Nainital District

Organizer: Grassroots Institute

Venue: Kathgodam, Nainital, India

Description:

This Intensive Field Training (IFT) program will focus more on practice of planning and writing the proposal for getting financial support. The training is fit for NGO managers, government executives and all others who are involved in project management.

The report provides an account of the findings of water quality studies of Lake Nainital and surroundings. Even though quite a few water quality investigations have been conducted by other researchers, they were more focused on biological aspects and overlooked the hydrological aspects. Further, not all of the earlier studies on Nainital incorporated the groundwater quality aspects, which are essential to establish the background values that can be ascribed to the geology of the region. Only after establishing these, the pollution levels can be assessed.

The study undertakes hydrological investigations to develop a conceptual model for the water balance of Lake Nainital in Kumaon Himalayas. All the components of lake water balance, except the sub-surface ones, have been measured or estimated using standard methods like isotope mass balance method in conjunction with the conventional water balance method. The sub surface outflow from the lake was assessed by studying the hydraulic interconnection of the lake and downstream springs using environmental tracers.

The hydrological study develops a water balance of the Lake Nainital to facilitate the utilization of its water in a planned and systematic manner. The lack of knowledge of input and output parameters such as subsurface inflow, use of lake water for domestic and industrial purposes, evaporation loss and leakage from lake including the outflow through sluice gates had created uncertainty in determining the availability of water in the lake. The study attempts to understand the behavior of the input and output parameters in detail by using both conventional and isotopic techniques.

The lake meets the local drinking and domestic water needs and is for the most part fed by rainfall during monsoon and by inflow from perennial springs and subsurface inflow during the non-monsoon season.

It is with great disappointment that Raksha Sutra and Uttarakhand Nadi Bachao Andolan received the news from the report in Amar Ujala, Dehradun 27.02.09 that the Uttarakhand High Court has granted a stay to the Central Government Order suspending the work on the Loharinag , Pala (600 MW) hydroelectric project. The work on the project has begun with hardly a break in its stride. The Public Interest Petition filed by Rural Litigation and Entitlement Centre, a Dehradun based NGO filed for a stay stating that neither would the natural flow of the river be affected nor is the project causing any environmental damage is a total falsehood. The petitioners have deliberately misled the High Court. They have not visited the site for themselves and have filed for a stay from the sanitised environment of Dehradun. We who live and work in Uttarkashi know the truth. This is not the first instance that this NGO has taken legal action to restart projects that have been stopped because of their dubious benefits. It is quite clear that unlike its name this NGO is working not for rural entitlement but rather for the entitlement of vested interests. This is very saddening. The environmental impact of the project is enormous. Entire mountainsides have been scarred and shorn of their green cover. Thousands of tonnes of excavated rock from the tunnel construction have been dumped on the riverside and threaten to block the flow of the river with the onset of monsoon. The dust being churned day and night by the hundreds of dumpers and trucks operating on the project is choking all life on both sides of the river. Fields that were the mainstay of the primarily agricultural community are lying barren because no growth has taken place for the last 3 years despite the best efforts of the farmers. Pastures which sustained the livestock of the village people have been devastated. Representations by the people to the government and NTPC have yielded no satisfactory results. We have photographic and video evidence of this.