Gujarat dams' capacity down by 14.31% due to siltation: NGO asks Modi to intervene

By A Representative
Gujarat’s 60 major dams’ capacity, which is calculated at 16,768 million cubic metres, has gone down by about 14.31 per cent as a result of the silt that has gathered in their reservoirs. Revealing this, Gujarat’s environmental NGO Paryavaran Mitra director Mahesh Pandya said, quoting official state government figures, that in the dams’ capacity has gone down by about 2,400 million cubic metres due to siltation.
Talking with media, Pandya, who made public a plea to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, meant to direct Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel to come up with a concrete programme on removing silt, said, if desilting is not carried out, it would “directly impact” Gujarat’s future plans for water conservation, including the ambitious Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Irrigation (SAUNI), meant to transfer Narmada waters to Saurashtra’s dams, which largely remain empty despite normal monsoon.
Even as praiseing Modi for his emphasis on water conservation by coming with the idea of constructing 75 new dams in as many districts of India for enhancing water conservation, Pandya said, “However desilting is badly affecting dams”, quoting a recent report, which said the Narmada dam is filled with 53 per cent of its capacity but only 39 per cent of the storage “is available in the reservoir for use.” However, he said, there is so far no authentic data on silt gathered in the Narmada dam.
According to Pandya no survey has been carried out on the present silt level in the Narmada dam. Worse, he said, official papers suggest, the silt survey of many large and medium dams of Gujarat was conducted for several years, including 2001, 2009, and 2017-18 and 2021, yet “no action is taken for removal of the silt”.

Narmada dam is filled with 53% its capacity but only 39% of the storage is available in the reservoir for use

According to him, “The reason stated for non-removal of silt was that the desilting process is done in an ad hoc manner and is not scheduled”, hence, no “budget allocation for this has ever been made”. This despite the fact that there is a clear direction on this by the Central Water Commission (CWC) in the report “Assessing and Managing Reservoir Sediment”, published in February 2019.
According to Pandya, the report said, the sediment-induced problems lead to “a number of adverse impacts not only within reservoirs but also in both upstream and downstream areas of river systems with dams”, leading to several “adverse effects” on river systems with reservoirs.
The negative impact of sedimentation mentioned in the report include reduction of storage volume in reservoirs; flood level increase upstream of the reservoir due to changed river slope; less effectiveness of flow/flood management; erosion and shifting of river banks in the downstream areas; coastline erosion due to the lack of fertile silt and nutrient supply; adverse effect on agriculture, fisheries and aquatic plants in the downstream areas.
The letter also seeks to draw Modi’s attention to about high level of illegal sand mining in river beds in Gujarat “leading to desertification and reduced flow of water”, and high level of river pollution in rivers of Gujarat, with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) declaring 20 of Gujarat’s rivers in the list of “heavily polluted” rivers of India.

Comments

Prof. Vidyut Joshi: Gujarat’s knowledge institutions have lost their soul, urgent reorientation needed

By A Representative In a thought-provoking column published in Sandesh , eminent sociologist and former Vice-Chancellor Prof. Vidyut Joshi has raised urgent concerns over the erosion of intellectual autonomy and social relevance in Gujarat’s leading research and academic institutions. Building on insights from the recent paper Secret of Creating High Performing Knowledge Institutions by development economist Prof. Tushaar Shah, Joshi paints a stark picture of institutions that have strayed far from their foundational vision.

Top civil rights leader announces plan to lead delegation to Pakistan amidst post-war tensions

By A Representative In a significant move, well-known academic and civil rights leader Sandeep Pandey has announced the plan to send a 22-member delegation to Pakistan to engage in dialogue with its government and civil society. The delegation proposed to go to Pakistan under the banner of Socialist Party (India) as a fact-finding mission to help seek solution to continuing tensions between the two countries over the fallout of the Pahalgam terror attack.

Global recognition at UNHRC: A breakthrough for communities discriminated on work and descent

By Amit Kumar, Naveen Gautam* In a historic moment for global human rights, the 59th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council opened with a powerful acknowledgment of Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (CDWD)—groups affected by caste-like systems of exclusion, marginalization, and inherited inequality. This recognition was delivered by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk during his global human rights update, signaling a major shift in international discourse.

Former civil servants raise alarm over conflict of interest in Supreme Court's forest advisory panel

By A Representative In a strongly worded open letter to the Chief Justice of India, 60 retired senior civil servants from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), and other central services have raised serious concerns over what they term a “conflict of interest” in the current composition of the Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC), tasked with advising the Court in forest and environmental matters. The signatories, all part of the Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG), expressed grave apprehension that the CEC—now comprising entirely of recently retired officials from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC)—may lack impartiality in ongoing litigation, particularly those challenging the Forest Conservation Amendment Act (FCAA), 2023.

J&K's Mallabuchan villagers symbolically cut Off pipeline in protest against ‘water injustice’

By A Representative In a striking act of peaceful protest, residents of Mallabuchan village in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district symbolically disconnected the Ahmadpora-Tangmarg water pipeline on Thursday, denouncing decades of official neglect and violation of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) norms.

Few Bollywood actors possessed Sanjeev Kumar's subtle detachment and sensitivity

By Harsh Thakor On 9th July, we celebrated the 85th birthday of legendary Hindi film actor, Sanjeev Kumar., known as Haribhai Jariwala. Sanjeev Kumar penetrated zones of versatility or acting craft, almost unparalleled in Hindi cinema. He was one one the very few who touched horizons of true genius, transcending regions in acting virtually unexplored. Rarely did any artist get stuck as thickly into the skin of the character. The diversity of expressions in his moves reminded one of the different water colours of a painting. Sanjeev manifested the ventures of an artist to tap the regions unexplored. He simply defied all conventions of Bollywood, making path breaking experiments. His acting had a subtle degree detachment and sensitivity, which few Bollywood actors ever possessed. He may not have possessed the drop dead looks of a Dev Anand, Dharmendra or Sashi Kapoor or the professionalism or star charisma of an Amitabh Bachan, Rajesh Khanna or Shah Rukh Khan. However in pure acting...

Climate action in rural India can go hand in hand with sustainable livelihoods: NGO shows the way

By Bharat Dogra Mobilizing an adequate response to climate change is often seen as an expensive task and then there is a lot of talk about who’ll bear the burden. However in rural areas both climate mitigation and adaptation can be integrated well with the promotion of sustainable rural livelihoods and in such conditions people become very supportive towards it. In such conditions climate response can progress much more smoothly without becoming burdensome.

A healthier model for goat-based livelihoods in remote Madhya Pradesh villages

By Bharat Dogra While buffaloes and cows often receive greater attention in animal husbandry-related government development schemes, goats remain vital for poorer households. Therefore, enhancing goat-based livelihoods is especially important for marginalized communities—particularly when such efforts reduce villagers' costs and lower goat mortality rates. One promising strategy involves training local villagers, especially women, to provide essential veterinary services. A welcome byproduct of this is that several women gain a respected source of income within their own villages.

Nation marks 10 years of Digital India, yet RTI filing with Parliament remains offline

By A Representative As India commemorates a decade of the ambitious Digital India mission launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 1, 2015, a critical digital gap remains unaddressed: citizens still cannot file Right to Information (RTI) applications online with the Indian Parliament.

Search This Blog