Rivers

This deals with the proceedings of the first stakeholder meeting held under the STRIVER project for the Tungabhadra River Basin. The meeting involved representatives from different stakeholder groups like the Irrigation Departments and Command Area Development Agencies (CADAs), Forest Department, Pollution Control Board, Fisheries Department, NGOs and civil society groups from the Tungabhadra basin, representatives of Water User Associations and farmers. Only the representation from industries was lacking in this meeting.

The following map from South Asia Network on Dams Rivers & People gives a schematic sketch of the Bagmati Breach site near Tajpur in Bihar’s Sitamarhi district.   

Queries, request for information & additional clarifications can be sought via the comments section.

Download here: Rapid assessment report - Tilak Tajpur Panchayat

The google map at this URL shows Runi Sayedpur and Sitamarhi, along national highway 77: http://tinyurl.com/lxwfmj

1) A presentation from the Central Water Commission of the Government of India studying the flood problem on the Bagmati and making some recommendations:

flood-management-in-bagmati-basin

Image and Content Courtesy: Forum for Policy Dialogue on Water Conflicts in India Guest Post by: K J Joy, Forum for Policy Dialogue on Water Conflicts in India The Forum for Policy Dialogue on Water Conflicts in India (Forum to be brief) is happy to invite you to the “The Mullaperiyar conflict: Meeting to understand issues and explore a common ground” to be held on 4th August 2009 between 4 to 8 pm at Constitutional Club, New Delhi. The Forum for Policy Dialogue on Water Conflicts in India is a collaborative effort of many organisations and individuals in the country working on water and especially on water conflicts. The Forum’s work is guided by a Steering Committee and Advisory Committee consisting of some of the important names in the water sector in the country. The Forum began its work in 2004-05 and in the initial couple of years the main focus was to understand different types of conflicts in the country and took up extensive documentation of conflicts across the country. The cases have now been published as a book by Routledge, “Water Conflicts in India: A Million Revolts in the Making”. Presently the Forum is engaged more in activities that can help in resolving conflicts or making them more tractable through scientific studies and dialogue amongst the conflicting parties. The Forum has also taken the initiative to set up two groups of experts to work on two important issues related to water conflicts in the country, namely, 1) water allocations for livelihood needs and ecosystem needs; and 2) the legal-institutional framework for conflict resolution. The Forum aims to take up these issues for wider discussion and debate so that certain degree of social consensus can be built around these two critical issues. Some of the Forum partners are also engaged in active conflict resolution in their respective states. The Forum does believe that with scientific inputs and a spirit of cooperation and dialogue amongst the conflicting parties most of the conflicts around water can be resolved. It is in this spirit that the Forum has taken the initiative to organize this meeting on the Mullaperiyar conflict.

As part of the research study, River Basins and River Basin Organisations in South Asia, done by the Society for Participatory Development Hyderabad, CapNet South Asia (Read More) and Gomukh Environmental Trust for Sustainable Development Pune (Click Here), data about individual river basins has been collected for the river basins in South Asia.

1. The state government of Uttarakhand promised immediate suspension of all works on the two projects Bhairoghati and Pala-Maneri in its letter of 19th June, 2008 and expressed its full commitment for conservation of River Bhagirathi in its natural form ‘from Gangotri to Uttarakashi’. However construction work on the projects (particularly on Pala Maneri project) leading to destroy Gangaji is going on in full swing. The above makes all assurances to us and to Maa Gangaji look as mere jokes.
2. The Government of India committed immediate stoppage of all work on its project Loharinag-Pala in its letter on 19th February, 2009. But the construction work on the site has gone on un-stopped and on an accelerated speed. This again is an act of cruel deceipt.

In order that is likely to have far reaching implications on water governance in India, the Central Information Commission(CIC) has directed the Union Ministry of Water Resources (MWR) that “any study about water-flow in the river systems of the country must be made available to the general public for its information and education. It is not open to the public authority to hold secret critical information with which lives of millions may be related. Publication of this data informs the people about how the public authority is discharging its appointed functions and whether it was acting accountably about a matter so critical as the nation’s water resources in general and the river systems in particular.” Following an appeal by SANDRP, the CIC has asked the MWR make public the reports of the Central Water Commission & National Institute of Hydrology on the impacts of the hydropower projects on Bhagirathi River in Uttarakhand and for portions that the ministry decides not to make public, “Reasons for holding these parts of the information confidential will have to be recorded, which should be open to scrutiny.” This entire task is to be completed in three months.

This paper is written by Vinod Tare, Purnendu Bose and Santosh Gupta of IIT Kanpur to examine the need for an alternative implementation and assessment methodology of River Action Plans in India. The paper illustrates of ‘Ganga Action Plan' (GAP) and its implementation near Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, to assess the methodology.