/topics/hydropower
Hydropower
Water management across space and time in India – A working paper by the University of Bonn
Posted on 17 Dec, 2010 10:09 PMThis working paper by the University of Bonn attempts to give a spatial and temporal overview of water management in India. It traces how people and the successive regimes made choices across space and time from a wide range of water control and distribution technologies. The paper divides the water management in India into four periods –
- the traditional system of water management before colonial times;
- response from the colonial rulers to manage the complex socio-ecological system;
- large scale surface water development after independence; and
- finally, the small-scale community and market-led revolution.
Immediate moratorium sought on clearances for large dams in northeast India - Press release by Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (Assam)
Posted on 14 Dec, 2010 10:56 PM23rd November 2010, New Delhi
- Seeking a moratorium on clearances for large dams in Northeast India
- Withdrawal of clearances granted to 2000 MW Lower Subansiri, 1750 MW Demwe Lower & 1500 MW Tipaimukh dams
- Future steps on hydropower projects and dams only after full, prior and informed consent of people in the region
- Protect the Brahmaputra river basin as a cultural and ecological endowment
Water security for India: The external dynamics - An IDSA Task Force Report
Posted on 01 Dec, 2010 08:44 PMThe report by Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses is premised on the fact that India is facing a serious water resource problem and is expected to become 'water stressed' by 2025 and 'water scarce' by 2050. It raises fundamental questions about the forces driving water demand and the political dynamics of riparian relations, both in terms of hindrances and opportunities, amongst states in the subcontinent. Rivers, a crucial source of water resources, physically link upstream and downstream users and at the same time create barriers.
Ecological destruction of Loktak, the largest freshwater lake in North East India – A five-part FES-InfoChange series
Posted on 13 Nov, 2010 07:18 PMThis series by Thingnam Anjulika Samom deals with the impact of modernisation, development and state policy on the traditional use, control and management of Loktak lake, the largest common property aquatic resource in Manipur. The Loktak Hydropower Project commissioned in 1983 has damaged the ecology of the largest freshwater lake in the northeast, and has altered the culture, agricultural and livelihood patterns of communities residing around Loktak. The series looks at what this common property resource used to be and what it has become.
Loktak, the 300-square-km lake is spread over three districts in the valley – Imphal West, Bisnupur and Thoubal and covers 61% of the total identified wetlands of Manipur. Besides being the source of livelihood for hundreds of people, Loktak also houses the floating national park Keibul Lamjao, the only home in the world to the endangered Sangai deer. It is not only the geographical topography of the lake that has changed in the last few decades. The lake is also beset by increasing pollution, siltation, rapid proliferation of phumdis and the commissioning of the Loktak hydel project in the 1980s Manipur or Imphal River, with the Loktak lake forming the headwaters to provide regulated storage for power generation.
Field experiences by Avinash Krishnamurthy, BIOME Solutions
Posted on 29 Sep, 2010 11:04 AMOne of the oldest "People's electricity" systems I have ever seen (Please read the notes for each of the videos). Of course this trip had even better high points - wine made from Gooseberry and Nutmeg - all locally brewed. So travelling in the midst of hills, sipping local wine, seeing some great work, (and providing perspectives for someone-else to write - is this work or what?
Water Resources Engineering and Management - A Civil Engineering Course under the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning
Posted on 29 Sep, 2010 07:42 AMThis Civil Engineering Course under the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) on the broad subject of Water Resources Engineering and Management is being carried out by Indian Institute of Technology’s and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore as a collaborative project supported by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (Government of India) to enhance the quality of engineering education in the country, by developing curriculum based video and web courses. In these web based lectures, the authors have developed the subject in detail and in stages in a student-friendly manner. The broad group of Water Resources Engineering is structured into modules on the topic by IIT Kharagpur as follows:
Save agriculture in Narmada valley
Posted on 20 Sep, 2010 04:44 PMNarmada valley is facing yet another crisis beyond the gigantic dams, which has arisen due to the huge canal network of the Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar canals. The canals of these two dams are not yet fully planned, yet certain estimates, which are not yet final by the Narmada Valley Development Authority show that not less than 10,000 hectares of agricultural land is to be acquired, but a larger acquisition is yet to come up in numerous villages, where even a basic socio-economic survey of the affected land and families is yet to be undertaken.
Dr G.D. Agrawal s tapasya - Achieved the desired result
Posted on 30 Aug, 2010 12:47 PMDr G.D. Agrawal’s tapasya, his third fast-unto-death, has finally achieved the desired result. Since 2008, Dr Agrawal has been trying to persuade the Government of Uttarakhand and the Government of India that R. (Bhagirathi) Ganga must be allowed to flow in its natural state in the uppermost reach between Gangotri and Uttarkashi. The two governments had plans to construct three new large hydropower projects in this stretch. Dr Agrawal’s fasts have led to the scrapping of all the three projects.
Movie reviews from 'Voices from the Waters 2010' film festival held in Bangalore
Posted on 28 Aug, 2010 08:58 AMReviews of some of the movies screened -
“Be water, My friend”
This UNESCO funded film, “Be water, My friend” tracks the research of Professor Gordon Lightgoot, an expert on ancient water monuments as he tries to understand and rectify the alarming drying up of Karez’s in northern Iragi region of Kurdistan.
Indo-Gangetic river basins: Summary situation analysis by Challenge Program on Water and Food
Posted on 16 Aug, 2010 07:37 PMThe paper by the Challenge Programme on Water and Food (CPWF) - Basin Focal Project provides a brief situation analysis related to water, agriculture & poverty, water resources, water productivity, institutional aspects and opportunities & risks related to the development of the Indo-Gangetic basin (IGB). Management of IGB water resources presents some formidable challenges and, therefore, steps must be taken towards integrated management of the IGB’s water and land resources in order to ensure the future sustainability of all production and ecosystems in the basin.