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.
Monday, October 18, 2010
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
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