by spurs. When breached, large areas in the Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar, Ferozepur, Phagwara, Nawanshahar and Ropar areas are affected by floods.
Jammu and Kashmir does not have a serious problem of floods except that the Tawi river occasionally inundates low-lying areas before exiting to join the Chenab in Pakistan territory. Flash floods in seasonal streams and landslides are but matters of concern. The Leh region was severely jolted by a catastrophe during the early part of August. Several inhabitations were wiped out and hundreds of lives lost. The state has three hydroelectric projects at Baglihar, Dulhasti and Salal on the Chenab river. Uri-I and Uri-II hydropower projects are on the Jhelum river. Though on the main rivers, none of them has a flood cushion to hold the monsoon run-off.
Before entering the neighboring states, the major rivers originating in Himachal or flowing through it have the Bhakra reservoir on the Satluj river. The Nathpa-Jhakri project on the same river is a run of the river type for power generation and has to be shut down for weeks during the monsoon due to an excess sediment load. In between the Kol dam in the offing is also for hydropower. The Beas river has the Pong dam for irrigation and power generation. The Pandoh dam in the upstream is for the diversion of the Beas water to the Satluj river for supplementing Bhakra irrigation and power generation. The other projects in the Beas basin like Larji, Parbati-I, II, III and Malana are for hydropower generation. In the Ravi basin, the power projects are Baira-Siul and Chamera. All of them are in HP territory.
Each off these major river basins has three or even more dam projects but none with dedicated flood storage. The leverage of extra flood cushion would have given the much-needed flexibility to hold excess water and regulate its release for attenuating the high flow. This at a small cost of the entire project could have also taken care of the peak load of power and irrigation demand in a lean season. In its absence, the inundated areas downstream may have to learn to live with similar floods unless the future projects are designed for flood moderation and their integrated management resorted to by the co-basin states. At present only the empty space out of the designed storage in the Bhakra, Pong and Ranjit Sagar dams can absorb some of the monsoon inflows to provide incidental flood relief, which as already seen, is not enough to mitigate the real problem.
Some sense of flood security is provided by embankments along the rivers in the plain reach and the location specific dykes in the urbanised areas. These structures are generally at risk from floodwaters flowing under, through and over them undermining their stability. It is difficult to protect or reconstruct them during floods Therefore, vulnerability of the structures should be assessed well before monsoon and strengthening measures taken with proactive planning.
River form is the end product of complex fluvial processes and keeps on changing in response to water flows or sediment inputs. It is a proven fact that any kind of obstruction in the natural river domain could lead to serious consequences. There being no mechanism to regulate the floodplains in the country, several industries, habitations and institutions have come up on the river right-of-way and cannot escape the fury of floods.
The antidote to distressful floods and drought has to be pursued with more powerful multi-disciplinary means. Plantation in denuded catchments can be a part of it but not enough by itself due to the inherent saturation limit of the soil. Holding part of the peak flow in storage reservoirs for regulated release is the most effective way for flood moderation. Easier said than done.
Many a time the areas under floods during the monsoon face a drought-like situation during long dry spells in a lean season. If flood storage is made an inbuilt component of all dam projects and a small portion of the net storage dedicated to drinking water and critical irrigation, alternating miseries caused by floods and drought can be effectively staved off. The planning strategy, therefore, should foster integrated planning and management of land and water resources of the basin through legislation.
Local decision-makers vis-à-vis implementing agencies must appreciate the scale and complexity of the river basin as a whole and evolve programs within its carrying capacity to fit in to the approved master plan. Clearance and coordination of projects of multiple agencies directly or indirectly involved with water resources in a basin may be assigned to an independent regulatory body comprising reputed professionals from different disciplines. All stakeholders and even co-basin states for programmes of inter-basin ramifications should collaborate to achieve the objective of holistic development and management of the water resources.
The writer is a former Chairman of the Brahmaputra Board (GOI)
Friday, October 22, 2010
Red bus shelter a green threat (Times of India-Oct 23, 2010)
Neha Lalchandani
NEW DELHI: Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) might find itself packing up and having to find a new plot of land to park its 600 airconditioned buses. The agency, which had been given land on the Yamuna river bed next to the Indraprastha power station for the Millennium bus depot during the Commonwealth Games, had been told that it would be a temporary set-up and they would have to vacate the land within a week or so of the Games ending. DTC meanwhile seems to have other plans, announcing that it will continue to park its buses there.
The issue has got environment activists up in arms against the corporation even as government sources assured that DTC would be asked to leave if it persisted in sticking on. "The land was given to DTC on lease for the duration of the Games. The plot is located in zone O of DDA's masterplan and according to a 2009 L-G moratorium, no construction is permitted here. Secondly, it was made clear right in the beginning that this would only be a temporary structure. By proposing to keep its buses parked here, DTC is indulging in rampant encroachment,'' said Manoj Misra of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan.
In a letter dated May 5, 2010, Ranjan Mukherjee, OSD to the L-G told Misra that "the bus parking facility...will be a temporary arrangement for DTC for the duration of the CWG-2010 and there is no plan for any permanent structures. The structures are to be completely removed after Games.''
According to DTC sources, they are planning to use the land as a shelter for 600 AC buses. They said that the structure is temporary, including the flooring that was flexible pavement. However, there were no plans of vacating the premises anytime soon.
The permission for the bus shelter was given amid much controversy and opposition by environment groups that saw the move as another attempt to take over river bed land. Permission was given on the condition that there would be no permanent construction, soft parking of compressed earth or perforated paved blocks. It was to be given to DTC on lease and no servicing of buses was to have taken place. DTC was to dismantle all structures and move out within 10 days of the Games getting over.
"The plot was earlier being used as a fly ash dumping ground by the nearby power station. However, it is clearly river bed land and when permission was given for the bus depot due to security concerns, it was said that it could not be a permanent set-up. During construction, PWD used fly ash and cement to first level the ground. A lot of other structures have also come up there. In April, DDA had said that it was not aware of any plans for a bus depot on that land. DTC cannot decide arbitrarily to stay there and must move out,'' said Vinod Jain of NGO Tapas.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
‘Metro's Yamuna Bank complex coming up without clearances' (Hindu 20 October 2010)
NEW DELHI: Construction at the Delhi Metro railway's Yamuna Bank complex is on in full swing and like most of its projects will be completed in time, but what sets it apart is that the mandatory clearances and go-ahead from agencies for some portions are missing.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation was granted permission to construct a yard, a depot and a line on the riverbed, but also coming up on the ecologically critical zone is a residential complex for its employees. Alarmed by the destruction of the riverbed, a non-government organisation, Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan (YJA), has shot off a letter to DMRC to reconsider their plans.
“I wrote to DMRC Managing Director E. Sreedharan but have not heard from him or the organisation. The construction of a residential complex is in violation of rules and most importantly it does not have any environmental clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, nor was it sent for approval to the Delhi Urban Arts Commission,” says Manoj Misra of the YJA.
According to Mr. Misra, the land where the yard, the line and the depot are belongs to the Delhi Development Authority and DMRC has the rights to construct here, but the land where the residential complex is coming up has been sold to DMRC by the Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department on the precondition that DMRC cannot construct anything there before getting the land use changed by the DDA.
“DMRC has not got the change done in the land use. It was initially meant only for greening purposes. When the construction first began in the riverbed, we had advised caution. Even the Yamuna Standing Committee had advised much caution. The matter went first to the Delhi High Court in 2007 and then to the Supreme Court,” said Mr. Misra.
He said the Delhi High Court was informed by DMRC that it had decided to shelve its plans to build residential quarters on the riverbed, but they never submitted the requisite affidavit to the Court.
Mr. Misra also pointed out that the complex was flooded recently during the rains. “When the river rose during the rains the complex was completely flooded and it was established that the construction on the riverbed was wrong. Flood waters also reported from the Shastri Park depot.”
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation was granted permission to construct a yard, a depot and a line on the riverbed, but also coming up on the ecologically critical zone is a residential complex for its employees. Alarmed by the destruction of the riverbed, a non-government organisation, Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan (YJA), has shot off a letter to DMRC to reconsider their plans.
“I wrote to DMRC Managing Director E. Sreedharan but have not heard from him or the organisation. The construction of a residential complex is in violation of rules and most importantly it does not have any environmental clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, nor was it sent for approval to the Delhi Urban Arts Commission,” says Manoj Misra of the YJA.
According to Mr. Misra, the land where the yard, the line and the depot are belongs to the Delhi Development Authority and DMRC has the rights to construct here, but the land where the residential complex is coming up has been sold to DMRC by the Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department on the precondition that DMRC cannot construct anything there before getting the land use changed by the DDA.
“DMRC has not got the change done in the land use. It was initially meant only for greening purposes. When the construction first began in the riverbed, we had advised caution. Even the Yamuna Standing Committee had advised much caution. The matter went first to the Delhi High Court in 2007 and then to the Supreme Court,” said Mr. Misra.
He said the Delhi High Court was informed by DMRC that it had decided to shelve its plans to build residential quarters on the riverbed, but they never submitted the requisite affidavit to the Court.
Mr. Misra also pointed out that the complex was flooded recently during the rains. “When the river rose during the rains the complex was completely flooded and it was established that the construction on the riverbed was wrong. Flood waters also reported from the Shastri Park depot.”
Now in the pipeline: New national water policy (Hindu 20 October 2010)
NEW DELHI: Spurred by the need to look at climate change impact on water resources, the Centre is formulating a revised National Water Policy in consultation with the States and other stakeholders to ensure basin-level management strategies. This would deal with variability in rainfall and river flows due to climate change.
The Government is also looking at amendment to the Inter-State Water Disputes Act and the River Boards Act for time-bound clarificatory/supplementary orders of tribunals on inter-State water disputes and for setting up an Inter-State River Basin Authority for overall coordination of watershed agencies under inter-State basins.
The revised policy will take on board crucial issues such as water demand management, equitable distribution, water pricing, stringent regulatory mechanism and allocating priority to water for life-support and ecology over industry. Needless to say, the industry is opposing the last priority it might be allocated.
The Centre wants water budgeting and water auditing to be made mandatory. There is a suggestion to introduce tradable water entitlements for farmers but there is no agreement on it.
The Union Ministry of Water Resources is holding a series of consultations with the States and other stakeholders on various aspects of the proposed new policy and will reconcile all points of view. The final decision would be vested in the National Water Resources Council headed by the Prime Minister with Chief Ministers as members.
In the new scheme of things, it is proposed to plan for multi-purpose reservoir systems with stakeholder participation after a thorough examination of all alternatives. The benefits and costs of every project along with environmental and social costs should be assessed and it should be ensured that local people are the first beneficiaries. However, the Ministry has come up with the rider that while assessing costs-benefits, environmental and social costs, stakeholders must consider the cost of not providing water to people for different uses. It is proposed to incentivise water conservation. State governments may be advised to set up Independent Water Regulatory Authority for addressing water allocation, water use efficiency and physical and financial sustainability of water resources.
The Government is also looking at amendment to the Inter-State Water Disputes Act and the River Boards Act for time-bound clarificatory/supplementary orders of tribunals on inter-State water disputes and for setting up an Inter-State River Basin Authority for overall coordination of watershed agencies under inter-State basins.
The revised policy will take on board crucial issues such as water demand management, equitable distribution, water pricing, stringent regulatory mechanism and allocating priority to water for life-support and ecology over industry. Needless to say, the industry is opposing the last priority it might be allocated.
The Centre wants water budgeting and water auditing to be made mandatory. There is a suggestion to introduce tradable water entitlements for farmers but there is no agreement on it.
The Union Ministry of Water Resources is holding a series of consultations with the States and other stakeholders on various aspects of the proposed new policy and will reconcile all points of view. The final decision would be vested in the National Water Resources Council headed by the Prime Minister with Chief Ministers as members.
In the new scheme of things, it is proposed to plan for multi-purpose reservoir systems with stakeholder participation after a thorough examination of all alternatives. The benefits and costs of every project along with environmental and social costs should be assessed and it should be ensured that local people are the first beneficiaries. However, the Ministry has come up with the rider that while assessing costs-benefits, environmental and social costs, stakeholders must consider the cost of not providing water to people for different uses. It is proposed to incentivise water conservation. State governments may be advised to set up Independent Water Regulatory Authority for addressing water allocation, water use efficiency and physical and financial sustainability of water resources.
Hydro projects won’t affect downstream areas: Khandu to Jairam (Indian Express 20 October 2010)
After strongly rebutting Jairam Ramesh’s suggestion for a review of all hydropower projects in North Eastern states, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu on Tuesday met the Environment Minister to explain how such a review would adversely affect his state.
Khandu informed Jairam that concerns of Assam on the downstream impacts of hydropower projects in Arunachal were highly exaggerated since only two of the projects in his state actually involved construction of dams. The rest were run-of-the-river projects which offered no threat to people downstream.
Khandu also invited Jairam to come to his state and have a first hand assessment of the projects that are in the making. Jairam told The Indian Express he would go to Arunachal on November 12 and 13.
Following a visit to Assam last month, Jairam wrote to the Prime Minister suggesting that there was largescale opposition to hydropower projects in the North Eastern region in the light of which all the proposed projects needed to be reviewed. Quoting an NGO, he also told the PM that some people wanted Delhi to stop making Arunachal Pradesh, which has a large number of hydropower projects, a playground between India and China.
Khandu, who had reacted strongly to Jairam’s suggestion, said some “misunderstandings” needed to be cleared. “The issue will be resolved in the national interest. There have been some misunderstandings which will be cleared,” he told The Indian Express.
Khandu was appreciative of the fact that the Environment Ministry had cleared the hydropower project in the Siang river basin. He also said he was satisfied that on Monday, the ministry cleared 11 road projects in his state. Khandu said he would speak to the Assam Chief Minister as well to resolve the differences between the two states.
Khandu informed Jairam that concerns of Assam on the downstream impacts of hydropower projects in Arunachal were highly exaggerated since only two of the projects in his state actually involved construction of dams. The rest were run-of-the-river projects which offered no threat to people downstream.
Khandu also invited Jairam to come to his state and have a first hand assessment of the projects that are in the making. Jairam told The Indian Express he would go to Arunachal on November 12 and 13.
Following a visit to Assam last month, Jairam wrote to the Prime Minister suggesting that there was largescale opposition to hydropower projects in the North Eastern region in the light of which all the proposed projects needed to be reviewed. Quoting an NGO, he also told the PM that some people wanted Delhi to stop making Arunachal Pradesh, which has a large number of hydropower projects, a playground between India and China.
Khandu, who had reacted strongly to Jairam’s suggestion, said some “misunderstandings” needed to be cleared. “The issue will be resolved in the national interest. There have been some misunderstandings which will be cleared,” he told The Indian Express.
Khandu was appreciative of the fact that the Environment Ministry had cleared the hydropower project in the Siang river basin. He also said he was satisfied that on Monday, the ministry cleared 11 road projects in his state. Khandu said he would speak to the Assam Chief Minister as well to resolve the differences between the two states.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Panel proposes Yamuna authority to save river (Times of Inida-Oct 20, 2010)
Abantika Ghosh,
NEW DELHI: A high-powered committee has recommended that a Yamuna River Development Authority should be constituted along the lines of the Ganga authority that will be responsible for the entire stretch of the river from Yamunotri — where it starts from the glacier — to Allahabad where it finally meets the Ganga.
The authority will have jurisdiction over inter-state water wars and will see to the implementation of all other recommendations of the committee, including conservation of monsoon water to be released throughout the year, dredging of the river and implementation of the moratorium on construction on the riverbed. The recommendations have already been sent to the PMO. The committee had been formed in 2007, with the lieutenant-governor of Delhi as its chairman and the chief minister as vice-chairman.
The structure of the authority — details like who will head it and how many members it will comprise — have not been laid down in the recommendations. ''That has been left to the PMO, but one way of doing it could be of having one overarching head and then making the respective state chief ministers responsible for it in their states,'' said a source.
The committee has recommended a slew of measures for rejuvenating Yamuna in Delhi and the authority, initially will be responsible for their implementation. The recommendations are primarily based on the fact that a river which has no water is dead. So all of them are geared towards getting a year round reasonable amount of water flowing in the Yamuna. That itself will cleanse it a lot, but there is also a need for physical removal of pollutants.
The committee has recommended that there should be arrangements for storing the four lakh million cusecs water that are piped out every year during monsoon, to be released daily so that Yamuna does not become a drain like it is now, when it enters Delhi.
Green efforts come to naught, Yamuna bears brunt (Times of India 18 October 2010)
NEW DELHI: Once again, as Delhi celebrated, the Yamuna bore the brunt. Over 450 puja committees immersed idols of Durga, Saraswati, Laxmi, Ganesh and Kartikeya idols on Sunday and left behind a drain full of wooden debris, plastic bags, metal and other organic and inorganic waste. Though some committees tried to keep visarjan process as environmental-friendly as possible, most were seen carelessly tossing their plastic packets full of puja samagri into 'holy' waters of the Yamuna. By the evening, Yamuna ghats were full of idols floating in a mass of polythene bags, flowers and boxes of incense sticks. Puja committees from Mayur Vihar Phase I, Antaranga and C R Park's Pocket-52, were seen to be following environmental concerns. However, they were among the exceptions as most others did not even think twice before throwing the puja material into the river. Even though a special enclosure was constructed by the MCD to facilitate visarjan, most committees appeared ignorant and unconcerned. When asked why they were throwing plastic packets into the river, thereby polluting it, some sheepishly muttered apologies while others laughed and shrugged. This year, the ministry of forest and environment had asked puja committees to follow strict guidelines and use non-synthetic paint and eco-friendly materials. ''The ministry started talking to the committees three months in advance to ensure minimal pollution during visarjan. With the help of government agencies and NGOs, ministry asked the committees to keep the puja as environmentally-conscious as possible. Ten days ago, all the agencies were called for coordination purposes,'' said a senior environment official. In midst of the thoughtless dumping, there were a few puja committees that conscientiously separated flowers, weapons and plastic bags from their idols before bidding the goddess an adieu. Gurgaon's Bangiya Parishad built their idol with clay. ''We have not used synthetic paints. Even our weapons are made of thin paper. We deposited all our puja samagri into the enclosure — a very good measure initiated by the government,'' said puja committee joint secretary Malay Nandi. Members of C R Park's Mela Ground puja samiti said they are conducting the festival in an environmentally-sensitive way for the last few years now. ''For the last 2-3 years, we have been building a huge pit in the Mela Ground itself where we bury all the puja samagri. This year, we have used the enclosure that MCD provided,'' said puja committee vice-president Narayan Dey.
4 yrs after HC order, only one immersion site ready (Times of India 17 October 2010)
NEW DELHI: In 2006, Delhi high court ordered Delhi government to construct 13 enclosures for immersions so that the Yamuna would be spared from pollution. In 2010, Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) still have not been able to make up their mind whether work has to be carried out by them or not. In response to an RTI query, the two agencies passed on the buck to each other and finally said the issue did not pertain to Yamuna Action Plan (YAP). Of the 13 enclosures that were to be prepared, only one has been readied so far. Vinod Jain of NGO Tapas, on whose writ petition the court order had been issued, has sent a legal notice to the environment department asking them to take immediate action or else he would proceed to the court to file a contempt petition against the concerned parties. ''The HC order was passed under the Delhi Plastic Bags Act 2000 to ensure that the river would not get polluted each festival season when hundreds of tonnes of religious material and thousands of idols would be immersed into the river. Dusshera and Durga Puja have come by yet again and nothing is being done. It is very surprising that till date the government has sat over the issue and done precious little. It appears that the government is not at all sincere in implementing the Act,'' said Jain. According to officials in the environment department, it had been decided that while DDA would finance the project, MCD would be in charge of construction and maintenance. ''We have been following up the matter with them for really long but we have had no response from them. The agencies also then got busy with the Commonwealth Games so all work was held up. Environment minister Jairam Ramesh also issued basic rules that were to be followed during idol immersion and we have conveyed those to all puja committees,'' said an official. Jain recently filed an RTI application with the two agencies to find out the status of the enclosures. While DDA responded by saying it had no information on the project and that it was transferring the query to MCD, the civic body's only defence was that the questions did not pertain to YAP-II. ''MCD did not have any reply to the totally straightforward questions that I had asked. The three questions in my application were whether the 13 enclosures would be ready in time for the puja season, where the enclosures were coming up and if there were plans to construct any more. What sort of a reply is ''This information does not pertain to YAP-II'. The departments have been sitting on a court directive for four years in clear violation of orders. Neither of them seem to have,'' said Jain. MCD had earlier claimed that after the construction of one enclosure, it had to stop work since DDA was supposed to give it land for the rest.
Monday, October 18, 2010
MoEF rejects Renuka Dam project plan now (Indian Express 14 October 2010)
The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has rejected the Himachal Pradesh government's proposal to divert 775 hectares of forest land for the Rs 3,300-crore Renuka dam in Sirmaur district, saying a large number of trees would have to be felled for the project.
The project, for which an agreement was signed in the early nineties, is basically aimed at meeting Delhi’s water needs, besides generating 40 MW of hydel power.
The states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana, besides Himachal Pradesh and Delhi, are major stakeholders in the project. The Delhi government already released Rs 300 crore to Himachal for the project.
Tarun Kapoor, Managing Director of Himachal Power Corporation, which is executing the project, said: “Yes, we have received the letter of the ministry, written on August 31, 2010, informing the state government about the issue. We have already started a fresh process to do a new survey and exclude certain areas. The process may take another two months. Work is in full swing and we will approach the ministry again with a new proposal”.
In its letter, the ministry informed the state Additional Chief Secretary (Forests) about its decision to reject the proposal for land diversion since the area had a high density of forests and the project would involve felling of a very large number of trees.
NGOs opposing the project have termed the move as “path breaking” and feel lakhs of trees would be saved.
The Renuka Bandh Sangharsh Samiti and many other groups recently met Union Minister for Forests and Environment Jairam Ramesh and Delhi CM Shiela Dikshit, saying approval for land diversion would spell havoc on the forest and rights of locals.
Tarun Kapoor, however, said the ministry's environmental appraisal committee had given its in-principle approval and now it was a question of reducing the number of the trees that would be felled or get submerged in the dam.
Renuka dam, on Giri river, will offer a storage capacity of 542 million cubic metres of water and an installed power capacity of 40 mw, and will supply Delhi with an additional 275 million gallons of water per day, Kapoor explained.
The project, for which an agreement was signed in the early nineties, is basically aimed at meeting Delhi’s water needs, besides generating 40 MW of hydel power.
The states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana, besides Himachal Pradesh and Delhi, are major stakeholders in the project. The Delhi government already released Rs 300 crore to Himachal for the project.
Tarun Kapoor, Managing Director of Himachal Power Corporation, which is executing the project, said: “Yes, we have received the letter of the ministry, written on August 31, 2010, informing the state government about the issue. We have already started a fresh process to do a new survey and exclude certain areas. The process may take another two months. Work is in full swing and we will approach the ministry again with a new proposal”.
In its letter, the ministry informed the state Additional Chief Secretary (Forests) about its decision to reject the proposal for land diversion since the area had a high density of forests and the project would involve felling of a very large number of trees.
NGOs opposing the project have termed the move as “path breaking” and feel lakhs of trees would be saved.
The Renuka Bandh Sangharsh Samiti and many other groups recently met Union Minister for Forests and Environment Jairam Ramesh and Delhi CM Shiela Dikshit, saying approval for land diversion would spell havoc on the forest and rights of locals.
Tarun Kapoor, however, said the ministry's environmental appraisal committee had given its in-principle approval and now it was a question of reducing the number of the trees that would be felled or get submerged in the dam.
Renuka dam, on Giri river, will offer a storage capacity of 542 million cubic metres of water and an installed power capacity of 40 mw, and will supply Delhi with an additional 275 million gallons of water per day, Kapoor explained.
Don’t clear dams in Northeast without impact studies: Activists (Indian Express 14 October 2010)
Even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has convened a meeting of ministers for home, environment, power and water resources to discuss the issue of mega dams in the Northeast, several NGOs and civil society organisations have called for a moratorium to such projects till downstream impact studies are conducted.
A memorandum sent to the Prime Minister Wednesday by Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), a farmers’ body in Assam, demanded that the state be made a party to any MoUs for construction of dams or hydel-power projects on rivers that flow down from Arunachal Pradesh and other Northeastern states.
All Assam Students’ Union, Asom Gana Parishad, Asom Jatiyabadi Yuva-Chatra Parishad and other organisations have also sent similar pleas to the Prime Minister as well as the Environment Minister.
KMSS also demanded a probe into the 100-odd MoUs signed by Arunachal for building dams.
A memorandum sent to the Prime Minister Wednesday by Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), a farmers’ body in Assam, demanded that the state be made a party to any MoUs for construction of dams or hydel-power projects on rivers that flow down from Arunachal Pradesh and other Northeastern states.
All Assam Students’ Union, Asom Gana Parishad, Asom Jatiyabadi Yuva-Chatra Parishad and other organisations have also sent similar pleas to the Prime Minister as well as the Environment Minister.
KMSS also demanded a probe into the 100-odd MoUs signed by Arunachal for building dams.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Deep waters, slowly drying up (The Indian Express 15 Oct., 2010)
Clement weather and plentiful water mean that Punjab produces an eighth of India’s total food grains. But the water table has dropped by ten metres since 1973 and the rate of decline is accelerating on both the Indian and the Pakistani sides of the region. It is a similar story for the north-western Sahara aquifer system (NWSAS), shared by Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. Withdrawals increased ninefold between 1950 and 2008. Springs are drying up and soil salinity has increased.Such depletion of aquifers is a classic tragedy of the commons. Farmers pump, oblivious of others’ actions or the impact of their own. Scarcity stokes this rather than braking it. Worse, much abstracted water is used in inefficient irrigation; compounding that, underpricing means it is often used for watering low-value crops. Powerful farming lobbies have little interest in changing the status quo.
Aquifers, like fish stocks, are most at risk when they cross national borders, making property rights weaker. Groundwater provides about a fifth of the planet’s water needs and half its drinking water. In arid countries such as Libya or Saudi Arabia, that figure is close to 100 per cent. Almost 96 per cent of the planet’s freshwater resources are stored as groundwater, half of which straddles borders. UNESCO, a United Nations body, estimates that 273 aquifers are shared by two or more countries.
The signing this summer of a treaty between Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay to protect the Guarani aquifer, after a six-year study of the region’s underwater resources, has thus come as a nice surprise. It may even be a trend. Mali, Niger and Nigeria are due to sign a provisional deal early next year to set up a body to run the Iullemeden aquifer, where withdrawals have exceeded recharge ever since 1995, endangering the Niger river in the dry season.
The two deals follow a UN resolution in 2008 on creating a legal regime for aquifers (it may become a full convention next year). Lifting sanctions on Libya has had an effect, too. The Libyans say they may stop growing wheat using water from the NWSAS and the Nubian sandstone aquifer system, the world’s largest fossil aquifer, which they share with Egypt, Chad and Sudan. An agreement in 1992 set up a body to run this but it has stayed largely dormant. Now sampling and monitoring have resumed, under the aegis of the International Atomic Energy Agency (which has a sideline in environmental monitoring).
Such scientific work is crucial because aquifers are still poorly understood. Until a UNESCO inventory in 2008, nobody knew even how many transboundary aquifers existed. Experts are still refining the count: the American-Mexico border may include 8, 10, 18 or 20 aquifers, depending on how you measure them. Defining sustainability vexes hydrologists too, particularly with ancient fossil aquifers that will inevitably run dry eventually. Estimates for the life of the Nubian sandstone aquifer range from a century to a millennium.
© The Economist Newspaper Limited 2010
Environment Ministry blocks Renuka Dam project (The Hindu- 14 Oct. 2010)
Priscilla Jebraj and Smriti Kak Ramachandran
No clearance for the 3,600-crore project in view of threat to 17 lakh treesA huge setback for Delhi as it was banking on the project to mitigate its water woes
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit will take up the issue with the Centre once Games are over
NEW DELHI: The Union Environment and Forests Ministry has decided not to give its approval for the Renuka Dam project in Himachal Pradesh on the ground that it would involves cutting down of a large number of trees.
The Ministry's decision not to give the mandatory clearance to the project has come as a “setback” to the Delhi Government and the Delhi Jal Board as they have been banking on the Renuka Dam project to alleviate the Capital's water worries.
Wednesday's announcement was far from what the water utility and the Delhi Government were expecting. A senior Delhi Government official said the project had been hanging fire for a long time and the Union Ministry's decision has further heightened concerns about the Capital's water woes.
“This (dam) was the only identified and assured supply of water for Delhi. Each year with the increase in population the demand for water is progressively growing. While the Delhi Jal Board can only manage water, cut down on distribution losses and reinforce water conservation, it needs more water from sources apart from its own ground water reserves to meet the growing demand.”
The Ministry on the other hand has declined to give the go-ahead to the Rs. 3,600-crore project even though land acquisition work is almost over and the Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL) is in the final stage of inviting global tenders to implement the project.
‘Can't be a parasite'
While the forest clearance was actually recommended by the Forest Advisory Committee, Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh overrode their advice and decided to reject the clearance. “As much as 775 hectares of good quality forest land is a very steep price to pay,” he said. “Delhi must learn to use the tougher options that are available.” Mr. Ramesh pointed out that Delhi's water system has distribution losses of over 45 per cent and added that under-pricing of water also contributed to wasteful habits. “Delhi simply cannot be a parasite on the rest of the country,” he said.
The proposed Renuka Dam planned on the Giri river with a storage capacity of 542 million cubic metres of water and an installed capacity of 40 MW of power was expected to supply Delhi with an additional 275 MGD (million gallons a day) of water.
Hoping for a reprieve, the Jal Board is now waiting for Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit to take up the issue with the Centre and also with the Himachal Government. A senior Jal Board official said the Jal Board is yet to receive “formal communication from the Ministry on the issue”.
“The Delhi Jal Board has been working to erase all concerns that have been put before it in the past. It has also released over Rs.215 crore for land acquisition for the project. Once the Commonwealth Games are over, the issue will be taken up for review and we are hopeful that whatever the concerns of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, there will be a resolution,” the official said.
In December 2008 the Environment Appraisals Committee of MoEF had agreed in principle to construction of the Renuka Dam in Himachal Pradesh. It was then expected that with the clearance, the work on the dam would begin soon and get over in the next six years.
As per the agreement signed earlier, Delhi was committed to pay Rs.3,000 crore for the entire project, wherein water from the Dam would be brought into the Yamuna through the Giri river; it would then be released at the Hathni Kund barrage and from there passed into the Munak Channel and supplied to the city.
Construction of the dam was initially stalled after Haryana and Rajasthan refused to sign the agreement. According to the agreement signed in November 1994, Delhi would get the full supply of water from the Renuka dam till the Kishau Dam and Lakhawar-Vyasi Dam projects become functional, while Himachal Pradesh would retain the full power generated.
The project was also disapproved of by locals, apprehending displacement. A large number of local groups and villagers have been protesting against the project in Himachal Pradesh. “About 17 lakh trees would have been destroyed by the dam project,” said Puran Chand of Renuka Bandh Sangharsh Samiti, sounding relieved by the refusal of clearance. “History is witness to the fact that rehabilitations never take place.”
© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu
No clearance for the 3,600-crore project in view of threat to 17 lakh treesA huge setback for Delhi as it was banking on the project to mitigate its water woes
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit will take up the issue with the Centre once Games are over
NEW DELHI: The Union Environment and Forests Ministry has decided not to give its approval for the Renuka Dam project in Himachal Pradesh on the ground that it would involves cutting down of a large number of trees.
The Ministry's decision not to give the mandatory clearance to the project has come as a “setback” to the Delhi Government and the Delhi Jal Board as they have been banking on the Renuka Dam project to alleviate the Capital's water worries.
Wednesday's announcement was far from what the water utility and the Delhi Government were expecting. A senior Delhi Government official said the project had been hanging fire for a long time and the Union Ministry's decision has further heightened concerns about the Capital's water woes.
“This (dam) was the only identified and assured supply of water for Delhi. Each year with the increase in population the demand for water is progressively growing. While the Delhi Jal Board can only manage water, cut down on distribution losses and reinforce water conservation, it needs more water from sources apart from its own ground water reserves to meet the growing demand.”
The Ministry on the other hand has declined to give the go-ahead to the Rs. 3,600-crore project even though land acquisition work is almost over and the Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL) is in the final stage of inviting global tenders to implement the project.
‘Can't be a parasite'
While the forest clearance was actually recommended by the Forest Advisory Committee, Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh overrode their advice and decided to reject the clearance. “As much as 775 hectares of good quality forest land is a very steep price to pay,” he said. “Delhi must learn to use the tougher options that are available.” Mr. Ramesh pointed out that Delhi's water system has distribution losses of over 45 per cent and added that under-pricing of water also contributed to wasteful habits. “Delhi simply cannot be a parasite on the rest of the country,” he said.
The proposed Renuka Dam planned on the Giri river with a storage capacity of 542 million cubic metres of water and an installed capacity of 40 MW of power was expected to supply Delhi with an additional 275 MGD (million gallons a day) of water.
Hoping for a reprieve, the Jal Board is now waiting for Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit to take up the issue with the Centre and also with the Himachal Government. A senior Jal Board official said the Jal Board is yet to receive “formal communication from the Ministry on the issue”.
“The Delhi Jal Board has been working to erase all concerns that have been put before it in the past. It has also released over Rs.215 crore for land acquisition for the project. Once the Commonwealth Games are over, the issue will be taken up for review and we are hopeful that whatever the concerns of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, there will be a resolution,” the official said.
In December 2008 the Environment Appraisals Committee of MoEF had agreed in principle to construction of the Renuka Dam in Himachal Pradesh. It was then expected that with the clearance, the work on the dam would begin soon and get over in the next six years.
As per the agreement signed earlier, Delhi was committed to pay Rs.3,000 crore for the entire project, wherein water from the Dam would be brought into the Yamuna through the Giri river; it would then be released at the Hathni Kund barrage and from there passed into the Munak Channel and supplied to the city.
Construction of the dam was initially stalled after Haryana and Rajasthan refused to sign the agreement. According to the agreement signed in November 1994, Delhi would get the full supply of water from the Renuka dam till the Kishau Dam and Lakhawar-Vyasi Dam projects become functional, while Himachal Pradesh would retain the full power generated.
The project was also disapproved of by locals, apprehending displacement. A large number of local groups and villagers have been protesting against the project in Himachal Pradesh. “About 17 lakh trees would have been destroyed by the dam project,” said Puran Chand of Renuka Bandh Sangharsh Samiti, sounding relieved by the refusal of clearance. “History is witness to the fact that rehabilitations never take place.”
© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu
Monday, October 11, 2010
Hydel-power cos told to pay for water (Indian Express 11 October 2010)
Jammu and Kashmir Assembly has passed a Bill laying down that companies running hydro-electric power projects in the state pay for the water they use to generate electricity.
The move, the government said, will earn the state Rs 848 crore a year in additional revenue. The Bill will be taken up for passage by the Legislative Council on Monday.
The J-K Water Resources (Regulation and Management) Act also levies taxes on water used for irrigation and drinking, which, the government said, will fetch the exchequer another Rs 150 crore. “We are always asked to raise our own resources. Water is the biggest resource we have. We can’t tax generation of electricity (but) we can charge on water usage. This legislation will help us to use our water resources to generate revenue,” Chief Minister Omar Abdullah told The Indian Express. “This, however, is not a precursor for privatisation (of water resources). We have a long long way to go for that.”
The Bill envisages establishment of State Water Regulatory Authority for “sustainable management, allocation and utilisation of water resources, fixing the rates for use of water and other connected matters”.
Irrigation Minister Taj Mohiuddin said: “As of now, 33,930 million tonne water is utilised (by NHPC and the state’s PDC, which generate Rs 7,140 crore a year in revenue from the state). This will generate revenue of Rs 848 crore.”
The move, the government said, will earn the state Rs 848 crore a year in additional revenue. The Bill will be taken up for passage by the Legislative Council on Monday.
The J-K Water Resources (Regulation and Management) Act also levies taxes on water used for irrigation and drinking, which, the government said, will fetch the exchequer another Rs 150 crore. “We are always asked to raise our own resources. Water is the biggest resource we have. We can’t tax generation of electricity (but) we can charge on water usage. This legislation will help us to use our water resources to generate revenue,” Chief Minister Omar Abdullah told The Indian Express. “This, however, is not a precursor for privatisation (of water resources). We have a long long way to go for that.”
The Bill envisages establishment of State Water Regulatory Authority for “sustainable management, allocation and utilisation of water resources, fixing the rates for use of water and other connected matters”.
Irrigation Minister Taj Mohiuddin said: “As of now, 33,930 million tonne water is utilised (by NHPC and the state’s PDC, which generate Rs 7,140 crore a year in revenue from the state). This will generate revenue of Rs 848 crore.”
A sombre appraisal of water resources (Hindu 09 October 2010)
In the Planning Commission's 11th mid-term appraisal report, Chapter 21 is devoted to Water Resources. Recognising that the problems in this area appear more serious than originally assessed, the appraisal calls for a holistic approach based on the science of the hydrologic cycle, to supplant the many different administrative compartments into which water management is currently divided. The salient findings of the report include the unsustainable depletion of groundwater caused by a progressive shift over the past decades from the use of surface water to more conveniently accessible groundwater; poor project formulation coupled with shortfalls in the Central government's support to enhance realisation of the irrigation potential; and the need for cautionary diligence before embarking on the ambitious project to interlink rivers. In conclusion, the report urges the implementation of the widely spelt remedial measures to protect water quantity and quality. It also recommends that rain-harvesting be enhanced, artificial recharge structures energised, water-use efficiency improved, and treatment and reclamation of urban waste water bettered.
As a planning document, the report aptly focusses on how existing water-use methods can be improved and enhanced through monetary and administrative reforms. The report defers unitary treatment of the hydrological cycle to the 12th Five-Year Plan. Even so, it is pertinent to examine what is involved in taking a holistic hydrologic-cycle view of the issue.
Factor of uncertainty
Perhaps the starting point is to recognise that the water over India is a finite, limited resource with uncertain annual variability. As such, it is to be monitored and managed on various spatial and temporal scales. Thus, the overall task is fundamentally “resource-limited.” In other words, the nature of the resource is no more an externality. Traditional practices of using the most convenient source available were “policy-limited” in the sense that when water was assumed to be freely available, policy would encourage the use of the most convenient source. Given this perception, what needs to be done is to effect an orderly transition from a “policy-limited” mind-set to one of “resource-limited” mind-set. This perspective provides a context to examine what a “holistic view of the hydrologic cycle” entails.
Given a watershed or a river basin of appropriate scale of interest, a water budget allowing for evapo-transpiration and environmental flows, limits utilisable water to about 15 per cent of the total annual precipitation. This includes surface water and groundwater, including artificial recharge and rain-harvesting. Since surface water and groundwater are essentially components of the same resource, it would appear prudent not to separate them any longer. This notion is already central to the oft-declared conjunctive strategy of water management. Within the constraint of this water availability, we have to fit in all the extant water use and distribution structures — public, private, and cooperative — to optimise its use among the stake-holders. Deceptively simple in logic, this is a daunting, formidable challenge that confronts all segments of India's society, from the lay person to state functionaries and learned academies. The quality of their individual and collective responses to this fundamental issue will determine the quality of adaptation to the scenarios of severe scarcity that are unfolding.
In order to improve the chances of a transition happening from the silos to the hydrologic-cycle perspective, informed debates involving earth scientists and engineers are essential. They should present knowledge bases for decision options, among social scientists and administrators who formulate policies, and among citizens in general, who by the dint of intuitive visualisation and experience of the impact of these policies, may contribute wisdom. Such wide-ranging discourses are indispensable to define the collective and differentiated responsibilities of the various segments of society, in a common bid to conserve and safeguard the integrity of a resource that is vital for human survival. Yet, the Planning Commission's report devotes attention primarily to administrative and financial reforms, which by themselves will hardly help change the status quo. Can the country wait until the next Plan to consider the imperatives of a unitary hydrological cycle to guide its course?
National water policy
Indeed, one may argue that the time to act is now, especially in view of the Water Mission statement issued by the Prime Minister's Climate Council in May 2010. That statement envisages a national water policy being put in place by 2013. Should not that goal be coordinated with the Planning Commission's plans for the immediate future?
It is also relevant to consider the role of the Central government in the light of a unitary hydrological cycle. The Commission's report accepts the extant policy of water being a State subject, continuing in perpetuity. This implicitly relegates the Centre's role to merely providing monetary incentives for growth. However, based on developments relating to water policy in the European Union and other countries, one may visualise that the Centre has a far more important role to play in providing a heavy philosophical anchor that will give character to a national water policy as envisaged in the Water Mission. Elsewhere, we have emphasised the high desirability of a Constitutional mandate on water that would re-examine existing laws and policy to creatively respond to the new knowledge of water science that has been gained since their initial formulation.
Earth-related knowledge
So, it would be disheartening if India chooses to defer action in grappling with the complex task of water management that demands participation by the various segments of its diverse society. At an infrastructure level, the time is now to build institutions and training facilities to monitor complex earth systems, disseminate information on a real-time basis, and equally important, carry out research on understanding, and adapting to, these systems to delineate policy options that may become the basis for future legislative and regulatory acts. There are serious concerns that earth-related knowledge is lagging behind the physical and biological sciences in India.
India's vision for food security and economic security will be in jeopardy without the availability of stabilised water supplies over the coming years. For India's gifted and the bright, the most challenging future lies in advancing knowledge and understanding of the complex web of earth resource systems, water, land and the biological habitat through which matter and energy flow incessantly to restore equilibrium, and in the process, fashion the environment in which everyone lives and breathes. The task is formidable, but this is a challenge that India shares with many other countries. There are opportunities for creative thinking and breakthroughs that may enable India to provide world leadership. Much will depend on how the country's leadership, and those who help fashion policies, choose to act.
( T.N. Narasimhan is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California at Berkeley (tnnarasimhan@LBL.gov). Vinod K. Gaur is with the Indian Institute of Astrophysics and the CSIR Centre for Mathematical Modelling and Computer Simulation, Bangalore (gaur@cmmacs.ernet.in).)
In a mid-term review, the Planning Commission calls for a holistic approach to water management, based on the hydrologic cycle in place of the silos into which the resource has been divided.
BASIC POINT: The main factor is to recognise that the water over India is a finite, limited resource with uncertain annual variability.
As a planning document, the report aptly focusses on how existing water-use methods can be improved and enhanced through monetary and administrative reforms. The report defers unitary treatment of the hydrological cycle to the 12th Five-Year Plan. Even so, it is pertinent to examine what is involved in taking a holistic hydrologic-cycle view of the issue.
Factor of uncertainty
Perhaps the starting point is to recognise that the water over India is a finite, limited resource with uncertain annual variability. As such, it is to be monitored and managed on various spatial and temporal scales. Thus, the overall task is fundamentally “resource-limited.” In other words, the nature of the resource is no more an externality. Traditional practices of using the most convenient source available were “policy-limited” in the sense that when water was assumed to be freely available, policy would encourage the use of the most convenient source. Given this perception, what needs to be done is to effect an orderly transition from a “policy-limited” mind-set to one of “resource-limited” mind-set. This perspective provides a context to examine what a “holistic view of the hydrologic cycle” entails.
Given a watershed or a river basin of appropriate scale of interest, a water budget allowing for evapo-transpiration and environmental flows, limits utilisable water to about 15 per cent of the total annual precipitation. This includes surface water and groundwater, including artificial recharge and rain-harvesting. Since surface water and groundwater are essentially components of the same resource, it would appear prudent not to separate them any longer. This notion is already central to the oft-declared conjunctive strategy of water management. Within the constraint of this water availability, we have to fit in all the extant water use and distribution structures — public, private, and cooperative — to optimise its use among the stake-holders. Deceptively simple in logic, this is a daunting, formidable challenge that confronts all segments of India's society, from the lay person to state functionaries and learned academies. The quality of their individual and collective responses to this fundamental issue will determine the quality of adaptation to the scenarios of severe scarcity that are unfolding.
In order to improve the chances of a transition happening from the silos to the hydrologic-cycle perspective, informed debates involving earth scientists and engineers are essential. They should present knowledge bases for decision options, among social scientists and administrators who formulate policies, and among citizens in general, who by the dint of intuitive visualisation and experience of the impact of these policies, may contribute wisdom. Such wide-ranging discourses are indispensable to define the collective and differentiated responsibilities of the various segments of society, in a common bid to conserve and safeguard the integrity of a resource that is vital for human survival. Yet, the Planning Commission's report devotes attention primarily to administrative and financial reforms, which by themselves will hardly help change the status quo. Can the country wait until the next Plan to consider the imperatives of a unitary hydrological cycle to guide its course?
National water policy
Indeed, one may argue that the time to act is now, especially in view of the Water Mission statement issued by the Prime Minister's Climate Council in May 2010. That statement envisages a national water policy being put in place by 2013. Should not that goal be coordinated with the Planning Commission's plans for the immediate future?
It is also relevant to consider the role of the Central government in the light of a unitary hydrological cycle. The Commission's report accepts the extant policy of water being a State subject, continuing in perpetuity. This implicitly relegates the Centre's role to merely providing monetary incentives for growth. However, based on developments relating to water policy in the European Union and other countries, one may visualise that the Centre has a far more important role to play in providing a heavy philosophical anchor that will give character to a national water policy as envisaged in the Water Mission. Elsewhere, we have emphasised the high desirability of a Constitutional mandate on water that would re-examine existing laws and policy to creatively respond to the new knowledge of water science that has been gained since their initial formulation.
Earth-related knowledge
So, it would be disheartening if India chooses to defer action in grappling with the complex task of water management that demands participation by the various segments of its diverse society. At an infrastructure level, the time is now to build institutions and training facilities to monitor complex earth systems, disseminate information on a real-time basis, and equally important, carry out research on understanding, and adapting to, these systems to delineate policy options that may become the basis for future legislative and regulatory acts. There are serious concerns that earth-related knowledge is lagging behind the physical and biological sciences in India.
India's vision for food security and economic security will be in jeopardy without the availability of stabilised water supplies over the coming years. For India's gifted and the bright, the most challenging future lies in advancing knowledge and understanding of the complex web of earth resource systems, water, land and the biological habitat through which matter and energy flow incessantly to restore equilibrium, and in the process, fashion the environment in which everyone lives and breathes. The task is formidable, but this is a challenge that India shares with many other countries. There are opportunities for creative thinking and breakthroughs that may enable India to provide world leadership. Much will depend on how the country's leadership, and those who help fashion policies, choose to act.
( T.N. Narasimhan is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California at Berkeley (tnnarasimhan@LBL.gov). Vinod K. Gaur is with the Indian Institute of Astrophysics and the CSIR Centre for Mathematical Modelling and Computer Simulation, Bangalore (gaur@cmmacs.ernet.in).)
In a mid-term review, the Planning Commission calls for a holistic approach to water management, based on the hydrologic cycle in place of the silos into which the resource has been divided.
BASIC POINT: The main factor is to recognise that the water over India is a finite, limited resource with uncertain annual variability.
In note to PM, Jairam takes on govt, puts question mark on N-E projects (Indian Express 08 October 2010)
New Delhi: In unprecedented distancing from the government by a key minister and questioning its development works in the strategic North-East and Bhutan, environment minister Jairam Ramesh has taken up with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demands for a review of all hydel projects in the region and a “moratorium on any further clearances for hydel projects in Arunachal Pradesh” since “these are bound to be the subject of agitation” in Assam.
In a letter to the PM on September 16 after attending a meeting in Guwahati of “civil society organisations” opposed to big dams, Ramesh has highlighted the views of ‘some NGOs’ that “we should not make Arunachal Pradesh a pawn in the race between India and China”.
This, Ramesh states, was the response to his explanation on the ‘strategic significance’ of projects in Arunachal Pradesh. But in his letter, he only names one NGO called Adi Students Union which made a representation to him on this issue.
At least ten times in the three-page letter to the PM, he refers to ‘sentiments’, ‘dominant view’, ‘great concern’, ‘concerns of the people’, ‘opposition building up’.
The letter ends with the warning that the “feeling in vocal sections of Assam’s society particularly appears to be that ‘mainland India’ is exploiting the North-East hydel resources for its benefits”.
What’s worrying for the government is that Ramesh has already made some assurances that could impact the pace of progress. “What I could assure the audience, of course, is that for projects not yet started, we will carry out cumulative environmental impact assessment studies as well as comprehensive biodiversity studies.”
This flies in the face of his own commitment to fast-track projects on the Siang river in Arunachal Pradesh. It is recorded in the minutes of a recent meeting of the task force on hydro power development: “MoS for environment and forests emphasised the need for time-bound development of hydro potential in Siang river and he offered, on his part, to consider forest and environment clearance on a fast track basis for hydro electric projects in Siang river.”
Ramesh has taken up with the PM concerns over mega projects in Bhutan like the Kurichu dam and Mangdechhu hydel project. These are bound to have diplomatic ramifications as these projects are being built with Indian help, and power produced from them would be purchased by India.
There are strong strategic underpinnings to these projects as they symbolise the cooperation hastened by Bhutan’s unflinching support to not let its territory be used by N-E insurgent groups. Confirming that he had written to the PM after his trip to the N-E, Ramesh refused to go into details. He, however, said the PM is slated to take an inter-ministerial meeting on the subject on October 13.
In his letter, Ramesh has pointed to concerns over projects mostly being built on tributaries of the Brahmaputra which even China is looking to harness on its side. He is careful enough to front these as views distilled from a “public consultation” organised at the “request of a large number of civil society organizations in Assam” on September 10 where he claims “over a thousand people participated in an interaction which extended over six hours”.
At the same time, he ends up lending weight to some of these concerns while pointing out that elections in Assam are due in next six months. “Even leaving aside polls, these issues are important in themselves and merit our serious consideration. I believe that some of the concerns that were expressed cannot be dismissed lightly.”
The key concerns and “sentiments” to which Ramesh has sought to draw the PM’s attention are:
* There should be a “moratorium on any further clearances for hydel projects in Arunachal Pradesh” until downstream impact assessment studies, cumulative environment impact assessment studies and biodiversity impact studies are completed.
* The 135 dams of different capacities being planned in Arunachal Pradesh “are being given green signal” without carrying out these studies.
* These MoUs signed “with the knowledge of the Central government” have not taken on board the concerns of the people of Assam. “The Government of Assam should be a party to these MoUs, especially where downstream impacts are significant”. Incidentally, most of these MoUs were signed during the first UPA government.
* There is “great concern” on the downstream impact in certain districts of Assam from “existing hydel projects of NEEPCO like Ranganadi and Kopili”. Incidentally, these projects have been declared fully operational more than five years ago. “There is also concern on the Kurichu hydel project executed by India in Bhutan and its downstream impacts in districts like Barpeta, Baska, Nalbari and Kamrup.”
* “There is opposition building up in Assam to the 2000-mw Lower Subansiri hydel project being implemented by NHPC in Arunachal Pradesh... the demand being made, on the basis of an expert committee report prepared by a team from IIT Guwahati, Guwahati University...
In note to PM, Jairam takes on govt, puts question mark on N-E projects
and Dibrugarh University is for the project to be scrapped”. Ramesh, however, has also clarified in his letter that he told the audience he was “in no position to make any commitment on the existing Lower Subansiri”.
* Award of projects in Arunachal Pradesh to different companies in the same river basin is making the “task of environment impact assessment very difficult”. The examples given are of three different companies involved in projects on Subansiri and also on Siang.
* The 1750-mw Lower Demwe hydel project on the Lohit river “should not be given forest clearance, although environmental clearance has already been given for the project” because of the downstream impact of this project on Assam.
* The 1500-mw Tipaimukh hydro-electric project in Manipur “should not be proceeded till a comprehensive downstream impact assessment study has been undertaken”.
* Environmental of be hydel projects in Bhutan need to be “studied better”. The entire approach to dams in the North East “needs to be looked afresh”and factors such as “h9igh seismicity and righ biodiversity hace not been adequately considered by GOvernmet of India” before granting clearances.
In a letter to the PM on September 16 after attending a meeting in Guwahati of “civil society organisations” opposed to big dams, Ramesh has highlighted the views of ‘some NGOs’ that “we should not make Arunachal Pradesh a pawn in the race between India and China”.
This, Ramesh states, was the response to his explanation on the ‘strategic significance’ of projects in Arunachal Pradesh. But in his letter, he only names one NGO called Adi Students Union which made a representation to him on this issue.
At least ten times in the three-page letter to the PM, he refers to ‘sentiments’, ‘dominant view’, ‘great concern’, ‘concerns of the people’, ‘opposition building up’.
The letter ends with the warning that the “feeling in vocal sections of Assam’s society particularly appears to be that ‘mainland India’ is exploiting the North-East hydel resources for its benefits”.
What’s worrying for the government is that Ramesh has already made some assurances that could impact the pace of progress. “What I could assure the audience, of course, is that for projects not yet started, we will carry out cumulative environmental impact assessment studies as well as comprehensive biodiversity studies.”
This flies in the face of his own commitment to fast-track projects on the Siang river in Arunachal Pradesh. It is recorded in the minutes of a recent meeting of the task force on hydro power development: “MoS for environment and forests emphasised the need for time-bound development of hydro potential in Siang river and he offered, on his part, to consider forest and environment clearance on a fast track basis for hydro electric projects in Siang river.”
Ramesh has taken up with the PM concerns over mega projects in Bhutan like the Kurichu dam and Mangdechhu hydel project. These are bound to have diplomatic ramifications as these projects are being built with Indian help, and power produced from them would be purchased by India.
There are strong strategic underpinnings to these projects as they symbolise the cooperation hastened by Bhutan’s unflinching support to not let its territory be used by N-E insurgent groups. Confirming that he had written to the PM after his trip to the N-E, Ramesh refused to go into details. He, however, said the PM is slated to take an inter-ministerial meeting on the subject on October 13.
In his letter, Ramesh has pointed to concerns over projects mostly being built on tributaries of the Brahmaputra which even China is looking to harness on its side. He is careful enough to front these as views distilled from a “public consultation” organised at the “request of a large number of civil society organizations in Assam” on September 10 where he claims “over a thousand people participated in an interaction which extended over six hours”.
At the same time, he ends up lending weight to some of these concerns while pointing out that elections in Assam are due in next six months. “Even leaving aside polls, these issues are important in themselves and merit our serious consideration. I believe that some of the concerns that were expressed cannot be dismissed lightly.”
The key concerns and “sentiments” to which Ramesh has sought to draw the PM’s attention are:
* There should be a “moratorium on any further clearances for hydel projects in Arunachal Pradesh” until downstream impact assessment studies, cumulative environment impact assessment studies and biodiversity impact studies are completed.
* The 135 dams of different capacities being planned in Arunachal Pradesh “are being given green signal” without carrying out these studies.
* These MoUs signed “with the knowledge of the Central government” have not taken on board the concerns of the people of Assam. “The Government of Assam should be a party to these MoUs, especially where downstream impacts are significant”. Incidentally, most of these MoUs were signed during the first UPA government.
* There is “great concern” on the downstream impact in certain districts of Assam from “existing hydel projects of NEEPCO like Ranganadi and Kopili”. Incidentally, these projects have been declared fully operational more than five years ago. “There is also concern on the Kurichu hydel project executed by India in Bhutan and its downstream impacts in districts like Barpeta, Baska, Nalbari and Kamrup.”
* “There is opposition building up in Assam to the 2000-mw Lower Subansiri hydel project being implemented by NHPC in Arunachal Pradesh... the demand being made, on the basis of an expert committee report prepared by a team from IIT Guwahati, Guwahati University...
In note to PM, Jairam takes on govt, puts question mark on N-E projects
and Dibrugarh University is for the project to be scrapped”. Ramesh, however, has also clarified in his letter that he told the audience he was “in no position to make any commitment on the existing Lower Subansiri”.
* Award of projects in Arunachal Pradesh to different companies in the same river basin is making the “task of environment impact assessment very difficult”. The examples given are of three different companies involved in projects on Subansiri and also on Siang.
* The 1750-mw Lower Demwe hydel project on the Lohit river “should not be given forest clearance, although environmental clearance has already been given for the project” because of the downstream impact of this project on Assam.
* The 1500-mw Tipaimukh hydro-electric project in Manipur “should not be proceeded till a comprehensive downstream impact assessment study has been undertaken”.
* Environmental of be hydel projects in Bhutan need to be “studied better”. The entire approach to dams in the North East “needs to be looked afresh”and factors such as “h9igh seismicity and righ biodiversity hace not been adequately considered by GOvernmet of India” before granting clearances.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Floodwaters welcomed in Indus delta (Hindu 07 October 2010)
After the destruction elsewhere, there is now joy and hope for those at the mouth of the Indus river.
REVITALISED: The floods have brought an ecological windfall. A scene near Thatta, Sindh Province.
Ali Hussain's sun-beaten face cracked into a broad smile, revealing a set of ferociously rotten, red-stained teeth corroded by years of chewing tobacco and betel nut. He had been asked his opinion of this year's flood.
“We're happy with it, of course,” the fisherman said, standing outside his house on the mud flats of the Indus delta. “We've been waiting for this water for the past 14 years.” The curse of the rest of Pakistan has been a blessing for the delta, a maze of mangroves and shabby fishing villages at the mouth of the 3,000-kilometre river. Here, the fresh water that ravaged the rest of the country is bringing new life and renewal.
Fish catch is up
Fishermen report an abundance of fish. Catches are up 20 per cent in the last month, and could rise another 50 per cent as the season progressed, said Ahmed Ullah of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, which has 5,000 members on the delta. “For other people the floods have been bad news. But for us it was the only way to defeat the sea,” he said.
Perhaps more significantly, the floods have brought an ecological windfall. Decades of building irrigation and hydro-electric dams further up the Indus drained the river of its force, allowing salty fresh water to infiltrate the delta. Mangrove plants on the mudflats perished — the acreage was halved between the 1950s and 2009 — while nearby farming land became uncultivable.
Now the swell of fresh water — known locally as “ mithi”, or sweet water — has injected new life into the sagging ecosystem. The provincial government says the mangroves are growing again as the salt water is pushed back.
“We have a new defence against the sea,” said Mohsin Chandna, head of the Sindh coastal department, as he weaved a small boat through the creeks of the delta, pointing to thriving mangrove nurseries.
A revitalised delta could, in time, turn marshes into agricultural land and herald a return of birds and other wildlife. Keti Bunder, a shabby little port that has been slowly dying over the years, could be revived. “Suddenly things are changing very fast,” said Chandna.
Further up the coast in Karachi, where 50,000 refugees are sheltering, doctors also see a silver lining to the flood.
Although many live in squalid conditions, with poor sanitation and hygiene, Dr Nighat Shah of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Pakistan said it was a golden opportunity to improve healthcare among rural women.
“Many of the women we're seeing have never been seen by a trained doctor before. It's taken everyone by surprise that this kind of poverty exists today.” The greatest upside, however, may occur on the lands that have been ravaged by the floods. The enriched soil is expected to produce bumper harvests in some parts of Pakistan. “The challenge,” said U.N. official John Long, “is how to support the people who live there between now and then.” — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2010
REVITALISED: The floods have brought an ecological windfall. A scene near Thatta, Sindh Province.
Ali Hussain's sun-beaten face cracked into a broad smile, revealing a set of ferociously rotten, red-stained teeth corroded by years of chewing tobacco and betel nut. He had been asked his opinion of this year's flood.
“We're happy with it, of course,” the fisherman said, standing outside his house on the mud flats of the Indus delta. “We've been waiting for this water for the past 14 years.” The curse of the rest of Pakistan has been a blessing for the delta, a maze of mangroves and shabby fishing villages at the mouth of the 3,000-kilometre river. Here, the fresh water that ravaged the rest of the country is bringing new life and renewal.
Fish catch is up
Fishermen report an abundance of fish. Catches are up 20 per cent in the last month, and could rise another 50 per cent as the season progressed, said Ahmed Ullah of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, which has 5,000 members on the delta. “For other people the floods have been bad news. But for us it was the only way to defeat the sea,” he said.
Perhaps more significantly, the floods have brought an ecological windfall. Decades of building irrigation and hydro-electric dams further up the Indus drained the river of its force, allowing salty fresh water to infiltrate the delta. Mangrove plants on the mudflats perished — the acreage was halved between the 1950s and 2009 — while nearby farming land became uncultivable.
Now the swell of fresh water — known locally as “ mithi”, or sweet water — has injected new life into the sagging ecosystem. The provincial government says the mangroves are growing again as the salt water is pushed back.
“We have a new defence against the sea,” said Mohsin Chandna, head of the Sindh coastal department, as he weaved a small boat through the creeks of the delta, pointing to thriving mangrove nurseries.
A revitalised delta could, in time, turn marshes into agricultural land and herald a return of birds and other wildlife. Keti Bunder, a shabby little port that has been slowly dying over the years, could be revived. “Suddenly things are changing very fast,” said Chandna.
Further up the coast in Karachi, where 50,000 refugees are sheltering, doctors also see a silver lining to the flood.
Although many live in squalid conditions, with poor sanitation and hygiene, Dr Nighat Shah of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Pakistan said it was a golden opportunity to improve healthcare among rural women.
“Many of the women we're seeing have never been seen by a trained doctor before. It's taken everyone by surprise that this kind of poverty exists today.” The greatest upside, however, may occur on the lands that have been ravaged by the floods. The enriched soil is expected to produce bumper harvests in some parts of Pakistan. “The challenge,” said U.N. official John Long, “is how to support the people who live there between now and then.” — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
All hands on deck (Hindustan Times 25 September 2010)
Their days of freedom are over. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has rounded up 130-odd dogs from the Games Village in a drive that began on Thursday and continued till Friday. Friendicoes SECA (Society for the Eradication of Cruelty to Animals) said they have temporarily relocated these dogs to a dog sterilization centre at Ghazipur. The civic agency will be carrying out similar drives at all the 17 Games venues.
According to a dog census, there are over 2.8 lakh stray dogs in Delhi. Keeping this in mind, the civic body has decided to permanently deploy 15 dogcatchers inside the Games Village during the Games.
Some MCD officials also said because of the heavy rains, some small snakes were also found inside the Village complex. They are roping in snake catchers now.
More than 75 tonne of construction waste alone was lifted and collected by the MCD staff in the past 48 hours.
The sanitation drive continued on Friday with the workers of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) giving a helping hand to the MCD workers.
To ensure cleanliness was up to the mark, the Village was cleaned thrice — the MCD had deployed 500 sanitation workers and about 50 supervisory officials to co-ordinate the cleanliness works while the NDMC deployed 500 workers.
The MCD was assigned the job of cleaning the outside premises of the Village and the basements. The NDMC's job was to clean the inside area of the residential complexes and 34 tower blocks located in the Village.
The entire cleaning work was divided into three parts wherein one part was dedicated to cleaning the residential towers including the rooms, toilets, corridors and staircases.
"The other group was asked to clean the other surface areas of the residential blocks, the green area, and the third group was assigned the job of clearing construction waste and garbage from the residential blocks," said a senior NDMC official, wishing to remain anonymous.
According to a dog census, there are over 2.8 lakh stray dogs in Delhi. Keeping this in mind, the civic body has decided to permanently deploy 15 dogcatchers inside the Games Village during the Games.
Some MCD officials also said because of the heavy rains, some small snakes were also found inside the Village complex. They are roping in snake catchers now.
More than 75 tonne of construction waste alone was lifted and collected by the MCD staff in the past 48 hours.
The sanitation drive continued on Friday with the workers of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) giving a helping hand to the MCD workers.
To ensure cleanliness was up to the mark, the Village was cleaned thrice — the MCD had deployed 500 sanitation workers and about 50 supervisory officials to co-ordinate the cleanliness works while the NDMC deployed 500 workers.
The MCD was assigned the job of cleaning the outside premises of the Village and the basements. The NDMC's job was to clean the inside area of the residential complexes and 34 tower blocks located in the Village.
The entire cleaning work was divided into three parts wherein one part was dedicated to cleaning the residential towers including the rooms, toilets, corridors and staircases.
"The other group was asked to clean the other surface areas of the residential blocks, the green area, and the third group was assigned the job of clearing construction waste and garbage from the residential blocks," said a senior NDMC official, wishing to remain anonymous.
Can't pump out water from Games Village: Civic bodies (Hindusran Times 25 Sreptember 2010)
The fear of the spread of various vector-borne diseases, just like the water collected at the Games Village, refuses to ebb. And the government isn't doing anything. The Delhi government and civic agencies have abandoned all plans to pump out water from the Commonwealth Games Village. Reason: They have no place to pump out the water.
The government had initially asked the National Disaster Management Authority and explored asking the Army to look for ways to drain out water from the area.
"It didn't work out. There's no question of pumping out water; where do we divert the water towards with the Yamuna already overflowing?" asked Dr V.K. Monga, chairman of the MCD's public health committee.
"We can't pump out water on the roads as it will lead to further waterlogging."
He said digging wells to store water is also not an option, as the ground water level has risen in the last couple of months from about 100 feet to 10 feet below the surface.
Incessant rains over the last couple of months have resulted in accumulation of rainwater within the premises, which at some places is as deep as 30 feet.
The areas on the sides of the stretch starting from Mayur Vihar-I till the Nizamuddin Bridge, the stretch from Akashardham temple towards the metro line and near Gate no.1 of the Village are waterlogged.
Pools of water mean breeding of mosquitoes and health experts fear not just disease-causing mosquitoes, if the situation did not improve, the entire area could turn into a mosquito hub.
"It doesn't necessarily have to be dengue-causing mosquitoes. There's malaria, chikungunya and other vector-borne diseases. Wet surfaces are ideal breeding grounds for all kinds of mosquitoes," said a senior health official in the Delhi government.
Spraying of larvicide is the only possible solution but not an effective one.
"Since the water is flowing, the insecticide sprayed isn't very effective. We are spraying twice a day which requires extra manpower and money," said an MCD official.
The problem will become worse once the water starts receding.
"We will have to start from scratch once the water starts settling. Rains have wrecked havoc this year," said Dr Monga.
The government had initially asked the National Disaster Management Authority and explored asking the Army to look for ways to drain out water from the area.
"It didn't work out. There's no question of pumping out water; where do we divert the water towards with the Yamuna already overflowing?" asked Dr V.K. Monga, chairman of the MCD's public health committee.
"We can't pump out water on the roads as it will lead to further waterlogging."
He said digging wells to store water is also not an option, as the ground water level has risen in the last couple of months from about 100 feet to 10 feet below the surface.
Incessant rains over the last couple of months have resulted in accumulation of rainwater within the premises, which at some places is as deep as 30 feet.
The areas on the sides of the stretch starting from Mayur Vihar-I till the Nizamuddin Bridge, the stretch from Akashardham temple towards the metro line and near Gate no.1 of the Village are waterlogged.
Pools of water mean breeding of mosquitoes and health experts fear not just disease-causing mosquitoes, if the situation did not improve, the entire area could turn into a mosquito hub.
"It doesn't necessarily have to be dengue-causing mosquitoes. There's malaria, chikungunya and other vector-borne diseases. Wet surfaces are ideal breeding grounds for all kinds of mosquitoes," said a senior health official in the Delhi government.
Spraying of larvicide is the only possible solution but not an effective one.
"Since the water is flowing, the insecticide sprayed isn't very effective. We are spraying twice a day which requires extra manpower and money," said an MCD official.
The problem will become worse once the water starts receding.
"We will have to start from scratch once the water starts settling. Rains have wrecked havoc this year," said Dr Monga.
A dam serious problem (Hindustan Times 24 September 2010)
The downstream impact of dams in the Brahmaputra river basin has been a major issue of concern in recent years in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh (AP), even as plans unfold to develop at least 135 large hydropower projects to produce approximately 57,000 MW of electricity in AP alone. The past three months have seen major developments on the issue. Both an Expert Committee of Academics and a House Committee of the Assam Legislative Assembly submitted reports in June and July 2010 respectively, raising serious questions on the viability of upstream mega dams, with the under construction 2000 MW Lower Subansiri project being particularly in focus.
On August 12, the Rajya Sabha saw a lively discussion on the issue in response to a calling attention motion by MP from Assam, Birendra Prasad Baishya. On September 10, Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh held a public consultation on the issue in Guwahati as a follow-up to an August meeting with a delegation led by the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, a major peasants’ movement in Assam.
Over the past few years, downstream impact concerns raised in the North-east include: loss of fisheries, changes in beel (wetland) ecology in the flood plains, impact on agriculture on the chapories (riverine islands and tracts), disruption of intricate socio-cultural linkages of indigenous communities with the river systems, increased flood vulnerability due to massive boulder extraction from river beds for dam construction and sudden water releases from reservoirs in the monsoons, dam safety and associated risks in this geologically fragile and seismically-active region.
One of the key issues that has come up is the drastic daily variation in river flows, which will take place after these dams are commissioned, particularly in winter. For example, the average winter (lean season) flow in the Subansiri river in its natural state is about 400 cubic metres per second (cumecs). Both the ecology of the downstream areas and peoples’ use of the riverine tracts in winter is adapted to this ‘lean’ but relatively uniform flow of water through the day.
After the commissioning of the 2,000 MW Lower Subansiri project, flows in the river in winter will fluctuate drastically on a daily basis from 6 cumecs for around 20 hours (when water is being stored behind the dam) to 2,560 cumecs for around 4 hours when the water is released for power generation at the time of peak power demand in the evening hours. Thus, the river will be starved for 20 hours and then flooded for 4 hours with flows fluctuating between 2 per cent and 600 per cent of normal flows on a daily basis.
The flow during peak load water releases in the Subansiri river in winter will be equivalent to average monsoon flows and will cause a ‘winter flood’, drowning drier riverine tracts that are used by both people and wildlife on a daily basis in winter. The downstream livelihoods and activities likely to be impacted by this unnatural flow fluctuation in the Eastern Himalayan rivers include: fishing, flood-recession agriculture, river transportation and livestock rearing in grasslands for dairy-based livelihoods. But downstream communities are yet to be officially acknowledged as project-affected persons due to upstream dams.
Flow fluctuations in rivers like Lohit, Dibang, Siang and Subansiri will severely impact breeding grounds of critically endangered grassland birds like the Bengal Florican, foraging areas of the endangered wild water buffalo, habitat of the endangered Ganges river dolphin and important national parks like Dibru-Saikhowa and Kaziranga.
The natural flow pattern of a river is like its ‘heart beat’ and alternate starving and flooding of these major rivers on a daily basis is a threat to the ecological and social security of the Brahmaputra floodplains. Comprehensive downstream impact assessment and public consent must be a mandatory part of the process which decides whether to grant or reject clearances to these dams.
Neeraj Vagholikar is a Panos South Asia Media Fellow (2010-11) and a member of the environmental action group, Kalpavriksh
The views expressed by the author are personal
On August 12, the Rajya Sabha saw a lively discussion on the issue in response to a calling attention motion by MP from Assam, Birendra Prasad Baishya. On September 10, Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh held a public consultation on the issue in Guwahati as a follow-up to an August meeting with a delegation led by the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, a major peasants’ movement in Assam.
Over the past few years, downstream impact concerns raised in the North-east include: loss of fisheries, changes in beel (wetland) ecology in the flood plains, impact on agriculture on the chapories (riverine islands and tracts), disruption of intricate socio-cultural linkages of indigenous communities with the river systems, increased flood vulnerability due to massive boulder extraction from river beds for dam construction and sudden water releases from reservoirs in the monsoons, dam safety and associated risks in this geologically fragile and seismically-active region.
One of the key issues that has come up is the drastic daily variation in river flows, which will take place after these dams are commissioned, particularly in winter. For example, the average winter (lean season) flow in the Subansiri river in its natural state is about 400 cubic metres per second (cumecs). Both the ecology of the downstream areas and peoples’ use of the riverine tracts in winter is adapted to this ‘lean’ but relatively uniform flow of water through the day.
After the commissioning of the 2,000 MW Lower Subansiri project, flows in the river in winter will fluctuate drastically on a daily basis from 6 cumecs for around 20 hours (when water is being stored behind the dam) to 2,560 cumecs for around 4 hours when the water is released for power generation at the time of peak power demand in the evening hours. Thus, the river will be starved for 20 hours and then flooded for 4 hours with flows fluctuating between 2 per cent and 600 per cent of normal flows on a daily basis.
The flow during peak load water releases in the Subansiri river in winter will be equivalent to average monsoon flows and will cause a ‘winter flood’, drowning drier riverine tracts that are used by both people and wildlife on a daily basis in winter. The downstream livelihoods and activities likely to be impacted by this unnatural flow fluctuation in the Eastern Himalayan rivers include: fishing, flood-recession agriculture, river transportation and livestock rearing in grasslands for dairy-based livelihoods. But downstream communities are yet to be officially acknowledged as project-affected persons due to upstream dams.
Flow fluctuations in rivers like Lohit, Dibang, Siang and Subansiri will severely impact breeding grounds of critically endangered grassland birds like the Bengal Florican, foraging areas of the endangered wild water buffalo, habitat of the endangered Ganges river dolphin and important national parks like Dibru-Saikhowa and Kaziranga.
The natural flow pattern of a river is like its ‘heart beat’ and alternate starving and flooding of these major rivers on a daily basis is a threat to the ecological and social security of the Brahmaputra floodplains. Comprehensive downstream impact assessment and public consent must be a mandatory part of the process which decides whether to grant or reject clearances to these dams.
Neeraj Vagholikar is a Panos South Asia Media Fellow (2010-11) and a member of the environmental action group, Kalpavriksh
The views expressed by the author are personal
Magsaysay Award winner seeks Games Village demolition (The Pioneer 23 September 2010)
Almost a year after the Supreme Court held that the Commonwealth Games Village was not constructed on Yamuna's riverbed, noted environmentalist and Magsaysay Award winner Rajender Singh has yet again sought a review of the order claiming that the Games Village should be demolished to save Yamuna's ecosystem.While heavy rains in parts of north India have caused Yamuna to flow above the danger mark, this has given Singh a perfect opportunity to click pictures of the Games site to suggest that the Village along with concrete structures were situated on Yamuna's riverbed and flood plain.The Supreme Court order of July 30, 2009 had refused to accept the case of the petitioner (Rajender Singh and others) that the constructions made by Delhi Development Authority and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation should be demolished as it stood on flood plain area. This would adversely affect the recharging of water causing harm to Yamuna's ecosystem, he had said.Finding fault in the SC decision, the review petition filed by advocate Anitha Shenoy stated, "The decision to construct flats in the riverbed/flood plain was illegal, wrong and has damaged the environment. It has created umpteen problems for the people of Delhi, including the water problem."Supporting its claim with the Expert Appraisal Committee report of Union Environment Ministry, the environment impact assessment report prepared by DDA, and the NEERI reports of 1999 and 2005, the petition said, "An exhaustive survey of different zones of the Yamuna found that the site in question falls within riverbed."The petitioner has annexed photographs of the Yamuna in spate to suggest, "It is an established fact that what is encroached upon by CWG Village and DMRC is riverbed/flood plain." Due to the huge embankment, water has entered jhuggies, colonies and villages in low-lying areas in the Capital and surrounding places. It is argued if the 2009 verdict was allowed to stand, "it will justify all constructions on the riverbed and will destroy the river and its rich ecosystems."Seeking permission to list the matter in open court, the petition has further urged the Court to consider sending a team of experts to visit the site and direct appointment of expert committee to submit report on the "true scientific assessment" of the river, its riverbed and flood plain, and the damage caused to it due to the constructions. BJP wants PM to step inPNS New Delhi: Charging the Organising Committee, the Central and the Delhi Governments with adopting a 'casual and careless approach' to the CWG Games, the BJP on Wednesday demanded Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take a 'personal interest' in hosting the Games successfully. "The GoM, the Government of India and the Delhi Government cannot escape from their failures and accountability. The Prime Minister should step in and assure the nation that everything will be done timely," senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu said, while addressing the media.He said the BJP wanted the Games to be a success and was against playing politics over CWG, the biddings for which were won after much effort during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee regime.Expressing concern over the collapse of an under-construction overbridge at the JLN stadium, Jama Masjid firing incident, complaints of CWG Federation president Michael Fennel, collapse of the false ceiling of a weightlifting arena, Naidu said that such events were sending a "wrong signal to the international community".All loopholes will be plugged: CongPNS New Delhi: Embarrassed over the controversies surrounding the Commonwealth Games, the Congress on Wednesday said all possible steps would be taken to plug the lacunae and hold the Games successfully."We are deeply concerned. Unfortunate things have happened," admitted Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi when asked about the collapse of an under-construction foot-overbridge, a false ceiling falling apart at a Games venue and criticism over cleanliness at the Games Village."If there is culpability and allegations, it will be looked into. But now, we have to show to the world that India can hold a successful Commonwealth Games as national honour, pride and prestige is at stake," he said.He, however, parried questions regarding responsibility of PM Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit for holding the Games successfully as the party has been in power in Delhi for over a decade and at the Centre for the last over six years.
River-linking project won't be allowed through tiger reserve, says Jairam (Hindu 04 October 2010)
“24 km of proposed link canal between Teesta and Sankosh rivers runs through Buxa Tiger Reserve”
The linking of two major rivers in north Bengal – as part of the National River Linking Project – would not be allowed through the Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR), said Union Minster of Environment and Forests, Jairam Ramesh on Sunday.
Environmental concerns related to the project – particularly the splitting of the elephant corridor into two parts and the cutting down of trees to make way for the canal – were raised by State's Forest Department officials during Mr. Ramesh's visit to north Bengal on October 1.
“I will take up the matter. The project will not be allowed if Buxa is submerged,” Mr. Ramesh told The Hindu over telephone, adding that an alternative must be sought.
Of the 137 km of the proposed link canal between the Teesta and Sankosh rivers, 24 km runs through the BTR and another nearly 35 km through other forest areas, said R. P. Saini, BTR's field director.
Important component
According to information provided by the Water Resources System Division of the National Institute of Hydrology, this link is an important component in the planned link between Manas, Sankosh, Teesta and the Ganga that will connect the Ganga and the Brahmaputra. Dams are proposed at Manas and Sankosh as a part of the project.
The link passes through parts of north Bengal that shares a border with Bangladesh thus raising security concerns as well.
“If executed, the project would cause a major disturbance in the forest areas. Firstly, it would split the elephant corridor, which was already fragmented towards the south of the reserve by a Railway line, into two zones,” said Dr. Saini.
Secondly, to construct a canal that is eight to ten metres broad would mean lakhs of trees have to be chopped. It would also affect tiger and rhino conservation efforts and cause irreparable damage to herbs, shrubs, soil and other things that constitute the biodiversity of these forest areas, he added.
In 2009, the National Water Commission has suggested an alternative route between Jagihopa and Faraka through the Teesta which passes through a forest free zone. However, this may require a greater investment because of an unfavourable gradient in some places, Dr. Saini said.
“Despite the expense, we must press for the alternative channel to be used because the environmental cost that the project demands is huge,” he added.
The linking of two major rivers in north Bengal – as part of the National River Linking Project – would not be allowed through the Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR), said Union Minster of Environment and Forests, Jairam Ramesh on Sunday.
Environmental concerns related to the project – particularly the splitting of the elephant corridor into two parts and the cutting down of trees to make way for the canal – were raised by State's Forest Department officials during Mr. Ramesh's visit to north Bengal on October 1.
“I will take up the matter. The project will not be allowed if Buxa is submerged,” Mr. Ramesh told The Hindu over telephone, adding that an alternative must be sought.
Of the 137 km of the proposed link canal between the Teesta and Sankosh rivers, 24 km runs through the BTR and another nearly 35 km through other forest areas, said R. P. Saini, BTR's field director.
Important component
According to information provided by the Water Resources System Division of the National Institute of Hydrology, this link is an important component in the planned link between Manas, Sankosh, Teesta and the Ganga that will connect the Ganga and the Brahmaputra. Dams are proposed at Manas and Sankosh as a part of the project.
The link passes through parts of north Bengal that shares a border with Bangladesh thus raising security concerns as well.
“If executed, the project would cause a major disturbance in the forest areas. Firstly, it would split the elephant corridor, which was already fragmented towards the south of the reserve by a Railway line, into two zones,” said Dr. Saini.
Secondly, to construct a canal that is eight to ten metres broad would mean lakhs of trees have to be chopped. It would also affect tiger and rhino conservation efforts and cause irreparable damage to herbs, shrubs, soil and other things that constitute the biodiversity of these forest areas, he added.
In 2009, the National Water Commission has suggested an alternative route between Jagihopa and Faraka through the Teesta which passes through a forest free zone. However, this may require a greater investment because of an unfavourable gradient in some places, Dr. Saini said.
“Despite the expense, we must press for the alternative channel to be used because the environmental cost that the project demands is huge,” he added.
Rising Yamuna threatens to flood Games Village (Hindustan Times 23 September 2010)
The swelling Yamuna river has added to the woes of the authorities who are already battling allegations of “shoddy” arrangement in the Commonwealth Games Village. The rising water of the river on Wednesday reached the doorsteps of the Games Village. At 207.05 metres, the rise in the water level has broken a 32-year-old record. While the flood situation in the city intensifies, only an embankment lies between the river and the Games Village, which is built on the river bank.
The area surrounding the Games Village was inundated earlier as well. However, the authorities maintained that there was no need to panic. “The embankment along the village has kept the water out of the Village.
The chances of river water entering the site are minimal,” said Ish Kumar, chief engineer, Irrigation and Flood Control Department. The stagnant water is likely to raise more problems for the authorities, who are also fighting an outbreak of dengue in the city.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people living in the low-lying areas have been shifted to relief camps near the CWG Village and Akshardham Temple. The incessant rainfall in the city has also intensified the city's woes.
The rains have left the roads near the Village waterlogged with a large number of construction workers falling victim to dengue and malaria. The weatherman has predicted a cloudy sky with rain and thundershowers for Thursday as well. Delhi has seen one of its wettest monsoons this year with the city receiving over 1,000 mm of rains.
The area surrounding the Games Village was inundated earlier as well. However, the authorities maintained that there was no need to panic. “The embankment along the village has kept the water out of the Village.
The chances of river water entering the site are minimal,” said Ish Kumar, chief engineer, Irrigation and Flood Control Department. The stagnant water is likely to raise more problems for the authorities, who are also fighting an outbreak of dengue in the city.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people living in the low-lying areas have been shifted to relief camps near the CWG Village and Akshardham Temple. The incessant rainfall in the city has also intensified the city's woes.
The rains have left the roads near the Village waterlogged with a large number of construction workers falling victim to dengue and malaria. The weatherman has predicted a cloudy sky with rain and thundershowers for Thursday as well. Delhi has seen one of its wettest monsoons this year with the city receiving over 1,000 mm of rains.
70 evacuated from flooded Noida village (Hinduatan Times 23 September 2010)
Seventy people were evacuated on Wednesday by the rescue team from Gulavli village which got flooded. Another five were being evacuated till late evening. District Magistrate Deepak Aggarwal said, “Three villages have been affected by floods. These are Motipur, Momnathan and Gulavli. Residents of these villages have been evacuated by the rescue team.
Today, seventy people were evacuated by rescue team from Gulavli village. Five persons were still stranded in the village and a rescue team had sent a boat to evacuate them."
Schools in the Khadar area have also been directed to remain closed
Today, seventy people were evacuated by rescue team from Gulavli village. Five persons were still stranded in the village and a rescue team had sent a boat to evacuate them."
Schools in the Khadar area have also been directed to remain closed
Dam wrong (Hindustan Times 26 September 2010)
At 2PM, sitting on a small stool on the bank of a furious river, Bora is tipsy with the local brew. Tending to customers buying his wares — betel nut, paan, cigarettes etc — he is at his philosophical best: “We are waiting to be destroyed by the deluge. Anyway, who gives a damn?” he spits out his betel juice.
Not everyone is resigned to fate. Keshab Chattradhara, a local youth, is a key activist of the Peoples’ Movement for Subansiri and Brahmaputra Valley, a anti-dam NGO that started work a decade back. “If the dam over the Subansiri breaks, for 54 km, there will be 34 feet high waves that will rage on for 35 minutes, carrying a catastrophic 2,59,000 cubic metres of water every minute.”
And those figures of doom are for just one dam, the 2,000 Megawatt Lower Subansiri hydroelectricity project. A gargantuan network of 168 dams is being built, in various stages of construction, across Arunachal Pradesh. This network is expected to generate 63,328 MW of power.
All this is being done in brazen disregard for environmental and safety norms. For one, in seismic terms, Arunachal Pradesh lies in the Very High Damage Risk Zone, having seen 87 major and minor quakes in 67 years (1929 -1993), besides flash floods and a recent phenomenon of cloudbursts. “We are aware of the concerns. So the government is on to promote hydropower projects as run of river instead of big dams as far as possible,” says Dorjee Khandu, chief minister, Arunachal Pradesh. “Efforts are also on to cause least disturbance to the ecological balance.”
Meanwhile, MOUs have reportedly been signed already for more than 140 dams. Once completed, the projected annual revenue from various hydropower projects in Arunachal would be to the tune of Rs. 7,468 crore by the end of the 13th Plan period.
“The Lower Subansiri project lies on a major fault zone. There is no way a mega dam is feasible here. If this is the manner in which the dam network will be built, we are headed for nothing but a catastrophe,” says Ranju Duarah, who heads the Geo-science division of the Assam-based Regional Research Laboratory.
UPSTREAM UPROAR
With 94 per cent of the land area under forests and a low population density of 13 persons per sq km, Arunachal is among India’s most pristine regions. “The local tribal population is 7 lakh only, 4 lakh are outsiders. If 168 projects are set up, at least 5 lakh outsiders will come in. We will get marginalised in our own land and become another Assam or Tripura. This cannot be allowed,” says Ojing Tasing, advisor, All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union. Still at a nascent stage, the Lower Subansiri project has already employed more than 2000 non-local people. “No one is against development. But we do not want this kind of development. It will destroy the heart and soul of Arunachal,” he says.
Khandu refutes: “Such apprehensions are not true. The developers have been directed to use heavy machineries instead of manpower and the required labour force shall be from amongst locals. Labour brought from outside shall have to go back as soon as the projects are completed.”
The green cover in the populated areas is largely due to the traditional shifting cultivation, where the soil is left alone for a certain period to rejuvenate itself. “Such a massive dam network will totally disrupt peoples’ way of life, the culture, demography, and the delicate ecology,” says Tapir Gao, a former Lok Sabha MP. There are questions being raised like the consent of the local communities.
“Not a single strip of land or water body in Arunachal is free. In accordance with traditional laws, local tribes own everything. Now the land is being handed over to private companies by the government without any consultation with the local people,” says Gao.
DOWNSTREAM DEVASTATION
“The lower Subansiri project was started without a thorough study on the downstream impact. And the story is the same for the entire network of 168 dams. So people downstream are in the panic mode,” says Chattradhara.
In June, an expert committee comprising scientists and researchers had clearly recommended against the construction of dams at the present sites due to environmental, socio-economic and geological concerns. It had also categorically questioned the incorporation of adequate safeguards.
“Brahmaputra is the lifeline of the people of Assam. The entire civilisation is under threat because of these dangerous dams which will curtail normal flow into the river,” says Rahul Loying, a student leader of the Mishing community, a tribe that traditionally inhabits riverine tracts. “The rich flora and fauna downstream will get severely impacted. The rivers bring in a huge quantity of sand. Sand casting, already a huge problem in Assam, will be difficult to control,” says Shashwati Goswami, an activist.
“If the government can scrap the Loharinag Pala dam in Uttarakhand on grounds that Ganges is a holy river, then why not the Lower Demwe dam which is being built just 100 metres away from Parasuram Kunda? It reeks of neo-colonial double standards by New Delhi,” says Akhil Gogoi, an RTI activist and a peasant leader.
Besides being one of the holiest shrines for the Assamese, Parasuram Kunda is also considered the birthplace of the local Deuri tribe. Floodplain households whose mainstay is agriculture, will suffer immeasurably. Moreover during dry season, the water flow in the rivers will be very low which might even restrict the movement through river routes. And during summer, the sudden release of excess water from the reservoirs when the rivers are in spate will result in floods. “Besides destroying swaths of prime agricultural land, the dams will rob the livelihood of 39 lakh fishermen. How many jobs can the government give?” asks Gogoi.
“(Negative impact) can be reduced or eliminated by careful planning, and with incorporation of a variety of measures. The key to their environmental and social sustainability is to explore all possible options and consider the entire basin in question,” says IP Barooah, CMD, North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited.
MOU MESS
Much like the infamous ‘mining’ MOUs, more than 140 MOUs have already been inked between the Arunachal Pradesh government, public agencies and various companies like Reliance, Jaypee, Jindal, Athena, India Bulls, Bhilwara, etc. A clause in one the bipartite MOU copies that is with HT, absolves either party of any responsibility in any manner for the losses arising out of situations like earthquakes, fire, flood, etc. “This is a very nonsensical and absurd clause. Building mega dams in such a highly earthquake-prone area is a prime reason why this network is being opposed. By no means can they shy away from responsibility. If you are going to profit, you have to take responsibility for the life and property,” says Gumjum Haider, secretary general, Northeast East Students Organisation.
INTERNATIONAL IMPLICATION
Strong voices of opposition are also coming from across the international border. “The dam network will cause an alarming water deficit as Brahmaputra provides 50 per cent of Bangladesh’s water. It will lead to death of a riverine civilisation and impact more than 150 million people,” says Muhammad Hilaluddin, chief director, Angikar Bangladesh, an NGO taking up the issue in that country. “The sudden bursting of dam reservoirs in the event of earthquake in the upstream hilly areas might create tsunami like catastrophe for the downstream plains. The earthquake prone zone surrounding the dam is a veritable mega water bomb.” Those voices are not very different from that in Gerukamukh on the banks of the Subansiri. As Bora says: “We will be rootless in our own land.”
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