Rivers

Twenty years after ratifying the Convention on Biological Diversity, and ten years after promulgating the Biological Diversity Act, India continues to use doublespeak in dealing with its rivers and their biodiversity

The blind pursuit of economic growth is coming at massive costs, both to natural ecosystems and to hundreds of millions of ecosystem-dependent people, who are being affected by mining, dams, power plants, ports, industries, and other such projects.

This paper from the Centre for Good Governance highlights the relevance of river water management as an important area for natural resources management in the context of the current deteriorating status of the rivers in India in terms of quality as well as quantity, and a

West Bengal rivers

More than 10.86 million Indians depend on rivers, wetlands, floodplains, estuaries, ponds and tanks for subsistence and market-based fisheries. Though the absolute contribution of riverine fisheries may not be huge in economic terms, it is a very crucial component in livelihood and nutritial security of the rural poor.

This document by Central Water Commission is a compilation of large dams in India. It provides basic information about a dam. The document first spells out the meaning of a large dam, which is based on the height of a dam and also complies with any one of the following conditions:

The solid wastes of Delhi, the largest municipal solid waste generator in the country with a production of about 7000 metric tonnes a day is dumped at three landfill sites, namely Bhalaswa, Ghazipur and Okhla.

This bilingual book written in Hindi and English appearing side-by-side titled “Bagawat par majboor Mithila ki Kamla nadi” and “Kamla: River and the people on collision course” respectively attempts to study the irrigation and flood control schemes that were taken up in the Kamla basin following independence and depicts how people have been left in a blind alley.  

History has witnessed World War I and II; will there be a World War III? Indeed, if there will be, it will be 'The World War III - for Water'. Can there be a second thought to this after the call for a Karnataka bandh on Saturday, 6 October 2012, in the name of water?