6
UPDATE ON DAMS, OPTIONS AND RELATED ISSUES
UPDATE
ON DAMS, OPTIONS & RELATED ISSUES
SANDRP NOVEMBER 2001
INDEX
ABOUT THE UPDATE
MEETING ON WCD REPORT IN BANGALORE
DAMS IN INDIAHigh Court Stay on Athirappilly HEP
Villages oppose Tehri Power-lines through forests
German credit for Tehri Dam
Diversion of funds in Maheshwar
Demand for implementing Daud committee report
Why they call Oct. 18 a Black Day
Contempt case against Arundhati Roy
Large Dams, Terror and Wars
Baba Amte to resume stir against Inchampalli Dam
Kerala concern about Mekkara Dam in TN
NEPAL: 300 MW Upper Karnali HEP
WATER MANAGEMENT
20 years, Rs 1 Billion and no waterWB project to destroy wetlands in UP
WB demands for increasing water tariffs
Gujarat facing acute water scarcity
Maharashtra villagers taxed for water
AP Drought Farmers’ suicides in Karnataka
Soil Productivity in Punjab
Cauvery Dispute
PAKISTAN: Seawater intrusion
CHINA: Water sources for Yellow River dry up
RURAL DRINKING WATER
Provide potable water to all by 2004
W Bengal: Rural Drinking Water Supply
Rajasthan getting polluted canal water
Water crisis forces migration
Funds for UP under RGDWM
URBAN DRINKING WATER
Tap water is better than Bottled waterParallel channel for Yamuna water
Groundwater Depletion, Fluoride In Faridabad
HUDCO to fund Krishna water scheme
WATER PRIVATISATION
States planning to hand over water sector to MNCs
Privatised water supply project for Tirupur
WATER ALTERNATIVES
Tank desiltation in Karnataka
Rainwater Harvesting in Delhi
Wasteland Development Projects
ADB WATER PROJECT IN MP
FOOD MANAGEMENT
Scarcity amid plentyCentre asks States to Identify all BPL families / Apex Court wants census of the poor
SC on Starvation
Launch of Sampoorna Gramina Rojgar Yajna
“Food for Work” programme
Benefit of PSS is taken by intermediaries
Procurements of foodgrains
Antodaya Anna Yajana
Starvation stalks Kashipur
Starving Orissa family sells children
Per capita consumption of cereals gone down
Wheat Scam Probe
Community food banks scheme being launched
34 countries facing food emergencies
“Food for Work” programme
Benefit of PSS is taken by intermediaries
FORESTS VIA FOOD FOR WORK
SC Bans tree felling in Andaman Islands
SUGAR MANAGEMENT
Large stocks of unsold sugar
Govt. move on sugar export subsidy
FLOODS
Flood plain management Vs embankmentsAnnual Flood Damage
Floods in East UP
Flood in Andhra Pradesh
Plan to divert Sutlej flood waters to Pak
Bihar floods affect 7 million
NEPAL: Glacial Lake Outburst Floods
CHINA: Flood-Control Project on Yangtze RiverNIGERIA: Hundreds died in floods
POWER ISSUES
Rs 200 billion Annual loss due to power theft
The capacity and the demand of the power
10 000 MW from nuclear sources in next 10 years?
Measures for UP power sector
RENEWABLE POWER OPTIONS
Power from Renewables in AP
Nepal Micro-hydro
ENRON UPDATE
RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT IN DELHI
ADIVASI ISSUES
INLAND WATERWAYS: Centre keen on Pvt. fundsWORLD BANK PROJECTS IN SOUTH ASIA
QUOTES
PUBLICATIONS AVAILABLE WITH SANDRP
MEETING ON WCD REPORT IN BANGALORE
“The recommendations made in the Executive Summary included in the report of the World Commission on Dams have considerable significance on new works to be taken. They are also worth considering in adapting on existing ones to the extent possible. The recommendations have been made after elaborate interaction, survey of 125 existing dams, 17 thematic review papers as well as the results of public consultations and more than 900 submissions made to the commission. They have prepared five key decision points and prepared checklists. I am sure findings and the recommendations of the WCD will be discussed at the present seminare and sustainable conclusions reached.” Inaugurating the well attended two day workshop Dams and Development: Evolving Frameworks for Decision Making at National Law School of India University campus in Bangalore on September 3, 2001, the Karnataka Water Resources Minister Shri H K Patil added, “I on behalf of Govt. of Karnataka assure this gathering that the recommendations of this workshop will be considered by the State Government”. The workshop was organised by Centre for Environmental Law, Education, Research and Advocacy, NLSIU and South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, New Delhi.
The Workshop ended on Sept. 4, 2001 with a series of conclusions and recommendations, which included setting up of a group to take up follow up actions. Highlighting some of the conclusions, NLSIU Director, Dr Mohan Gopal said that the affected people in any project should have truly opertionalised consensus oriented informed consent without which projects should not go ahead. Stressing another conclusion of the workshop, Mr N R Krishnan, former secretary, Ministry of Env. and Forests, Govt. of India, said that the completed and ongoing projected should be reviewed and monitored on regular basis for taking proper decisions regarding the projects. (The Times of India, The Hindu, The Indian Express, 4/9/01 and 5/9/01)
SANDRP NOVEMBERT 2001
6
UPDATE ON DAMS, OPTIONS AND RELATED ISSUES
DAMS IN INDIA
High Court Stay on Athirappilly HEP In a historic judgement on Oct. 17, the Kerala HC has stayed the finalisation of contract and construction of the proposed 163 MW Athirappilly HEP across Chalakudy River. The HC has directed the Kerala SEB to comply with the requirements of EIA Notification, 1994 as amended by the notification of 1997 in so far as it relates to public hearing. The Central Govt. has been directed to reconsider the question of grant of environmental clearance on the basis of all the materials including the report of the public hearing. The Board has been directed to take all the necessary steps to repair and restore to full capacity all the existing HEPs, to minimize transmission losses and prevent theft of energy. The judgement was delivered on behalf of the two Public Interest Litigations filed by Chalakudy Puzha Samrakshana Samithi and Nilanilpu. (Chalakudy Puzha Samrakshana Samithi)
Tehri Power-lines through Chipko forests opposed Villagers who participated in Chipko movement of the seventies from Advani Village in Tehri district protested against the felling of trees and stalled work on the power transmission lines from Tehri Dam. The Power Grid Corp. has to cut out two corridors, each of 95 meters wide, for the construction of the high-tension lines. For this purpose thousands of pine and Sal trees from a forest more than a 100 years old will be cut. (INDIAN EXPRESS-D 4/9/01)
German credit for Tehri Dam Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has given his approval for Germany’s export credit agency to cover the supply of equipment for the controversial Tehri dam project. Schroeder ordered the Economy Ministry to reverse its rejection of credit application filed by Siemens. This application was to provide export credit guarantee of $32 million. The Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Overseas Development had vehemently objected to the project because the planned 260-metre-high rock and earth-fill dam would destroy fragile ecosystems and cause the displacement of over 100 000 people. (INDIAN EXPRESS-D 29/10/01, http://www.janmanch.org/environment/environment.asp)
Diversion of funds in Maheshwar The NBA has said “large scale diversion of funds has been done by S Kumars to its group of companies, which was earmarked for the Maheshwar project,” and called for judicial probe. The NBA said that out of about Rs 3 billion to Rs 4 billion disbursed by the FIs to the S Kumars for building the Maheshwar dam, “A significantly large sum of Rs 1.06 billion has been siphoned off by that company to its group of companies and other agencies that have not been awarded any contracts.” (THE HINDU-D, RASHTRIYA SAHARA 18/10/01)
Demand for implementation of Daud committee’s report Ms. Medha Patkar has demanded the findings of a committee headed by Justice S. M. Daud be acted upon since the waters of Narmada behind Sardar Sarovar threaten the people who come under the sweep of the enlarging reservoir being built there. This demand has come up during the 11 day long Dharna and fast staged by the NBA in Mumbai. The Maharashtra Government has decided to convert 43 forest villages in to revenue villages to enable the persons displaced by the SSP to secure land titles but NBA wants that time bound action is assured. (THE HINDU-D 26/9/01)
Why they call Oct. 18 a Black Day About the Supreme Court Judgement dated Oct. 18, 2000 in the Sardar Sarovar Case, the Columnist Dilip D’Souza writes: “I read the judgment very carefully, looking for a sign that the court had rejected the Morse Report for more tangible reasons. I found none. The government's mere dislike of the report appeared to have been good enough. So is it only reports that praise the project that are acceptable? …When the court has been asked to consider the pros and the cons of the project and make a decision, what does it mean to accept the evidence that praises, but to throw out the evidence that damns? …More bafflement, and shades of Orwell and 1984 as well: "completed ahead" has been taken to "imply that the work was done pari passu". The dam builders were required -- not urged or advised, but *required* -- to complete one thing before doing another, but they simply assume that this *itself* means they can do the two things side by side. …How did that happen? Worse, how did the justices of the Supreme Court let this pass? How was it treated as anything other than a violation of the clearance -- the conditional clearance -- given to the project? Believe me, the judgment is riddled with oddities like these two. …If a massive dam needs strange logic so it can be built, that is alarming indeed”. (http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/oct/19dilip.htm)
· The Narmada Bachao Andolan has said that in one year after the Supreme Court judgement, it had been proved that all assumptions about the resettlement and rehabilitation of the affected and other aspects of the dam project were false. NBA demanded that the court must review its judgement to avoid future disasters, violation of people’s rights and constitutional values and to adhere to the principles of justice and equality. (THE HINDU-D 21/10/01)
Failure of Gujarat Govt? Gujarat Congress has launched a statewide agitation to highlight the State Government’s failure on Narmada Dam. According to former Gujarat Chief Minister, “The Narmada Project had envisaged the total cost of Rs. 61.25 Bln and now it has swelled to Rs. 450 Bln. The people in Gujarat are paying Rs. 35 Mln as interest everyday because of the delay in the project”. (THE HINDU-D 21/10/01, Indian Express-Baroda 28/10/01)
Contempt case against Arundhati Roy The two-member SC bench rejected the plea by Ms Arundhati Roy’s counsel Shanti Bhushan for referring the issue to a five-judge constitution bench. The bench also rejected an application filed on behalf of the 14 eminent people to impleading them in this case. On September 5, the court had issued contempt notice to her after dropping contempt proceedings against Ms Medha Patkar and Adv. Prashant Bhushan, in a petition filled by some advocates which the court found to be baseless.
· Arundhati Roy, in her affidavit to the Supreme Court said, among other things, “I have said that by admitting a flawed petition against three people who had recently and publicly criticised the Supreme Court judgement in the Sardar Sarovar case, the Court creates this impression. Therefore, I said, by its own action, the Court is harming its credibility and reputation. In a democracy, it is a citizen's duty to point this out… It seemed perfectly appropriate to air my view that in this particular instance, the Court, by allowing certain citizens to grossly abuse its process in this way, creates the disturbing impression that there is an inclination on the part of the Court to silence criticism and muzzle dissent… For a working person, being asked to schedule one's entire life around enforced court appearances, as though one is a common criminal, is humiliating and damaging to one's professional life. It is therefore incumbent on the Court to see that a petition on the basis of which Notice is issued, passes at least a minimum credibility test… I do not believe that the criticism of the Court or its process by an individual, whoever that individual might be, can possibly lower the dignity of an institution as powerful and venerable as the Supreme Court of India… The dignity, the authority and the reputation of the Court depend entirely on the conduct of its judges and the quality of their judgements… In conclusion, may I take the liberty of saying that the process of this trial and all that it entails, is as much, if not more of a punishment than the sentence itself…” (TIMES OF INDIA-D 30/10/01, Affidavit of Ms Arundhati Roy.)
Gujarat embarks on Rs 80 billion water scheme The govt. has embarked on a gigantic programme of providing drinking water from the Narmada River to 8 325 villages and 135 urban pockets at an estimated cost of Rs 80 Bln. Rs 30 Bln has been spent under the project, said state’s water supply minister. The entire project is to be completed by March 2005. (THE TIMES OF INDIA 1/10/01)
SANDRP NOVEMBERT 2001
6
UPDATE ON DAMS, OPTIONS AND RELATED ISSUES
Large Dams, Terror and Wars
THE HORROR of WTC's twin towers falling down on September 11 has changed the perspective of many countries in many fields. In the October 20 issue of The Hindu, it is reported that France has drawn up a list for special precautions being taken and that list includes large dams, large in the French context. Dams in India are larger. If France feels constrained to protect its large dams we should be even more so in the changed world scenario.