Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan

Centre puts Dadri project on hold (Times of India 07 February 2012)

2012-02-07T00:23:00.003-08:00

NEW DELHI: In another embarrassment for the poll-bound BSP government in Uttar Pradesh, the Union environment ministry has put Ansal's 2,400-acre housing project, Hi-Tech Township City, at Dadri on hold for 'illegally' reclaiming a wetland in the plot.

The ministry has sent a showcause notice to the project developers under the Environment Protection Act, asking them to explain why legal action should not be taken for violating the clearance norms and the project should not be scrapped. The developers have been given 15 days to respond to the notice, and till then the project would remain suspended. While, the Central government has to demarcate the wetland area falling in the project site.

The project abutting Greater Noida area and along the Eastern Periphery Expressway lies at the termination point of the proposed Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, Boraki.The project was cleared by UP's environmental clearance authority. But questions were raised about the clearance by state forest officials. Then, the Union environment ministry sent a team to inspect th e site.

The team recorded that the project area was swampy, a natural habitat to several bird species and also included a wetland of six-eight hectares. The team found that some of the wetlands had been reclaimed by the company after being purchased from the locals.norms

Land sharks swallow floodplains (Times of India 07 February 2012)

2012-02-07T00:23:00.001-08:00

NOIDA: With the administrative machinery preoccupied with the upcoming Assembly elections, land sharks in Gautam Budh Nagar district are making the most of the situation. Thousands of acres of fertile land in the floodplains of the Hindon are being usurped by the land mafia and sold to "unsuspecting" buyers for constructing houses. Despite repeated complaints from environmentalists, the district administration hasn't taken steps to check the rampant encroachment.

The encroached land is spread over an area of 15 km straddling the floodplains of the river. Located off the Noida-Greater Noida link road near Sector 122 and at a stone's throw away from the Noida Extension-Greater Noida area, illegal structures have mushroomed from Hindon Pushta along NH-24 up to Kulesra in Greater Noida. This entire area falls under the flood zone, where all construction activity is banned.

Unfortunately, no tangible measures are being taken to stop the illegal construction. Sub-divisional district magistrate, Gyanendra Singh confirmed that "all construction in the flood zone is in violation of the existing laws. It obstructs natural river flow, thereby hindering flood-control measures. It also poses a threat to the environment," he said.

Being sold at prices ranging from Rs 7,000 to Rs 15,000 per square metre, the illegal plots are finding many takers. "Local real estate dealers are keeping buyers in the dark regarding the court orders on the floodplains," Singh told TOI. "They assume that once the colonies are built, the administration will not demolish them," he added.

Meanwhile, the administration has promised to formally crackdown on land grabbers. "The floodplains have been witnessing constant encroachment and illegal construction. We periodically issue notices and warnings against all construction activity in the flood zone and have alerted the district police officials about the growing menace. The registrar's office has also been asked to take precautions against registration of plots within 120 sqm as they are too small for agriculture purposes and could be used to build houses," Singh explained.

"We will take immediate action and demolish all unauthorized construction in the area," said Singh.

In April, in an attempt to rid the area of "unauthorized" construction, Noida and Greater Noida authorities had decided to acquire around 25 hectares of the floodplain area along the northern tip of the Hindon river from the state irrigation department and develop it as a green belt. A few months later, Noida Authority floated the idea of allotting the floodplain area on the west side of the river to residents on a 'first come first served basis' for growing flowers. Both these plans are yet to see the light of day.

Birds flatter to deceive, watchers on wings of despair (Times of India 06 February 2012)

2012-02-07T00:22:00.004-08:00

NEW DELHI: It was a day that began with much anticipation but ended in disappointment for the city's birdwatchers. The annual Big Bird Day on Sunday recorded just 226 species of the winged visitors unlike last year's 240.
Bikram Grewal, the official score keeper, said it is an ill omen as the drop in count indicates a drop in the number species along the Yamuna. "The two places along the Yamuna where we monitor birds are the Okhla Bird Sanctuary and the Yamuna Biodiversity Park. Both places recorded a fall in the number of species. Okhla went down from 95 species in 2011 to 78 this year while at the Yamuna park, the count dropped from 84 last year to 65 this year," he said.
Once again, the most number of species were spotted at Bhindawas. However, a fall in numbers was seen here, too -151 against last year's count of 179.
"But the situation wasn't uniform everywhere; some places also recorded an increase, so we cannot say that the situation is altogether hopeless. Sultanpur went up from 95 last year to 141 this year. Surajpur, which is being developed by WWF, recorded a total of 101 this time as compared to 79 last year. Both these areas are protected and this shows that with proper management, the bird count can actually go up," Grewal added.
Sunday was slightly cloudy but pleasantly warm - an excellent day for spotting birds. Dr Surya Prakash, who led a team to JNU, Shankar Vihar and Bhatti Mines, was not quite happy with their tally of 115. "It was difficult getting a good number. Shankar Vihar, an area we discovered behind Vasant Kunj last year, has practically dried up. We had trouble spotting some of the commonest birds that we usually see," he said.
The team wound its way through thorny shrubs and a filthy marshland for about 10 minutes to hunt for birds and was thrilled when they managed to add two precious numbers to their existing tally.
Anand Arya, who visited the Dadri wetlands with his team, saw 120 birds and was quite excited at having spotted about 60% of the over 200 that have been recorded by him personally in the area over the years. Faiyaz Khudsar, scientist at the Yamuna Biodiversity Park, said that the fall in the number of species this year is not alarming yet and could be attributed to various reasons.
"At the park, the number of wetland birds is the same. The number of Red Crested Pochards is actually higher this year. The tree canopy has become higher because of which it was more difficult to spot terrestrial birds.
Secondly, Rajasthan received good rain last year and there is a possibility that many migratory birds stopped there," he said.

Dwindling habitat reason for falling numbers (Times of India 06 February 2012)

2012-02-07T00:22:00.003-08:00

NEW DELHI: There is a difference of opinion on whether there is a decrease in bird species in Delhi ; but birdwatchers are unanimous on one count -the total number of birds has come down. During Sunday's marathon bird watching session, most teams were disappointed with what they saw, or rather what they did not see.
"Some of the most common species were spotted with great difficulty. We discovered the Shankar Vihar wetlands last year; but today we found most of it dried up and children playing cricket in the area that was flush with waders last year," said Major Sangwan, a birdwatcher.
Dr Surya Prakash, who has been tracking Delhi's birds for several years, said that loss of habitat is a major reason why it has become so difficult to see some birds. "The city government has taken on a great project to develop forests but they need to keep in mind that terrestrial birds are equally important and they need grasslands. This is very important for birds like Larks, Pipits and many resident and non-resident waders," he said.
He added that a good solution to the problem is man-managed ecosystems like the Yamuna Biodiversity Park and Aravali Biodiversity Park. "However , monkeys, stray cattle, pigs and dogs are posing a serious threat to areas like the Bhatti Mines and Sultanpur National Park. The Indian Eagle Owl has not nested at these places this year as the habitat has been encroached by monkeys," he added.
Birdwatchers say that for wetlands, it is extremely essential to maintain the right level of water and adequate reed patches for the birds. Anand Arya, a resident of Noida, points out that at Dadri his team could have recorded a much higher number but for the degraded condition of the wetland. Okhla Bird Sanctuary, points out Faiyaz Khudsar, a scientist at the Yamuna Biodiversity Park, has too much water this year and not proper reed management.

Winged guests by-passing the Yamuna (Hindu 06 February 2012)

2012-02-07T00:22:00.001-08:00

With just six species of water birds being spotted on the Wazirabad Barrage-Nizamuddin Bridge stretch of the Yamuna in Delhi this year, the Asian Waterbird Census (AWC) 2012 has raised serious concerns about the degradation of natural habitat for the birds due to a variety of reasons.
AWC's Delhi State Coordinator T. K. Roy, who led a team of volunteers to conduct the census from January 14 to 29 with the help of forest staff of Okhla Bird Sanctuary, says some of the findings are very disturbing.
For one, the arrival of water birds along the Wazirabad Barrage-Nizamuddin Bridge stretch of the Yamuna has diminished sharply over the past five years. While in 2008, as many as 20 species of migratory birds were spotted along this stretch, the number has dropped to just six this year.
Even among these six species, only a pair each of common sandpiper, red wattled lapwing and grey wagtail were spotted. “Due to various levels of threats in the river, the bird habitat in Delhi, the resident bird species have almost disappeared and regular migratory water bird species too have abandoned the river habitat,” says Mr. Roy.
He says this year hardly any winter migratory species has been spotted except small flocks of black-headed gulls, brown-headed gulls and black-winged stilts.
These birds too were seen more towards the beginning of winter when they came in search of food.
But later, they sheltered in the much upper stretch of Yamuna near Hindon and in the smaller floodplain wetlands adjacent to the Yamuna due to habitat shrinkage and shortage of food, primarily fish, he adds.
Part of the largest and longest running internationally coordinated faunal monitoring programme in the world for many years now, Mr. Roy says the census has also narrowed down on the reasons for the decline in the arrival of water birds.
Reasons
The main reason for their staying away from the Wazirabad Barrage-Nizamuddin Bridge stretch of the Yamuna has been fishing, cutting and clearance of vegetation, vegetable cultivation and human disturbance, presence of open crematorium, dumping of non-biodegradable waste, concrete urban developments on riverbed and water pollution caused by flow of sewage and industrial effluents.
As for the Okhla Bird Sanctuary, Mr. Roy says this year 13 species of major migratory water birds (ducks, geese, coots), 11 species of waders, four species of gulls, three species of storks, three species of ibises, three of wagtails and 25 of resident water birds have been recorded.

Singapore to help Delhi on ‘new water' concept (Hindu 05 February 2012)

2012-02-07T00:21:00.001-08:00

Growing mismatch between demand and supply has forced the authorities in Delhi to consider using treated sewage water, popularly known as “new water”. With limited sources of water for its growing millions, Delhi is looking at Singapore to help introduce the concept in the city and also lend help with the know-how.
Singapore is considered the most successful example of “new water” usage and will soon sign a memorandum of understanding with Delhi to pave way for the treatment of sewage water to make new water.
“New water is the brand name that has been given to reclaimed water produced in Singapore. It is waste water that has been treated and purified using dual-membrane, microfiltration and reverse osmosis and ultraviolet technologies. The water is treated to make it potable and fit for drinking needs,” said a senior official of the Delhi Government.
Referring to the introduction of the concept in Delhi, the official said: “The Government of Singapore will fund the technical feasibility study and pay 70 per cent of the consultation fee. Since they already have the system in place, they will be able to offer technical support as well.”
Initially about four to five per cent of the treated new water will be released back into the river Yamuna, where through the natural cleansing processes it will be turned into raw water. “We will then use this raw water to produce treated water for potable use. In Singapore they use about 10 per cent of new water, but in the initial stages we will limit to just about 5 per cent,” the official explained.
Once the MoU is signed, the consultancy will start in the next six months and the entire project will be ready to take off in a year, the official said.
On the need for switching to new water, the official said: “Delhi has to seriously consider means of saving water and also making the best use of the limited resources at hand. As on date we already have to fight with the other States for drinking water needs, and this struggle to secure more water will only intensify in the future. If such concepts are not considered, we will be left with a huge disparity in demand-supply.”

We hope that the Rule of Law has been respected - Bus depot in the river bed, case

2012-02-03T21:09:00.000-08:00

1 February 2012
YJA/CORRES/2/12

Sri Tejendra Khanna,
Hon'ble Lt Governor of Delhi
Raj Niwas
Delhi.

Sub: We hope that the Rule of Law has been respected - Bus depot in the river bed, case

Respected Sir,

Greetings from Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan.

Sir, today (1.2.12) when we attended the High Court of Delhi for final hearing in the PIL (Anand Arya vs Govt of Delhi) against the Bus Depot in the river bed, we were informed that a high level meeting held yesterday (31.1.2012) had taken some decisions in the matter and that the DTC and DDA shall be filing an affidavit before the court regarding the same. Accordingly no pleadings were made and the case has been adjourned pending the affidavit to be filed by the DTC and DDA.

Sir, we are hoping that the high level committee has finally seen the futility of having the bus depot in the river bed and decided on its relocation. But in case the state is trying to find ways and means to somehow justify the bus depot in the river bed then we find the effort contrary to all norms of governance through rule of law, that any democratic state is mandated to profess and practice.

Sir, allow us to reiterate that the said depot in the river bed is not only violative of the terms and conditions as set by your honour, and the conditions under which the IPGCL handed over the land to the DTC, but illegal as it violates the DDA Act, The DUAC Act, the 2005 decision of the High Court and that both the Shunglu Committee and the CAG in their respective reports on the conduct of the CWG 2010 has found serious problems with the existence of the bus depot in the river bed/flood plain.

Accordingly we beg you to please advice the state government of Delhi and the DDA to act with the best norms of governance through strict observance of rule of law.

Warm regards,

Manoj Misra
Convener

CC:

Vice Chairman, Delhi Development Authority – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Pollution: Fewer feathered guests arrive this year (Hindustan Times 02 February 2012)

2012-02-01T23:19:00.000-08:00

The high pollution level in the Yamuna, continuous destruction of natural habitat and inconsistent winter have made many migratory birds — 21 of the 27 major species —skip the city this year.
Endangered species like painted storks, black-headed ibis and ferruginous pochards have come in few numbers, says the Asian Water birds Census (AWC).
Of the various stretches of the Yamuna between Wazirabad barrage and the point where it leaves the Capital, the Okhla Bird Sanctuary has fared better with 58 of the 75 local and migratory species being sighted there.
Those who did not show up include temminck’s stint, Indian cormorant, greater flamingo and great white pelican. Also, the numbers of several species of ducks and storks – bar-headed geese, northern shoveler, northern pintail and red-wattled lapwing – have witnessed a sharp decline at Okhla, the census said. From the other stretches of Yamuna, the species that have missed the city include red-crested pochard, common coot, spot-billed duck and little cormorant.
Besides water pollution and loss of habitat, the inconsistent winter has played a spoilsport, said TK Roy, conservationist and AWC Delhi state coordinator. “Usually, birds start arriving in the city by October-end or the beginning of November. This time in 2011, Delhi lacked the chill, so many species flew past the area,” he said.
Sajit P Mohanan of Delhi Birds Group said it is not exactly that birds are “missing” but certain species may have chosen some other locations. For instance, construction activity along Dwarka Expressway has affected the arrival of birds at Najafgarh jheel.
Manoj Mishra of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan said some birds survive in polluted water, but many need clear water and these species avoid polluted stretches. “With polluted stretches, we find that the diversity of bird life comes down drastically. The difference can be seen at the Yamuna Biodiversity Park and upstream of Wazirabad compared with areas downstream of it,” he said.

Rashtriya Sahara 25 January 2012

2012-01-26T23:47:00.000-08:00

New Channel IBM-7 (24 January 2012)

2012-01-23T21:42:00.001-08:00

New Delhi: Today the Yamuna Biodiversity Park in Delhi with wetland is home to nearly 200 different species of birds and over 900 species of plants, but it has become synonymous to a filthy dead drain.
However, a team of scientists is trying to restore the river's original ecosystem. This green wonder has been created by field biologist Faiyaz Khudsar and his team of scientists who have painstakingly restored the lost wilderness of the dead river.
"It was a barren area full of salt. We didn't use any chemical to reduce the salt level but we used plant material that too belonging to Yamuna basin. We used lots of legumes and grass to handle the situation. So the forest you see now in eight years old. Its very different and amazing," Faiyaz said.
The 450 acre wilderness park has been grown from a scratch. Today it has 100 species of aquatic plants and 20 fish species that had once vanished from the Yamuna. And the result - thousands of birds now breed and feed here.
"This is the only place in the entire Delhi NCR region where the Red-crested Pochard comes and stay. Therefore it suggests that this wetland is functioning well," Fiayaz said.
Lilies once used to thrive all along the Yamuna in Delhi but vanished due to heavy pollution. And with the restoration of the ecosystem, creatures like wild pigs and civets can be seen in Yamuna at night, all in the heart of our bustling city.
"This area became a kind of open air laboratory for students. Students who study in book life cycle of butterfly, they come here and see here life. They try to understand how one bird is feeding on fruit and the other bird is feeding on insect and one bird is killing another live bird," Fiayaz said.
Once the entire river Yamuna was teeming with biodiversity and this has been made possible to due the work of Faiyaz and his team of scientists who have shown how a little of science and a lot of handwork can solve our most difficult environment problems.

Yamuna clean-up: Interceptor project launched (Times of India 23 January 2012)

2012-01-23T21:41:00.003-08:00

New Delhi: The ambitious interceptor sewage project that is being pitched as the ultimate solution to the Yamuna’s filth was finally inaugurated on Thursday. Work is expected to begin on Friday but the system, that entails construction of parallel channels along the three main drains in the city – Najafgarh, Shahdara and Supplementary, will finish only around the middle of 2014.
The interceptors, which will eventually function as independent trunk sewers, will trap sewage that flows into the three main drains and carry it to the nearest sewage treatment plant (STP). The treated sewage will then be permitted to drain directly into the Yamuna. Officials say that the biological oxygen demand of the river, that is an extremely unhealthy 41 mg per litre, will reduce to 12 mg/litre.
The project management consultant is Engineers India Limited and the work has been awarded to three difference agencies. “The length of the interceptor system is 59 km and the depth is 20-60 feet. The diametre will vary from 600mm to 2,400mm. The cost of the project is Rs 1,978 crores.
“Sewage from 1,600 unauthorised colonies and other unsewered areas including rural villages and JJ clusters will be trapped by the interceptors. An additional 70 million gallons per day of sewage treatment capacity will be built for the project but our aim is to utilize the existing treatment capacity,” said a DJB official.
The project had earlier met with deep skepticism from several agencies. The allegations against it were that it was nother money guzzling project from DJB that would neither be of a required capacity nor would it be able to treat water to bathing quality as mandated by the court. The project is also massively delayed. At the last deadline, officials had claimed that two thirds of the project would be completed before the Commonwealth Games. However, a year later work is just about starting.
Other work that will be carried out simultaneously to clean the river includes augmentation of the existing capacity of Dr Sen Nursing Home and Delhi Gate STP drains from 2.2 MGD to 15 MGD. About 13 drains emptying into the Bela Road and Ring Road trunk sewers will also be intercepted. “We are expecting the river and the major drains to be pollution free in another three years. The effluent generated will be treated to a level where it can be utilized for non-potable purposes in industry and horticulture,” said an official.

Jayanthi hauls up Maya for ignoring pollution of rivers (Times of India 23 January 2012)

2012-01-23T21:41:00.001-08:00

New Delhi: The UPA government launched another salvo at BSP supremo Mayawati with the Union environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan writing to the Uttar Pradesh CM pointing out that industries were polluting select rivers in the state leading to contamination of groundwater in some regions.
The minister also criticized the state government for not utilizing Central funds properly to abate pollution in the water bodies. “In last two years, the environment ministry has sanctioned several projects for conservation of river Ganga and lakes like Ramgarh Tal at Gorakhpur. Hundreds of crores have been released to Uttar Pradesh for implementation of these projects. I hear that the state government has not used the money properly,” she said.
“Our efforts, to clean river Ganga that flows to important parts of UP have not been able to succeed because of the ndifference shown by the state government with regard to pollution,” she added.
Natarajan has asked the state government to direct her state pollution control board to curb pollution, specifically in Aami River in Gorakhpur.
She noted that effluent from industries in Gorakhpur industrial area and untreated municipal solid waste was making its way unchecked into the river and polluting the groundwater of villages in the vicinity. The central pollution control board, which works under the environment ministry, had found that the effluent treatment plants of the area were not working and the waste of Gorakhpur too was being dumped in Rapti river despite directions from the Centre against it.
In the last two years the environment ministry has sanctioned seven projects at a total cost of Rs 1341.60 crore for conservation of Ganga in Allahabad, Varanasi, Garhmukteshwar, Moradabad and Kannauj.
Of the sanctioned amount, Rs 204.20 crore has been released to the state so far. Another Rs. 217.14 crore has been transferred to UP in the last three years for implementation of ongoing sanctioned schemes under the Gomti Action Plan and the Ganga Action Plan Phase-II.

Braving the chill, for a cause pedalling to save lifeline (Times of India 23 January 2012)

2012-01-23T21:40:00.001-08:00

Dot at 7am on a chilly Sunday, St Stephen's College was abuzz with activity. However, most of the over 600 people who had gathered there with their bicycles were not students. Several foreign nationals, members of Delhi's cycling clubs, nature enthusiasts, schoolchildren, foodies and teachers had gathered for a 22-km cyclothon that had been organized to raise awareness about the River Yamuna.
A large part of the cycle rally route ran along the river and many participants had their first encounter with the river at Wazirabad, a point when it is still not completely sullied by the city's filth.
"The Yamuna is a dead river, its waters immensely polluted. The Yamuna Cyclothon is an attempt to highlight the changes it undergoes through its journey across the capital. It is important for Delhiites to take responsibility for the state the Yamuna is in right now," said Vimlendu Jha, co-founder of Swechha, We for Yamuna which organized the cycle rally to track the river's conversion from a relatively clean flow of water to a narrow stream of sewage.
Cause-worthy
People turned up to do their bit for the river cycle marathon, probably the largest seen in Delhi in the recent past, wound its way across heavy traffic through Civil Lines and the Wazirabad Road before hitting the old Railway bridge.
Cyclists took a U-turn from there and cycled back through the Ridge. "The cyclothon serves two purposes. First of all it is our endeavour to take people to the river and have them connect to this natural heritage. A substantial part of our 22km cycling stretch will be along the river, starting from Wazirabad to the Loha Pul. The second purpose of this project of course is to promote cycling among people, especially in a city like Delhi," added Jha.
However, those who turned up definitely did not need any further motivation to cycle. Girish Gandhi, a businessman turned up with his son from Ashok Nagar because he "loves cycling " and wanted to do his bit for the Yamuna. "The government has done a lot for the river but unfortunately there are no results to prove that. If cycling draws attention to the plight of the river, I am more than happy cycling for it," he said.
Arnav Agarwal, a 10-year-old who turned up accompanied by his equally enthusiastic father, said he loved cycling and was glad to be able to raise awareness about the river. "I love cycling and am hoping this morning will be a lot of fun," he beamed.
Swechha reported that 350 people had officially registered for the rally but 100 volunteers, including foreign nationals who are working with the NGO and about 150 cycling club members joined in the cyclothon. Of the registered participants, 150 rode on bikes especially organized by Hero Cycles, co-organisers of the event.

Did DUAC indeed give clearance to the CWG village as reported widely by the media?

2012-01-17T04:55:00.001-08:00

Dear Friends,

You may have seen media reports about the CWG village having finally got clerance from the DUAC. The facts are quite different from what has been reported as would become clear once one peruses the minutes of the 1295th meeting of the DUAC. (enclosed).

Please go to point 10 in the minutes regarding "Completion plans in respect of Commonwealth Games Village near Akshardham Temple". It will become clear to any one reading it that it is more a result of some kind of arm twisting of the DUAC by the MoUD that has resulted in this sham of a clearance, reported so widely by the media without actually mentioning that the DUAC has actually not changed its earlier stand and hence the clerance at best is conditional.

This is yet again a classic example of how the key regulatory bodies in the land are often brow beaten by their controlling ministries and more importantly how the media is managed time and again.

That the DUAC has only cleared the proposal under Sec 11 (1) of its functions but not under Sec 10 (2) becomes clear only when one reads the content of Sec 11 (2):

1. Subject to -the provisions of sub-section (I), it shall be the duty of the Commission to scrutinize, approve, reject or modify proposals in respect of the following matters, namely :-

a. development of district centers, sub district civic centres, community centers, areas earmarked for Government, administrative buildings and for residential complexes, public building/complexes on more than 2 hectares in area, or taller than 26 mts. in height, or having plot area more than 1000 sqm abutting 24 mt. or more wide road ;

Clearly it was wrong on the part of the MoUD to ask the DUAC to weigh the proposal only under Sec 11 (1) of its statutory Functions.

So much for the state and powers of the "statutory regulatory bodies" in the and.......??????

Manoj Misra
Convener

MINUTES OF THE 1295th MEETING OF THE DELHI URBAN ART COMMISSION HELD ON
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2011 (Only CWG village portion is mentioned here)

SL. No.

10

PROPOSAL

Completion plans in respect of Commonwealth Games Village near Akshardham Temple.

OBSERVATIONS /SUGGESTIONS DECISION REMARKS

1. The DO letter no.A-11013/9/2011-DD1A dated November 29, 2011 received from Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development on the subject was taken note of wherein the Secretary (UD) has suggested for re-visiting the position keeping in view the framework of section 11(1) of the DUAC Act 1973 and send DUAC comments as a general policy issue.

2. The Commission at its meetings held on August 10, 2011 and August 24, 2011 did not scrutinise the proposal and the same was returned to DDA, since the DDA had not given due certification with regard to conformity of the proposal to master plan/building bye-laws and other regulatory provisions. (Refer Annexure I & II).

3. In view of the above letter of the Secretary (UD) Ministry of Urban Development, the Commission reconsidered the proposal and the Commission finds the proposal acceptable as per provisions of Section 11(1) of the DUAC Act 1973 from the point of view of aesthetic quality of urban and environmental design. The Commission, however, reiterates the observations made earlier (on August 10, 2011 and August 24, 2011) as far as regulatory aspects are concerned, which need to be dealt separately by the competent authority.

DECISION

The Commission finds the proposal acceptable as per provisions of Section 11(1) of the DUAC Act 1973 from the point of view of aesthetic quality of urban and environmental design. The Commission, however, reiterates the observations made earlier (on August 10, 2011 and August 24, 2011) as far as regulatory aspects are concerned, which need to be dealt separately by the competent authority.

REMARKS

It was decided to initiate action without awaiting confirmation of the minutes of the meeting.

List of participants at Commission's meeting held on December 14, 2011.
(A) Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC)
1. Shri Raj Rewal, Chairman
2. Smt. Sonali Bhagwati, Member
3. Shri Satish Khanna, Member
4. Shri Eric P. Mall, Member
(B) New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC)
1. Shri G.K. Rao
(C) Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD)
1. Shir Deepak Kumar
2. Shri D.D. Singh

Please prevent setting a wrong precedence - Public money spent on CWG village facilities need to be recovered

2012-01-17T04:20:00.000-08:00

17 January 2012
YJA/CORRES/1/12

Sri Tejendra Khanna
Hon'ble Lt Governor of Delhi
Raj Niwas
DELHI

Sub: Please prevent setting a wrong precedence - Public money spent on CWG village facilities need to be recoveredRespected

Sir,

Greetings from Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan.

Sir, allow us to address this petition to your honour in your capacity as the Chairman of the DDA.

We gather from press reports that DDA plans to auction some flats in the CWG village complex to assess their market value. In this context please allow us to raise few ponderables to factor in as the upset price for the said auction is prepared.

The DDA had created at least four permanent facilities utilising public funds namely a STP, a WTP, a Ranney well and a flyover on NH 24, which post games have now no public function (the unnecessary flyover has actually become a public nuisance creating avoidable traffic mess each morning and evening during the week days) and which now due to the location of the CWG village shall be used only by the owners/occupiers of the flats in the CWG village complex.

It will thus be in the fitness of things that the amount spent on their (STP, WTP, Ranney well and Flyover) creation is recovered from the owners of the CWG village complex which post sale shall become a private gated colony. Also the maintenance of these facilities (with the exception of say the flyover) be charged to them.

Sir, the reason we raise this matter is that if not considered then such investment of public money by the DDA for purely a private gated colony shall set a very wrong precedence whence DDA might be asked to create more such facilities by other private gated colonies (existing or planned) citing this as a precedence.

We make this request on an assumption that the above might have missed consideration by the DDA. But in case our assumption is wrong then this petition may kindly be ignored.

Warm regards,

Manoj Misra
Convener

CC:

Smt Sheila Dixit, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Chief Secretary of Delhi, Govt. of Delhi - For your kind information and necessary action please.

Vice Chairman, Delhi Development Authority, Delhi - For your kind information and necessary action please.

Chairman, Delhi Urban Arts Commission, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110 003 – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Chairman, Yamuna Standing Committee, Central Water Commission, Sewa Bhawan, R.K. Puram, New Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Poll uncertainty hits Maya's dream Ganga e-way project (HT) 13.1.2012

2012-01-13T04:01:00.001-08:00

After many a holdup, Uttar Pradesh CM Mayawati's dream project, the eight-lane 1,047 km Ganga Expressway, has run into rough weather following the project developer (Jaypee Associates) withdrawing the R894.75 crore guarantee money.
This is probably the biggest straw in the wind ahead of the assembly elections next month.

According to an official source, the fate of the project - billed as the country's longest expressway - now depends on who forms the next government. "If the BSP retains power, the project is likely to continue. If a new government assumes office, anything is possible, including scrapping of the project."

Failure to get environmental clearance from the Centre has, among other issues, waylaid the R40,000-crore project launched in 2007 to link Greater Noida and Ballia. The project was to be completed in four years.

A state government officer said on Thursday, "The developer was allowed to withdraw the performance security amount, the guarantee money deposited due to delay in getting environment clearance from the Centre."

He said the developer had, however, given an undertaking to deposit the security money once the project got the environment clearance.

Mayawati had announced the project on her birthday (January 15) in 2008. The expressway hit a roadblock in 2009 after rival parties as well as farmers of many of the 1,239 villages of 17 districts that were to be affected by the project opposed land acquisition.

The protests resulted in a petition before Allahabad high court in May 2009. The court restrained the state from proceeding with the project and directed it to get environmental clearance from the Centre.

In April 2011, Jaypee Associates had applied for the environment clearance with the Centre, but were told the state government had to seek the nod.

"Since the project was delayed, it was not possible to hold back the money," a Jaypee Associates official who did not want to be identified said.

A state government official said the decision to return the guarantee money was taken in December 2011, ahead of the (December 24) announcement of poll dates.

Debris & nurseries eat into Yamuna (Times of India) 13.1.2012

2012-01-13T02:40:00.000-08:00

Debris & nurseries eat into Yamuna

Neha Lalchandani, TNN | Jan 13, 2012, 02.33AM ISTNEW DELHI:

The government might have moved slums from the Yamuna riverbed but it has not been able to stop encroachments or large-scale dumping of construction material, rather demolition material, along the Yamuna Pushta in east Delhi. A small water body has almost completely disappeared under mounds of waste and debris and stray dogs roam the area foraging for food.

Farmers living there say hundreds of trucks carrying debris (malba) having been arriving there at night and dumping tonnes of waste along the road. Plant nursery-owners, too, have staked claim to the land. A stretch of about 80-100m from the Pushta road has been filled in and raised by a good 6-10 feet.

Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan (YJA) has been raising the matter with the lieutenant-governor's office since November 2011 but no action has yet been taken against the offenders. TOI was unable to reach the LG for a comment.

Alisha, whose parents farm a small patch in the river bed, says trucks have been coming regularly at night.

"We have no idea who these people are but they come regularly. I have never seen them during the day," she says.

The area which now houses a couple of nurseries was till a year back being used to grow rice. "During the annual flooding, the entire area would be under water. It used to be occupied by huts that were removed some years back. Then onwards, we were growing rice there. Since last year, the nursery-owners came down and started filling in the land. Now the area they occupy is a good 10 feet higher than our farms. They have also been slowly inching inwards and we had to fight them off from taking over our land, too," said Radhu, a farmer.

Manoj Mishra, convener of YJA, wrote to the LG saying that the Delhi Development Authority, Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the public works department be asked to get this "illegality stopped and get this site cleared of the dumped solid waste and restore the natural lake and the river bed" and report whether similar dumping was also taking place at other sites in the riverbed.

"Dumping at this site has been taking place for several months. We happened to chance upon it towards the end of last year. None of the government agencies are bothered. If this continues, we will lose precious land to encroachment. The government has clea rly failed to protect the riverbed though it is a notified area and the LG has issued a moratorium on it," said Mishra.

Cold makes Delhi a hot spot for migratory birds (The Hindu 09 January 2012)

2012-01-09T01:19:00.001-08:00

The recent rains and cold spell appear to have augured well for the arrival of migratory birds at the Okhla Bird Sanctuary as also along the upper stretch of the Yamuna and their numbers have picked up significantly in the past few days.
As per T.K. Roy, conservationist and AWC Delhi State Coordinator for Wetlands International – South Asia, which conducts an annual survey on the migratory birds in Delhi, the cold weather has brought with it a number of bird species which were hitherto either giving Delhi a go-by or were coming in only in trickles.
“Climate plays a very important role in migration of birds. In turn, birds are a good indicator of climate,” said Mr. Roy, adding that while Okhla Bird Sanctuary had witnessed a decent arrival of migratory birds till late December, they had not been spotted along the upper stretches of the Yamuna.
“But for the moving flocks of black-headed gulls and brown-headed gulls in the upper stretch of Yamuna, who go there in search of food and return to the sanctuary in the evening,” there has been very little movement of birds in the area.
“Unfortunately, the most attractive greater flamingos have not been seen since last year – despite their earlier number being as high as 500. But with the recent showers, the number of birds in the sanctuary has gone up and most of the flocks are now sheltered in the middle part of the sanctuary,” he said.
So far, the prominent species that have arrived in Delhi include the northern shoveller, northern pintail, crested pochard, common pochard, ferruginous pochard, Eurasian wigeon, gadwal, common teal, common coot, graylag geese, bar-headed geese, Eurasian spoonbill, black-tailed godwits, black-headed gull and brown-headed gull.
Even the number of spotbill duck has been higher than the average of the past years.
But some other migratory species like mallard, garganey, cotton teal, comb duck, pallas gull, bar-tailed godwit and local migrants like black-necked stork and Asian openbill stork have not arrived till date.
Among other common waders, certain species such as common sandpiper, green sandpiper, wood sandpiper, marsh sandpiper, common redshank, greenshank, little stint, northern lapwing, river lapwing, white-tailed lapwing and four species of wagtails, pied avocet, painted stork, white ibis and glossy ibis have only come in very small numbers on the middle islands and western bank of the Yamuna on the Delhi side.
Mr. Roy said while the season had begun on a note of desperation since the dried up river bed in October 2011 had led to a sharp fall in the arrival of the migratory birds, later their numbers had swelled with the filling up of water in the portion of the river passing through Delhi.
“After the revival of the water body, the prominent species like cormorants, darter, black-crowned night heron, egrets, herons, little grebe, pheasant-tailed jacana, bronze-winged jacana, purple moorhen, white-breasted waterhen, common moorhen and brahmini ducks returned to the Okhla sanctuary in large numbers,” he said.
The actual bird count or census would begin in the second week of January, Mr. Roy said.

“Too polluted an area to be married into or from” (The Hindu 08 January 2012)

2012-01-09T01:18:00.000-08:00

ADDING TO PROBLEMS: The Timarpur-Okhla wasteto- energy incinerator near Sukhdev Vihar.
“Too polluted an area to be married into or from” is the dubious status that young men and women of Haji Colony here have been battling for the past few years now.
Living in a densely-polluted unauthorised settlement that houses more than 5,000 people from the lower income group, the Haji Colony is located next to a large municipal compost plant, a bio-medical waste incinerator and theTimarpur-Okhla waste-to-energy incinerator.
“The three plants ensure the air remains polluted, our drinking water is brownish, smelly and contaminated and there is a overhanging stench of decaying garbage in the area,” says area resident Noor Mohammed.
“Outsiders visiting the area are put off by the location itself — with the colony sharing a boundary with a municipal compost plant. Besides, adjacent to the colony is the bio-medical waste incinerator which discharges waste that has contaminated the drinking water of the area so extensively that we now have to buy water to drink and cook. People are now refusing marriage into or from the area,” says Mr. Mohammed, whose now-married elder daughter once faced the same problem.
“In my daughter's case, people came to see her but could not bear the nauseous stench. They left in a huff even refusing to have a glass of water at our residence. They later called back to say that it was the pollution in the area that made them flee. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case and we have several cases of boys not being able to find a match because of the polluted environment here,” he adds.
Health issues
But it isn't just the young who are facing a problem here. Women complain about breathing problem, skin diseases and the fact that everything at home and outside is always covered with a thick layer of soot.
“You breathe the colony's acrid air, drink water polluted by the bio-medical waste incinerator and municipal compost plant and live next to a massive waste incinerator. Because of all this, health becomes the first casualty. The high-decibel, constant noise from the compost plant has adversely affected our hearing. Most of us have high blood pressure because of living in an area that forces the body to stay under stress constantly. The children suffer regularly from stomach infections, breathing trouble and lowered immunity, and the situation has only worsened in the past two years,” says resident Feroz Jahan.
She adds that the “trial run” of the Timarpur-Okhla waste-to-energy incinerator has brought to the forefront the most ugly face of pollution here.
“We have no idea how we will live in such a contaminated environment and to think that this is the heart of Delhi,” rues Ms. Jahan.
Sughna Begum, also from the same colony, says: “We have met several officials and politicians, but so far there has been no relief. We continue to battle ill-health and live under a cloud of pollution. With the government now planning to start up the waste-to-energy incinerator, we are worried about the long-term effects on our health and living condition. We are most worried for our children, their health and life.”

Give us back our green patch (The Hindu 05 January 2012)

2012-01-05T22:08:00.000-08:00

Can the ‘sovereign' actively and knowingly violate the laws of the land? Take the case of Delhi's Zone 0. It is spread like a green ribbon over 97 sq km of the national Capital and is categorised as the River Yamuna zone under Delhi's Master Plan. Stretching between the Ring Road in the West and the Bund Road in the East, the plans for this zone, meant for its ‘greening' never provided for a ‘bus depot'. But that's what was set up thanks to the Commonwealth Games 2010.
At Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan (YJA) we followed up the matter closely and the facts that our enquiry threw up were shocking, to say the least.
Story so far
The saga dates to end 2007 when the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) first approached the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), for “allotment of land for idle parking of 300 buses during Commonwealth Games 2010”. DDA in turn suggested four sites (see map) to the DTC, three of which (Site II, III and IV) lay in the Zone O. After a joint site inspection and meeting in November 2007 the Site II measuring 10 acres opposite the Millennium Park in Zone O was selected by the DTC. It may be noted that the DDA while suggesting the said options had clearly stated in its letter dated October 16, 2007 that “one of these sites shall be made available to the DTC purely on temporary basis to be taken back by DDA after the games.” What we fail to understand is that when a site marked P (parking) spread over 6 ha (15 acres) and lying between the CWG village site and the Akshardham already existed then why was it not identified as the most appropriate and made available to the DTC?
Later on, on August 18, 2008 subsequent to a number of meetings held between DDA and DTC all through the year, the DDA made an offer to DTC for space near Mayur Vihar District Centre for temporary parking which could later be converted into a bus depot as the zonal plan provided for it.
While all this back and forth between DTC and DDA was going on, Lt. Governor (LG) of Delhi, Tajendra Khanna agreed on Feb 24, 2009, for temporary allotment of Site III lying in Zone O with five strict conditions. These included that the “land will remain with DDA/Govt. and will be licensed to Government of Delhi/DTC for temporary stabling of buses till one week after the Games are over.”
Alerted by these developments, YJA sent two letters on June 22 and 23, 2009 to the LG, in which the site marked as P lying behind Akshardham was highlighted for consideration. We also expressed the fear that “many a times what begins as a temporary feature soon enough becomes a permanent one with the agency owning it finding one or the other excuse to keep it going.” (Little did we know then how prophetic these fears would ultimately prove to be.)
In response YJA received a letter on July1, 2009 from the office of the LG stating: “Considering the security threat perception prevailing in the region and security arrangement for the athletes during the CWG-2010, temporary parking for about 300 buses near Games Village has been permitted by the LG, Delhi. This parking lot is to be used during the CWG 2010 only for 2-3 weeks. It is assured that this will purely be a temporary arrangement and there is no question of any concretisation of the river bed on this account. Further, there is no proposal by DTC for any other bus depot on the Yamuna river bed. LG Delhi himself is extremely sympathetic towards the Yamuna river bed and would never allow anything which would adversely affect the eco-system of the Yamuna.”
Some revelations
Subsequent responses to RTI queries reveal that sometime in 2009, Site II opposite the Millennium Park (also known as IP Park) in Zone O was finally chosen. The Indraprastha Power Generation Co Ltd (IPGCL), which had the possession of the said land, handed over 60 acres of the land under LG's directions to the DTC with a condition that the “transfer of land is purely on temporary basis and vacant possession of same shall be given back to IPGCL after CWG 2010.”
YJA, on observing large scale construction work going on in Zone O sought reassurances through a letter to the LG dated April 23, 2010. A response dated May 5, 2010 received from the LG's office with a copy marked to DDA, DTC and others clearly stated, “It is to confirm that the bus parking facility opposite the I.P. Park will be a temporary arrangement for the DTC for the duration of the CWG-2010 and there is no plan for any permanent structures. The structures are supposed to be completely removed post games.”
Thus when on September 18, 2010, the media in the city quoted the DTC sources on having created the world's largest bus depot spread over 60 acre plot and constructed at Rs 61 crores, it came as an incredulous shock to us at YJA. Did the Master Plan of Delhi and the authority and words of the LG of Delhi carry any meaning at all?
Thus once the games were over the YJA was compelled to bring to the notice of the Prime Minister through a letter dated October 16, 2010, the ill intent and the illegalities involved in the matter.
On November 3, 2010, a team from Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC) led by its Chairman, KT Ravindran made a site visit to the bus depot. Post the visit, the DUAC, whose directions are binding in nature directed both the DDA and the DTC as follows: “Since it was built as a temporary facility for the Commonwealth Games, the Yamuna river bed should be restored to its original form and the existing structures and hard top road surfaces should be demolished and removed immediately.”
On January 29, 2011, a letter from the Principal Secretary (Transport), Government of National Capital of Delhi (GNCTD) to YJA admitted that the bus depot in question is ‘temporary' and that the government shall shift it but only when alternate land has been given by the DDA. In this context the alternative suggested way back in 2008 by the DDA to DTC near the Mayur Vihar District Centre is pertinent. It is also pertinent to note whether the DDA would have been as oblivious of DTC's illegal presence on the river bed, had the latter been a private entity?
The intent of the DTC and GNCTD was further nailed by the PM appointed Shunglu Committee which went into the wrong doings connected with the hosting of the CWG 2010 and which in the context of the bus depot observed: “It appears as if the hosting of CWG provided a pretext for ‘land grab' by various Government Agencies after short circuiting the established rules and procedures.”
Against evidence presented above, should an illegal occupation of land in Zone O be allowed to persist?
What's a bus depot doing in a place demarcated as a ‘river zone' in Delhi's Master Plan? Manoj Misra, Convenor of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan, recounts his ongoing battle to restore the area to its pre-Common Wealth Games status.

New dam is the only solution, says Kerala ( Hindu 03 January 2012)

2012-01-03T21:55:00.000-08:00

The Mullaperiyar Dam
Kerala's offer is not bona fide: Tamil Nadu
Kerala on Monday asserted before the Supreme Court-appointed Empowered Committee that the “construction of a new dam is the only solution to the complex Mullaperiyar dam issue” and that it would give more water to Tamil Nadu.
Appearing for Kerala, senior counsel Rajeev Dhavan and counsel Mohan Katarki said: “If the new dam is feasible and the proposal of Kerala is found… reasonable by the Empowered Committee, there is no need for addressing the issue of safety of the old dam.”
Counsel submitted that the question whether the dam was safe or not could not be decided with certainty as there was no sign or scientific method. “The ownership of the new dam would vest with Kerala as it is funding the dam entirely from its pocket. However, the operation of the reservoir shall be by a joint committee of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.”
At this juncture, the panel, headed by the former Chief Justice of India, A.S. Anand, wanted to know whether an independent committee could be constituted to manage/regulate/operate the new dam. Both counsel for Kerala and Tamil Nadu said they would get instructions and file their response.
Kerala argued that it had the right to construct a new dam, and no clearance was required from the Centre. However, for obtaining statutory clearances from the Ministry of Environment and Forests, technical clearance from the Central Water Commission would become necessary. Hence, Kerala would approach the Commission for clearance of its detailed project report.
Kerala made it clear that it was open to any suggestion from Tamil Nadu with regard to the new dam. “Kerala would dig 21 new boreholes as suggested by the Geological Survey of India, and the results… would form part of the supplementary detailed project report. The entire water generated in the catchment area up to the new dam would be available to Tamil Nadu for diversion (20.5 TMC at 75 per cent dependability), except 1.1 TMC reserved by Kerala for meeting environmental flows in the summer months, which comes to hardly 5 per cent of the total flow. “The new dam would give more water to Tamil Nadu. At present, Tamil Nadu is drawing 17.7 TMC. The new dam would provide 20.5 TMC. The proposal of Kerala is bona fide. None should be happier than Tamil Nadu if the new dam is constructed. The new dam is part of precautionary principle.”
Tamil Nadu's Additional Advocate-General Guru Krishna Kumar and counsel G. Umpathy said in their response: “Kerala's offer of [a] new dam is not bona fide, and it is an attempt to defeat the existing regime. The existing dam, after the lowering of its height to 136 feet, has fully been strengthened and is as good as a new dam with a long life. The so-called offer of new dam was only made in 2007 in the written statement filed, and the… offer has to be considered only if the Empowered Committee/the Supreme Court finds the existing dam… unsafe.”
They submitted that Mullaperiyar, being a gravity dam, would never burst in the unlikely event of a severe earthquake; it would only develop cracks. Therefore, Kerala's apprehension was misplaced.
With regard to the Empowered Committee's question about joint management of a new dam built by Kerala or other alternatives and the assurance of water to Tamil Nadu, counsel said such issues did not warrant consideration when the dam was safe. The apprehension was really about the Idukki dam component, but was being covered up through doubts raised about the Mullaperiyar dam.
Counsel said Kerala's insistence on maintaining the water level at 136 feet was only to protect the settlements/encroachments on the water spread upstream the dam, in light of evidence that new settlements and activities had developed since the water level was lowered in 1979.

The case for a new Mullaperiyar dam (The Hindu 03 January 2012)

2012-01-03T21:54:00.000-08:00

Kerala’s apprehensions about the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar dam’s stability are not of recent origin. File photo: H. Vibhu
The existing dam is unsafe. There is ample scope for Kerala to invoke the ‘precautionary principle of action' in order to protect its people.
In his article headlined “Unwarranted fears on Mullaperiyar,” published in The Hindu on December 31, 2011, Durai Murugan, Tamil Nadu's former Minister for Water Resources and Law, and senior DMK leader, attempts to portray Tamil Nadu as a potential victim of machinations by Kerala aimed at depriving Tamil Nadu of its rightful share of water from the Mullaperiyar dam. It is necessary to lay out the facts relating to the stance taken by Kerala so as to impart greater clarity on, and understanding of, the issue.
It is true that the Mullaperiyar dam was commissioned as part of a lease deed signed in 1886 to divert the waters of the Periyar for irrigation in parts of the Madras Presidency, and that Tamil Nadu is entitled to claim its share as a right. But by no stretch of imagination can the Periyar be classified as an inter-State river, as claimed in the article. The river across which the dam is situated is entirely in Kerala; no part of it originates from, or runs through, any other State. The entire stretch flows through Kerala, with a negligible 2 per cent contribution from insignificant rivulets from Tamil Nadu joining the main course downstream of the Mullaperiyar dam. Therefore, claiming that Mullaperiyar is an “inter-State resource governed by the principles of inter-State rivers” is fallacious.
Kerala has not repudiated the Periyar lease agreement at any point: this is indeed a reflection of the earnest desire on the part of Kerala to assure its brethren across the border that it would not renege on its assurance to ensure water to Tamil Nadu. The issue of the validity of the original lease agreement is pending before the Supreme Court, with a Constitution Bench examining the merits of this pre-Independence-era agreement.
The author seeks to assert that “the land belongs to Tamil Nadu.” This is a new claim, fraught with serious ramifications. Tamil Nadu is merely the lessee. Far from helping to find a lasting solution within the federal framework, this new contention will only serve to provide a new twist to the imbroglio.
Kerala's apprehensions about the dam's stability — or lack of it — are not of recent origin. It was built when construction techniques were in a nascent stage. Its core was built of lime surki concrete, with a facing of coarse rubble masonry in lime mortar. Attempts were made in the 1930s to strengthen it by grouting and guniting. Even after repeating the grouting in 1960, leaks were observed. Tamil Nadu itself has conceded before the Supreme Court that over 3,500 tonnes of lime has been washed away from the structure over the last century. As against this, a mere 542 tonnes of concrete has been put into the dam which, it should be reiterated, relies on gravity for stability. Strengthening cannot guarantee the structural stability of the dam, which lies in a highly seismic zone. That it is necessary to periodically strengthen the dam is in itself a pointer to its intrinsic structural weakness and the hazards that have manifested over time.
Even as the Central Water Commission (CWC) was advocating short, medium and long-term measures to strengthen the dam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu agreed in 1979 that a permanent solution lay in constructing a new dam. At the discussions held on January 25, 1979, under the chairmanship of K.C. Thomas, CWC Chairman, it was decided that “a joint team of engineers from Tamil Nadu and Kerala will explore the possibility of locating a new dam within a reasonable distance from the existing dam.” Officials from both States jointly identified and confirmed the specific location and alignment where the new construction was to be made. Officials from Kerala and Tamil Nadu even inked an agreement on December 20, 1979, to this effect, and this was approved by the CWC Chairman. But this agreement was not carried forward to its logical conclusion. Why is Tamil Nadu objecting to a new dam now?
Kerala has always respected the judiciary and unflinchingly abided by its verdicts. The Supreme Court, in its judgment of February 27, 2006, allowed the raising of the water level to 142 feet, and thereafter to 152 feet upon the baby dam being strengthened. This verdict was based entirely on the recommendations of an Expert Committee constituted by the CWC, which had concluded that the dam is safe, on the basis of erroneous values and insufficient data.
In March 2006, the Kerala Assembly amended the Kerala Irrigation and Water Conservation Act, 2003, fixing the full reservoir level (FRL) of 22 dams in the State. In the case of the Mullaperiyar dam, the FRL was fixed at 136 feet. Through an Original Suit before the Supreme Court, pending final verdict, Tamil Nadu has questioned the Kerala Legislature's competence to enact such an amendment.
The Supreme Court has so far not stayed the legislation fixing the water level at 136 feet, and has only ordered that no dam-strengthening measures be taken up, and that the status quo be maintained on the water level issue. Kerala has the right to object to any cosmetic strengthening measures proposed by Tamil Nadu in the interregnum. It is not true that Kerala has displayed scant regard for a judgment of the Supreme Court.
A study on the “Probable Maximum Flood Estimation and Flood Routing of Mullaperiyar Dam,” by Dr. A.K. Gosain of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, concluded that the dam is hydrologically unsafe. At no point have the findings been disputed. A study on the “Structural Stability of Mullaperiyar Dam with regard to Seismic Effect,” by a team with Dr. Arun Bapat as Chairman, and Dr. D.K. Paul, Head of the Earthquake Engineering Department of the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, as member, predicted that the structure would collapse in the event of a Magnitude-6 earthquake.
These studies point to the fact that the dam is a disaster waiting to happen. In the past few months, the area proximate to the dam has experienced over two dozen tremors of varying magnitudes. The argument that the Idukki dam also lies in this zone and is equally vulnerable is again ingenuous. The Idukki dam has been designed and built to withstand earthquakes of Magnitude-8.
The claim that the Idukki dam can contain the flood water in the event of the Mullaperiyar dam collapsing is contrary to the truth. The combined storage of the Mullaperiyar and Idukki reservoirs had crossed the FRL in 1981, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2005 and 2007. In the event of such a situation arising again and the Mullaperiyar dam collapsing, Idukki would overflow, thereby putting its stability under serious jeopardy. There are more than 1.5 lakh people living downstream between the Mullaperiyar structure and the Idukki dam. What happens to them in the event of damage to the Mullaperiyar dam? Kerala stares at the prospect of a 30-feet tall column of water surging down at a speed of 50 kmph upon the Idukki and Kulamavu dams, thereby overwhelming them and setting off a chain of events that have the makings of an apocalypse for the 35 lakh people living in four districts. The Government of Kerala has to protect its people. There is ample scope to invoke the “precautionary principle of action” in this case, and Kerala is duty-bound to raise it.
It is against this background that Kerala decided to construct a dam downstream of the existing dam to ensure the safety of its citizens and ensure continued supply of water to Tamil Nadu. Contrary to Mr. Durai Murugan's contention, the dam is proposed to be built leaving the present dam intact and without disrupting water supply to Tamil Nadu. It is only on completion of the structure that the old dam is to be decommissioned. Problems pertaining to environmental clearances have been cited in the article as an impediment to the construction of a new dam. The environmental catastrophe that would be unleashed by the collapse of the Mullaperiyar dam, not to mention the cost in terms of human lives lost, needs to be factored in at that stage.
Kerala's commitment to supply the same quantum of water to Tamil Nadu has been endorsed by the Kerala Assembly through a unanimous resolution. Therefore, it is hard to fathom Tamil Nadu's objections against Kerala building a dam on its territory, across a State-river with its own funds. Moreover, is the Tamil Nadu Government — or indeed Mr. Durai Murugan — willing to guarantee that the present structure would withstand the shortcomings in its construction technology and the ravages of nature for the 863 years of the residual period of the lease agreement?
Mr. Durai Murugan contends that there is no scope for further dialogue between the States. Our democracy and the Constitution provide ample opportunity for sustained and purposeful discussions to resolve even the most vexed of issues. Kerala has immense faith in this mechanism to resolve the Mullaperiyar issue to mutual satisfaction. But apparently, Tamil Nadu has been in a state of denial and reluctant to reciprocate, even at the bidding of the Government of India.
The need is for a “new dam,” and not “as good as new dam” as advocated by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister. In Kerala, we hope the government and the people of Tamil Nadu, and indeed the whole nation, would accept this reality and recognise the need for a dam to replace the existing Mullaperiyar dam.
(The author was Minister for Water Resources in the Left Democratic Front government that preceded the present one in Kerala.)

Organic farming not a green alternative now (Time of India 03 January 2012)

2012-01-03T21:53:00.000-08:00

TODOS SANTOS, MEXICO: Clamshell containers on supermarket shelves in the US may depict verdant fields, tangles of vines and ruby red tomatoes . But at this time of year, the tomatoes , peppers and basil certified as organic by the agriculture department often hail from the Mexican desert, and are nurtured with intensive irrigation. Growers here on the Baja Peninsula, the epicenter of Mexico's thriving new organic export sector, describe their toil amid the cactuses as "planting the beach" .

Del Cabo Cooperative, a supplier here for Trader Joe's and Fairway, is sending more than seven and a half tons of tomatoes and basil every day to US by truck and plane to sate the American demand for organic produce year-round . But even as more Americans buy foods with the organic label, the products are increasingly removed from the traditional organic ideal: produce that is not only free of chemicals and pesticides but also grown locally on small farms in a way that protects environment.

The explosive growth in the commercial cultivation of organic tomatoes here, for example, is putting stress on the water table. In some areas , wells have run dry this year, meaning that small subsistence farmers cannot grow crops. And the organic tomatoes end up in an energy-intensive global distribution chain that takes them as far as New York and Dubai, UAE, producing significant emissions that contribute to global warming.

From now until spring, farms from Mexico to Chile to Argentina are enjoying their busiest season. Some large farms that have qualified as organic employed environmentally damaging practices , like planting only one crop, which is bad for soil health, or overtaxing local freshwater supplies. Many growers and even environmental groups in Mexico defend the export-driven organic farming, even as they acknowledge that more than a third of the aquifers in are categorized as overexploited by the Mexican water authority.

Projects fail to control pollution in Yamuna: CAG (Hindistan Times 02 January 2012)

2012-01-02T03:31:00.000-08:00

Environment experts had been saying it all through, activists had been pointing it out for a long time and Delhiites knew it better as they see the polluted Yamuna day in and day out. The Performance Audit of Water Pollution in India by the Comptroller and Auditor General (Report 21 of 2011-12)
has confirmed it.
None of the projects to control pollution in the Yamuna, which were checked by the CAG audit team, has achieved their objective, the report concluded. The pollution control mechanism was not functional and no details were available for monitoring the projects sanctioned under the National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) for the control of pollution in the Yamuna for all projects, the report pointed out.
In Delhi, 10 projects, all related to control of pollution in the Yamuna, were tested. The nodal agency for the NRCP is the Delhi government, while the implementing agencies are the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
According to the report, four sewage treatment plants (STPs) were built for a certain capacity, but the actual sewage generated in respective areas was much more, resulting in several million litres of untreated sewage flowing directly into the river.
One STP was constructed for treating 2 MLD (million litres per day), but the plant is shut since 2007, leading to discharge of untreated sewage in Yamuna. One test-checked STP of 135 MLD capacity was sanctioned in June 2006 and was scheduled to be completed in June 2010. But it was incomplete by the time the report was prepared. Delhi STP projects also topped the list of cost overruns and not meeting the list of deadlines.
“It is not about creation of (right) capacity. There is so much of unplanned growth,” said Ramesh Negi, CEO of DJB, defending the low capacity for an STP unit. “Only 60% of Delhi has sewer network, while 40% is un-serviced. The unauthorised colonies are bound to add to sewage at any STP,” he said, adding, “The trunk sewers, too, are almost 40 years old. Work for its rehabilitation is going on.”
Negi assured that the interceptor sewer programme under the Yamuna Action Plan would help in improving the situation.
Delhi generates approximately 600 million gallons per day (MGD) of sewage, while it has an installed capacity to treat approximately 512.4 MGD wastewater. DJB is in the final stage of preparing the Delhi Sewerage Masterplan (SMP) 2031.

HNY 2012 - Please constitute Yamuna River Conservation Authority, YRCA

2012-01-02T00:50:00.002-08:00

31 December 2011
YJA/CORRES/12/11

Dr Manmohan Singh,
Hon'ble Prime Minister
Govt of India
Raisina Hill
New Delhi

Sub: HNY 2012 - Please constitute Yamuna River Conservation Authority, YRCA

Respected Sir,

Kindly accept heartiest greetings from the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan, YJA on the occasion of the NEW YEAR 2012.

Sir, the sad and deteriorating fate of river Yamuna all along its 1400 km length is hidden from none. This is when large amount of funds most of which is in form of external aid received from JICA, have been expended under the Yamuna Action Plans I, II and now III. Clearly the efforts made by the state have either been ineffective or there is a lack of understanding on the part of the authorities as regards the main ills faced by the holy and life-line river of the cities of Delhi, Mathura, Agra and Allahabad, not to mention large number of other towns and villages lying in the states of UKH, HP, UP, Haryana and Delhi.

Sir, in this context please allow us to draw your kind attention to the formation of a High Powered Committee (HPC) on 24th August 2007 under the Chairmanship of the Lt Governor of Delhi and co-chaired by the CM of Delhi to go into the question of river Yamuna development with a set 'terms of reference' (TOR). This HPC had been constituted under your honour's directions and amongst other things it was meant to "suggest a design for a statutory framework" for the constitution of a River Yamuna Development Authority, YRDA. We understand that the said HPC has since completed its assigned task and its final report has already been submitted to your office.

Sir, in this respect we at YJA have few observations to make and some suggestions to offer.

OBSERVATIONS:

River Yamuna is a special river in ways more than one. It is not only the longest tributary of river Ganga, but it contributes one of the largest basins (rivers Tons, Hindon, Chambal, Sindh, Betwa and Ken) to the river Ganga system. Clearly the fate of river Ganga is inextricably linked with it.

It has a history of floods (the floods in Sep 2010 being the most recent) which have led to the creation of the famous Ganga-Yamuna doab as being one of the most fertile tracts in the land. Clearly the protection of flood plains of these two rivers is of paramount importance for the water and food security of the country.

Above all with the national (Delhi), tourism (Agra) and the religious (Mathura-Vrindavan) capitals of the country standing on the river Yamuna the importance of its restoration cannot be over-emphasised.

SUGGESTION

We at the YJA, thus request and suggest that the recommendations of the said HPC specially the statutory framework as suggested by it may kindly be considered and implemented at the earliest. But before that the said final report of the HPC may please be made public in its entirety at a suitable government site. We suggest the website of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, MOEF may be used for the purpose.

Sir, we hope that such a statutory arrangement (having meaningful public representation on it) shall be pioneering in nature as no other river in the country today enjoys benefit of any such statutory protection measures, which in any case is long over due for the protection and restoration of our river systems.

Sir, we also suggest that let the said Authority be called the 'Yamuna River Conservation Authority' YRCA, and not the earlier named YRDA as our rivers are in urgent need of measures to 'conserve' and 'restore' rather than to 'develop' them.

We hope that your honour would find merit in our submissions as made above.

Warm regards,

Manoj Misra
Convener

CC:

Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan, Hon’ble Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Environment and Forests - For your kind information and necessary action please.

Sri Tejendra Khanna, Hon'ble Lt Governor of Delhi - For your kind information and necessary action please.

Smt. Sheila Dixit, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Instance of willful violation by DTC and DDA of DUAC directions

2012-01-02T00:50:00.001-08:00

2 January 2012
YJA/CORRES/1/12

Sri Raj Rewal
Chairman
Delhi Urban Art Commission
India Habitat Centre
New Delhi

Sub: Instance of willful violation by DTC and DDA of DUAC directions
dated 3 Dec 2010

Dear Sir,

Greetings on New Year 2012 from the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan.

Kindly recall that the Secretary DUAC had vide letter dated December 3, 2010 in the matter of "DTC depot opposite IP Park, Ring Road", and in pursuance of decision taken at the Commissions' meeting held on October 27, 2010 and on November 10, 2010, directed both the Chairman-cum-Managing Director, DTC and the Vice Chairman, DDA in the following manner:

“a) ..
b) ..
c) The zonal plan of Zone O does not permit any such facility area and the proposal violates the zonal plan provisions
d) Since it was built as a temporary facility for the Commonwealth Games, the Yamuna river bed should be restored to its original form and the existing structures and hard top road surface should be demolished and removed immediately.
e) All ongoing construction and use must be stopped immediately......"

Sir, against the above clear directives neither the DTC nor the DDA seem to have taken steps as directed. And not just that, the DTC has also raised new construction in the same area as is clear from the enclosed pictorial report. It is also learnt that the DTC has also created third party interest at the site in form of sub lease granted/agreement entered into with private bus operators to use a part of the site to park the buses.

The above is in clear violations of your statutory directives. It is brought to your kind notice for kind information and for taking necessary action as deem fit in the matter.

With warm regards,

Manoj Misra
Convener

CC:

Sri Tejendra Khanna, Hon'ble Lt Governor of Delhi - For your kind information and necessary action please.

Smt. Sheila Dixit, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Chief Secretary, Govt. of NCT of Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Vice Chairman, Delhi Development Authority – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Chairman, Yamuna Standing Committee, Central Water Commission, Sewa Bhawan, R.K. Puram, New Delhi – For your kind information please.

Unwarranted fears on Mullaiperiyar (Durai Murugan) - The Hindu (31 Dec 2011)

2011-12-31T00:42:00.000-08:00

There can be no question of Tamil Nadu giving up its rights over Mullaiperiyar. Its waters are not exclusively Kerala's, but an inter-State resource governed by the principles of inter-State rivers.

In the latest intensification of the Mullaiperiyar controversy, I see the media discourse not only tilted in favour of Kerala but also seeking to paint Tamil Nadu in a bad light — as an adamant State not concerned about the safety of the people in the neighbouring State. The propaganda by Kerala, which was started way back in 1979 with an article in a Malayalam newspaper, has become so institutionalised now that I see independent experts and activists voicing opinions that fail to take into account Tamil Nadu's considered standpoint.

One of the reasons for the national media overlooking Tamil Nadu's views could be lack of ‘experts', ‘intellectuals', ‘activists', ‘policy-makers' and the like — those who normally contribute erudite articles to the edit and op-ed pages of English newspapers and also appear on television debates — to articulate the State's perspective. But the most important reason is that Mullaiperiyar per se is not an emotive or political issue in Tamil Nadu, which has been treating it as a rights issue that it can solve legally. After all, justice is on the side of the right.

That does not mean that Tamil Nadu has not been responsive to the ‘concerns' that were manufactured with the sole intention of nullifying the State's right over 8000 acres of land that Tamil Nadu holds inside Kerala by virtue of an agreement between the erstwhile Maharaja of Travancore and the British Government in India in 1886. Tamil Nadu has taken several steps over the past three decades to allay the fears of the people in Kerala despite knowing very well that politicians were causing panic by propagating falsehoods.

In this context, I found it amusing when Ramaswamy R. Iyer, in two articles, one in The Hindu and another in its sister publication Frontline, stated: “Let Tamil Nadu and Kerala set up a joint committee and reach a mutual agreement. This is essentially a matter for settlement by amicable agreement, not judicial determination.” When I read his statements that neither the view of the Central Water Commission nor the judgment of the Supreme Court was acceptable, I wondered what locus standi he had to make such a suggestion.

With due respect to his views, let me provide key irrefutable facts to reject his thesis. Mr. Iyer himself should be aware of the fact that several rounds of talks have been held between the two States during the past three decades and all of them failed. The talks were held at different levels. Chief Ministers of the States have discussed the issue; Irrigation Ministers have tried to sort out the differences; Chief Secretaries have attempted to arrive at a solution; and other officials have sat across the table several times, even in the presence of the Union Water Resources Ministry. Does Mr. Iyer think that a mutual agreement is possible even now?

But what is galling is Mr. Iyer's contention that it is not a matter for judicial determination. It is the right of every citizen of this country to seek legal recourse on contentious issues and his or her duty to abide by the ruling of the courts. The fact that the Kerala government has failed to abide by the directions of the Supreme Court of India is something no one is bringing to light in the media discourse.

One example relates to the strengthening of the Mullaiperiyar dam, which needs to be done in three phases — emergency, medium-term, and long-term, as advised by the Central Water Commission. Though the medium level strengthening has been completed, Kerala did not allow Tamil Nadu to raise the water level to 142 feet as per the Supreme Court's directive. But overcoming the obstacles that Kerala threw in the way of carrying out the work was more agonising. When Tamil Nadu wanted to use small explosives to break stones, Kerala objected saying that the noise would disturb wildlife. When Tamil Nadu tried to transport the gravel in lorries, they stopped the vehicles saying the sound would scare the animals. At last, we used donkeys to transport building material.

Now Kerala is refusing to give permission for strengthening the baby dam, which is part of the irrigation system in Mullaiperiyar, and the building of the parapet walls on the main dam, which is essential if Tamil Nadu is to complete the long-term strengthening process. If Kerala's concern is the dam's safety alone, why is it preventing us physically from carrying out the strengthening work? I hope the people of Kerala, if they are really fearful of the dam bursting, would ask this of their rulers. Once the long-term strengthening is done, Tamil Nadu would be legally entitled to store water up to 152 feet. It is pertinent here to record the fact that the Kerala government has steadfastly refused to give a power connection to the small PWD maintenance office located at the dam site.

Another issue raised by Mr. Iyer and some other ‘experts' is that the 1886 agreement is seen as ‘unfair' to Kerala. But has its government ever made an issue of it openly? In the various talks I have participated in, the alleged unfairness of the agreement never cropped up. The land clearly belongs to Tamil Nadu as the agreement of 1886 is legally sound.

There can be no question of Tamil Nadu giving up its rights over Mullaiperiyar. The latest slogan, ‘Water for Tamil Nadu, Safety for Kerala,' is just a deception. The proposal for a new dam downstream, which has caught the fancy of many well-meaning people with no real knowledge of ground realities, is only a ploy to deprive Tamil Nadu of water. The most important element that is missing in this narrative is that Mullaiperiyar waters are not exclusively Kerala's, but an inter-State resource governed by the principles of inter-State rivers.

Let me explain why. First, if a new dam is constructed away — that too, downstream — from the Mullaiperiyar, Tamil Nadu will not be able to draw water and supply it to the rain-shadow districts of Theni, Dindigul, Madurai, Sivagangai, and Ramanathapuram. Secondly, environmental clearance could be an uphill task for the construction of a new structure now, given the latest laws, which might be used as a pretext by Kerala to throw up its hands after knocking off the present dam and thus achieving its goal of diverting the water to Idukki dam for power generation.

Kerala's politicians have never told their people for more than two decades that if the Mullaiperiyar is removed, then only about eight tmcft of water would flow into the Idukki dam, which can hold 73 tmcft water. When the people, who have never had an opportunity to see the dam in the thick reserve forest area, were enlightened that the Idukki dam, which is normally filled only up to half its capacity, would hold the water, the Kerala government machinery floated a theory that Idukki would not be able to withstand the sudden inflow. But even the Kerala Advocate General recently told the court that the water would easily collect in the three dams downstream, including Idukki.

Coming to the bogey of ‘tremors' becoming a common occurrence in the region, I wonder why Kerala is so cavalier about it, if its claims were true. Will not a strong earthquake pull down the Idukki dam, which is also in the same seismic region, and cause more devastation?

Another suggestion by Mr. Iyer that hurt me immensely is that Tamil Nadu should “minimise…[its] dependence on the waters of the Mullaiperiyar dam.” All those who want the dam to be decommissioned or its water level brought down to 120 feet should read the life history of Major John Pennycuick, the British humanist who was moved by the plight of the people after a series of famines that led to starvation deaths and large-scale migration from the rain-shadow region. The dam is an example of an educated man's compassion for the marginalised sections of society that eke out a living tilling the ground.

Let me conclude by stating another truth. Kerala politicians mounted the proverbial tiger on the Mullaiperiyar issue. They cannot dismount now. But we believe in justice and that explains why we never played any obstructionist role in bringing out the truth that the dam would stand firm for many more years to give livelihood to the people in Tamil Nadu.

(The author is a senior DMK leader and has been a Tamil Nadu Minister holding portfolios of the PWD and Water Resources and Law.)

Two States and a water issue (Ramaswamy R. Iyer) - The Hindu (29 Dec 2011)

2011-12-31T00:41:00.000-08:00

Reassure the people in Kerala on the safety of Mullaperiyar dam, and persuade the people in Tamil Nadu to accept a safe water-level behind the dam. Bring about an agreement through amicable negotiations.

This article seeks to explain the elements of the raging controversy over the Mullaperiyar dam for the information of the general reader. There are four distinct aspects to this case, and these are elucidated below.

(a) Extraordinary nature of the project: This is a project involving the eastward diversion of the waters of a west-flowing river, which has been celebrated as a gigantic feat of 19th century engineering. It was a major intervention in nature of a kind that is no longer much in favour. Was that feat of engineering necessary? Were there no other possibilities of development — less ambitious, less capital-intensive, less damaging to nature and wildlife, more local, less water-demanding — for the water-short districts in the Vaigai Basin? Such questions were probably not asked at the time. EIAs, the assessment of options, etc., are practices that came up much later. Be that as it may, the project was constructed and Periyar waters have been flowing to Tamil Nadu for over a hundred years.

(b) Sense of grievance in Kerala: Under the 1886 agreement between the former Madras Presidency and the princely State of Travancore, Travancore agreed to the diversion of Periyar waters to Madras Presidency, and to lease a piece of land (8000 acres) in its territory to Madras Presidency for building and operating the project designed for this purpose. The curious fact is that the lease was for 999 years. Whole countries and civilisations could have changed during that period! In Kerala, there is an almost universal feeling (right or wrong) that the 1886 agreement was an unfair one imposed on a reluctant Travancore by a more powerful Madras Presidency with the prestige and power of the British government behind it; and that while Madras (now Tamil Nadu) benefited substantially from the agreement, Travancore (Kerala) got little more than a negligible lease-rent for the land leased to Madras. In 1970, an increase in the lease rent was negotiated by Kerala but there was no radical revision of the totality of the agreement. In any resolution of the Mullaperiyar issue, some assuaging of Kerala's longstanding grievance will have to be an element.

(c) The dam safety question and the people's fears: Prima facie, dam safety does not seem a suitable subject for judicial determination. One wishes that the Supreme Court had told the two State governments to resolve the issue by amicable discussions, or to seek the intervention of the Central government. Alternatively, the Supreme Court could have directed the Inter-State Council, a constitutional body, to intervene and bring about an amicable settlement. Instead the learned judges decided to deal with the matter themselves, and appointed an Empowered Committee to examine and report on it. The Empowered Committee includes eminent experts but their opinion, even if the Supreme Court accepts it, may not necessarily be the final word on the subject, particularly if a different opinion is given by other equally distinguished experts outside. Under the circumstances, the sensible course would be for the two State governments, perhaps with the assistance of a joint committee of experts, to reach a reasonable agreement on the subject.

However, no expert can give an absolute guarantee of safety. The dam in this case is 116 years old, and even with all the strengthening measures, one can hardly be wholly confident about its safety under all circumstances. The recent tremors in the area might have been minor but no one can guarantee that a stronger earthquake will not occur, or that if it does the dam will withstand it; or that if there is an exceptionally heavy flood the dam will be safe. These are extreme and perhaps improbable situations but the point is that there can be no absolute unqualified guarantee of safety under all circumstances. That is true of all dams, and particularly so of ageing dams and of dams in seismically active areas.

Moreover, what the experts say may not allay the fears of the people downstream of the dam. To some extent those fears might have been accentuated by the statements of political leaders but they cannot be lightly dismissed as imaginary or paranoid. The people living in the shadow of the dam need to be reassured.

The remote contingency of a risk actually materialising may be acceptable in many cases, but unacceptable in a few. It seems to this writer that the risk in this case falls into the category of ‘unacceptable'.

Having regard to all this, it seems clear that this is a fit case for the application of the Precautionary Principle. This means that the authorities concerned must refrain from putting undue strain on the dam.

A further point is that with strengthening measures, the 116-year-old dam can perhaps be kept going for some more years but it must be presumed to be nearing the end of its useful life. Contingency plans must be prepared for the eventual phasing out of the dam. These must include alternative means of supporting economic activity and prosperity in the project-dependent areas in Tamil Nadu.

The Kerala government wants to replace the old dam by a new dam to be constructed 300 metres downstream. It is not clear that this will enable the continuance of flows to Tamil Nadu. In any case, the old dam itself was a horrendous intervention in nature, but it exists and we have to live with it; but there is no reason why the hubristic engineering of more than a century ago must now be repeated. If Kerala's objective is to escape from what it considers an unfair agreement, the proper course is to re-negotiate the old agreement, and not build a new dam.

(d) The concerns of people in Tamil Nadu: Whatever views one might hold on the nature of the project, the fact is that the people in the water-short Vaigai Basin areas in Tamil Nadu have been recipients of Periyar waters for over a hundred years, and must be presumed to have acquired some kind of a right of established use. The dispute regarding the safety of the dam has created a sense of uncertainty — in fact an acute anxiety — in the areas concerned in Tamil Nadu about continued flows. Thus, there are two vulnerabilities in this case: the life-security concerns of people in Kerala and the livelihood-security concerns of the people of Tamil Nadu. Both need to be addressed.

Pleas to all
Having regard to the foregoing analysis, this writer respectfully makes the following pleas to all:

To the two State governments or to the one concerned:

• tone down the rhetoric; don't take extreme, non-negotiable positions;

• don't build a new dam;

• strengthen the existing dam and operate it safely at a mutually agreed water-level; implement whatever safety measures the experts recommend;

• negotiate changes in the old agreement to remove the continuing sense of unfairness;

• reassure the people in Kerala on safety, and persuade the people in Tamil Nadu to accept a safe water-level behind the dam; bring about an agreement on this through amicable negotiations with the assistance of NGOs, eminent persons, etc;

• recognise that even with strengthening, the 116-year-old dam will not last forever, and plan for its gradual phasing out over a period of time; explore alternative ways of meeting the legitimate water needs of the affected population; minimise their dependence on waters from the Mullaperiyar dam through better water management, changes in cropping patterns, changes to forms of development that need less water, etc. (The Centre should assist Tamil Nadu in such adaptation efforts.)

To the people in both States:

• don't demonise each other;

• recognise each other's vulnerabilities;

• remember that the history has been one of inter-State cooperation and harmony; don't endanger that spirit.

To intellectuals, eminent persons, NGOs, the media, etc, in both States:

• educate public opinion;

• bring the people together; promote understanding and harmony; defuse the current tension.

Sir, we regret to remind - Unrelenting solid waste dumping on in river bed

2011-12-30T23:14:00.000-08:00

29 December 2011
YJA/CORRES/12/11

Sri Tejendra Khanna
Hon'ble Lt Governor of Delhi
Raj Niwas
GNCT of DELHI

Sub: Sir, we regret to remind - Unrelenting solid waste dumping on in river bed

Respected Sir,

Greetings from Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan.

Sir, this is in continuation of earlier communications dated 12 November and 5 December 2011, whereby we had brought to your kind attention about solid waste (construction/building debris) being dumped in the river bed. We had hoped that your directions in the matter would have been heeded to by the relevant agencies.

But today again when we visited the site we were appalled to notice the large scale dumping going on as before. Please see the enclosed pictures from today (29.12.2011).

This also raises a moot point if this is the only site in the river bed where such dumping is taking place or other parts of the river bed in the city are also facing similar assault?

We request that DDA, MCD and PWD may kindly be asked to not only get this illegality stopped and to get this site cleared of the dumped solid waste and to restore the natural lake and the river bed, but to also report to your honour regarding other similar sites if any in the river bed.

Hoping that your honour would see merit in our submissions.

Warm regards,

Manoj Misra
Convener

Encl: As above

CC:

Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan, Hon’ble Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Environment and Forests For your kind information and necessary action please.

Smt. Sheila Dixit, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Chief Secretary, Govt. of NCT of Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Vice Chairman, Delhi Development Authority – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Chairman, Delhi Urban Arts Commission, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110 003 – For your kind information please.

Chairman, Yamuna Standing Committee, Central Water Commission, Sewa Bhawan, R.K. Puram, New Delhi – For your kind information please.

SC moved for review of Yamuna order (Times of India)

2011-12-27T22:40:00.000-08:00

Neha Lalchandani, TNN | Dec 28, 2011, 06.53AM IST

NEW DELHI: The original petitioners in the case of encroachment on the Yamuna, filed in the Delhi high court in 2007, have filed a curative petition in the Supreme Court, asking it to review its decision of 2009 that once an embankment is constructed, the land enclosed by it ceases to be a flood plain.

The group, led by waterman Rajindra Singh and Manoj Mishra, has stated in the petition that the concerned bench should take into account the floods of 2010 and the Shunglu Committee report on the CWG to reverse its order on the legality of the Commonwealth Games Village and address the larger issue of encroachment on the flood plain. "A petition against the games village had been filed in the HC for protection of the river and the flood plain. We had relied upon DDA's master plan, NEERI reports, the Ministry of Environment and Forests rulings and other expert reports to say that the village was an encroachment on the flood plain and that it was ecologically sensitive area that should be protected," said Mishra.

The HC's November 2008 judgment was challenged in a special leave petition in the SC which, in an order issued on July 30, 2009, set aside the HC order saying that the land on the north of the embankment, on which the games village had come up, was no longer river bed by virtue of being enclosed by the embankment. A review was filed against this order which was dismissed in December 2009.

Petitioners say that post the dismissal of the review petition in the SC, two significant developments took place which they have used to support their latest petition. "In the flooding of 2010, the land south and east of the embankment was flooded. Even the basements of the games village were flooded despite the presence of the embankment. This proves that the entire stretch of land is river bed. The order did not make any mention of the DMRC quarters that also came up west of Akshardham that were also affected by the flood waters," said Mishra.
The Akshardham temple was used as a precedent in the earlier order, justifying the construction of the games village which we feel was unjustified , he added.

He also said that in the Shunglu Committee report on the CWG, submitted in 2011, a case had been made against the village stating that no alternative sites were considered for the Commonwealth Games Village "because of an implicit desire to construct next to the Akshardham and at no other site."

Towards a clean Yamuna (The Hindu 23 December 2011)

2011-12-26T00:16:00.002-08:00

Chief Minister opens work on interceptor sewers in Nangloi
Delhi's dream of a clean Yamuna got a step closer to realisation on Thursday when work for laying interceptor sewers was inaugurated in the presence of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit at Nihal Vihar under the Nangloi segment of the Delhi Assembly.
Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Dikshit described it “as a historic moment” which will go a long way in reviving the glory of the Yamuna. Referring to the interceptor sewer proposal, she said the work has been finalised in consultation with the Planning Commission and Engineers India Limited has been appointed as project management consultant for implementation of the project which will cost Rs.1,978 crore.
The cost includes 11 years operations and maintenance of the entire system of interceptor sewer apart from the capital cost.
Work on the sewers will begin on Friday and is expected to be complete by 2014. Ms. Diskhit, who is also the chairperson of the Delhi Jal Board that has been mandated to carry out the work, said with the interceptors in place, the river will become pollution-free within the next couple of years and its quality will improve from 41 ppm to 12 ppm.
She said the quality will further improve downstream and the treated effluent will be utilised for non potable purposes, and sewage from areas with no sewer connections will be trapped and prevented form entering the Yamuna.
Pointing out that dumping solid waste and garbage, entry of untreated waste water, addition of industrial effluent, litter, plastic and polythene add to the pollution in the river, Ms. Dikshit exhorted all stake-holders to work in tandem and ensure completion of their responsibilities assigned under the interceptor sewer project.
The MCD is supposed to prevent dumping of garbage in drains and the river besides desilting and fencing of drains, the Irrigation and Flood Control Department has been assigned to de-silt and channelise drains, the DDA has also been asked to ensure that the riverbank is free of squatters and the DSIIDC will have to ensure the treatment of all industrial effluent through its CETPs before discharge, while the Delhi Pollution Control Committee is supposed to monitor various water quality parameters in the river, the Chief Minister pointed out.
She said the new sewer treatment plants will be put up after the existing capacity of STPs is fully utilised. The work has been awarded to three different agencies for completing it in a time-bound manner.
Sewers of 59 km length, 20 to 60 feet depth and sizes ranging from 24 mm to 600 mm diameter will be laid along the three major drains to intercept sewage flowing from subsidiary small drains and convey it to the nearest STP to ensure that only treated sewage is discharged.

पालम ड्रेन की सफाई करेगा बैक्टीरिया (Navbharat Times 22 December 2011)

2011-12-26T00:16:00.001-08:00

पूनम पाण्डे॥ नई दिल्ली: पालम ड्रेन की सफाई अब बैक्टीरिया करेंगे। इससे ड्रेन का पानी इस हद तक साफ हो जाएगा कि उसे सिंचाई के लिए इस्तेमाल किया जा सकता है। पालम ड्रेन आगे जाकर नजफगढ़ ड्रेन में गिरती है और नजफगढ़ ड्रेन यमुना में। डीडीए ने इसके लिए टेंडर निकाले हैं। इंटैक की निगरानी में यह काम होगा।
बायो रेमिडिएशन टेक्निक के जरिए पालम ड्रेन की सफाई होगी। इंटैक के अधिकारी ने बताया कि इसमें पानी में धीरे-धीरे बैक्टीरिया छोड़े जाते हैं। यह बैक्टीरिया पानी की सफाई करते हैं। एक सोर्स से बैक्टीरिया लगातार पानी में मिलते हैं और नाले के साथ ही आगे बढ़ते जाते हैं। इस तरह बैक्टीरिया की संख्या भी बढ़ती जाती है और पानी साफ होता है। इंटैक इस तरह का पायलट प्रोजेक्ट कुशक नाला पर कर चुका है, जो काफी सफल रहा। इंटैक ने पहले बायो रेमिडिएशन के जरिए नालों की सफाई करने का प्रपोजल दिल्ली जल बोर्ड को दिया था। लेकिन इस पर कुछ हुआ नहीं। अब डीडीए ने पालम ड्रेन साफ करने के लिए इस तरीके को अपनाया है।
इंटैक अधिकारी ने बताया कि यह 3 से 5 साल तक का प्रोजेक्ट होगा। बैक्टीरिया के जरिए ड्रेन का पानी साफ होगा और चाहें तो इसे सिंचाई के लिए इस्तेमाल किया जा सकता है। इस तरीके से नाले की सफाई करना पारंपरिक तरीके से काफी सस्ता बैठता है। जैसे पालम ड्रेन की सफाई बायो रेमिडिएशन से करने और पारंपरिक तरीके से करने में लागत में करीब 6 गुना का अंतर आएगा। बायो रेमिडिएशन तरीका 6 गुना सस्ता पड़ेगा। जैसे इस तरीके में कैपिटल कॉस्ट करीब 12 करोड़ रुपये आएगी। इसमें नालों के किनारे सुधारे जाएंगे और आसपास की गंदगी साफ की जाएगी। ऑपरेशंस और मेंटिनेंस का खर्च करीब 3 करोड़ रुपये आएगा। अगर पारंपरिक तरीके से नाला साफ करना चाहे तो कैपिटल कॉस्ट 75 करोड़ रुपये आएगी और जमीन की लागत अलग से। जिस जमीन पर ट्रीटमेंट प्लांट बनाया जाएगा। ऑपरेशंस और मेंटेनेंस का खर्च करीब 9 करोड़ रुपये होगा साथ ही बहुत ज्यादा बिजली भी खर्च होगी। साल में कम से कम 10 मिलियन किलोवॉट बिजली इस्तेमाल होगी। पारंपरिक तरीके में नाले को ट्रीटमेंट प्लांट में ले जाकर साफ किया जाता है और फिर ट्रीटेड पानी बाहर आ जाता है।
दिल्ली जल बोर्ड यमुना को साफ करने के लिए पारंपरिक तरीका ही इस्तेमाल कर रहा है। वह इंटरसेप्टर प्रोजेक्ट पर काम कर रहा है। इसके तहत यमुना में गिरने वाले नालों को रोककर उन्हें सीवेज ट्रीटमेंट प्लांट ले जाया जाएगा। यहां ट्रीट होने के बाद इन नालों को फिर बड़े नालों में छोड़ा जाएगा और तब नालों से जो पानी यमुना में गिरता है वह ट्रीटेड होगा। अगर नालों की सफाई बायो रेेमिडिएशन तरीके से की जाती तो यह काफी सस्ता पड़ता। पानी दोनों तरीके से लगभग बराबर ही साफ होगा। जल बोर्ड मान रहा है कि इंटरसेप्टर प्रोजेक्ट से यमुना पूरी तरह साफ नहीं होगी और यमुना का पानी नहाने लायक नहीं होगा। यह बस सिंचाई के लायक ही होगा। इंटैक के मुताबिक बैक्टीरिया से पालम ड्रेन को साफ करने के बाद उसका पानी भी सिंचाई के लायक हो जाए गा।

यमुना किनारे सुनाई देगा पक्षियों का कलरव (Dainik Jagran 22 December 2011)

2011-12-21T21:56:00.001-08:00

नई दिल्ली वह दिन दूर नहीं जब दिल्ली अपने पुराने समय में लौटेगी। यमुना के किनारे पक्षियों का कलरव गूंजेगा, भंवरों और मधु मक्खियों की गुंजन सुनाई देगी और इधर-उधर रंग-बिरंगी तितलियों का मंडराना देख सकेंगे। इसे यमुना बायोडायवर्सिटी पार्क में दिल्ली विश्वविद्यालय के वैज्ञानिक अंजाम देने जा रहे हैं। प्रयोग के तौर पर पहले फेज में बाहरी दिल्ली में 157 एकड़ में जिस बायोडायवर्सिटी पार्क को विकसित किया गया है वह प्रयोग सफल रहा है। इससे प्रभावित होकर उपराज्यपाल तेजेंद्र खन्ना ने इस योजना के दूसरे फेज में 300 एकड़ में शीघ्रता से काम करने के डीडीए और डीयू के अधिकारियों को निर्देश दिए हैं। यमुना डायवर्सिटी पार्क की योजना पर 2003 से काम शुरू किया गया था। यह कार्य डीडीए व दिल्ली विश्वविद्यालय के सेंटर फार इन्वायरमेंटल मैनेजमेंट आफ डिगरेटेड इको सिस्टम्स एक साथ मिल कर रहे हैं। इसके हेड डीयू के प्रोफेसर व देश के जाने माने इकोलोजिस्ट प्रो.सी आर बाबू हैं। उनके नेतृत्व में 7 वैज्ञानिकों की टीम व डीडीए अधिकारी योजना पर काम कर रहे हैं। योजना के तहत 457 एकड़ क्षेत्र में वैज्ञानिक आधार पर हरियाली विकसित की जानी है। इसमें पशु पक्षियों, जीव जंतुओं को जीवन भी मिल सके। पहले चरण में 157 एकड़ में बाहरी दिल्ली में कोरेनेशन पार्क के पास बायोडायवर्सिटी पार्क विकसित किया गया। इसमें 1.8 किमी में कृत्रिम झील विकसित की है। इसे भी पेड़-पौधे व मछलियों से सज्जित किया गया। इस पर काम कर रहे डीयू के कीट वैज्ञानिक मोहम्मद फैसल कहते हैं कि झील में अब प्रति वर्ष यहां पर 3 हजार से लेकर 5 हजार साइबेरियन पक्षी पहुंचते हैं। पूरे एनसीआर में यह ऐसी झील है जहां पर यूरोप से प्रति वर्ष 30 से लेकर 40 तक रेड क्रिस्टल आती हैं। अब हैं यहां 190 प्रजाति के पक्षी हैं। पहले यहां मात्र 2 प्रजाति की तितलियां थीं और अब 55 प्रजाति की तितलियां व इल्ली हैं।

गंगा सफाई में यूपी ने खड़े किए हाथ (Dainik Jagran 22 December 2011)

2011-12-21T21:55:00.000-08:00

गंगा को वर्ष 2020 तक निर्मल करने का लक्ष्य फिलहाल पूरा होता नहीं दिख रहा है। उत्तर प्रदेश सरकार के पास गंगा नदी की सफाई के लिए पर्याप्त धन नहीं है, इसलिए सरकार नदी सफाई से जुड़ी तमाम योजनाओं पर वह केवल दस फीसदी अंशदान ही दे पाएगी। नदी सफाई योजनाओं पर शेष 90 फीसद खर्च केंद्र सरकार को वहन करना पड़ेगा। नए पेंच के बाद गंगा सफाई से जुड़ी योजनाओं पर विराम लगता दिख रहा है। यह फैसला बुधवार को राज्य गंगा नदी संरक्षण प्राधिकरण की बैठक में लिया गया। लोक निर्माण मंत्री नसीमुद्दीन सिद्दीकी की अध्यक्षता में हुई बैठक में तय हुआ कि केंद्र सरकार के पर्यावरण एवं वन मंत्रालय को फैसले से अवगत करा दिया जाए। राष्ट्रीय नदी गंगा को प्रदूषण मुक्त करने के लिए प्रधानमंत्री की अध्यक्षता में गठित राष्ट्रीय गंगा नदी संरक्षण प्राधिकरण में यह तय किया गया था कि राज्य सरकार विभिन्न योजनाओं पर आने वाले खर्च का 30 फीसदी नदी सफाई पर वहन करेगी, जबकि 70 फीसदी अंश केंद्र का होगा। इसके तहत सात परियोजनाएं स्वीकृत भी की जा चुकी हैं जिन पर काम भी शुरू किया जा चुका है। इनमें मुरादाबाद, कन्नौज, गढ़मुक्तेश्वर व इलाहाबाद सहित वाराणसी की दो योजनाएं शामिल हैं। अब राज्य सरकार को यह कदम महंगा पड़ रहा है। कदम पीछे खींचते हुए उसने 30 फीसदी के स्थान पर दस फीसदी योगदान की हामी भरी है और गेंद केंद्र के पाले में डाल दी है। इसे देखते हुए गंगा को निर्मल करने की कोशिशों को फिलहाल झटका लग सकता है। पॉलीथीन प्रदूषण पर अंकुश न लगाने पर नसीमुद्दीन ने अधिकारियों को फटकार लगाई। उन्होंने नगर आयुक्त व जिलाधिकारियों को जिम्मेदारी याद दिलाते हुए कानून को प्रभावी तरीके से लागू कराने के निर्देश दिए।

यमुना नहर को साफ रखने के लिए जुड़ता गया कारवां (Dainik Bhaskar Yamunanagar 19 December 2011)

2011-12-19T00:46:00.000-08:00

यह था यमुना एक्शन प्लान
कोल इंडिया से सेवा निवृत्त आदित्य ने उठाया यमुना नहर को साफ करने का बीड़ा
यमुना एक्शन प्लान के तहत 17.1 बिलियन यान खर्च कर भी जो काम अधूरा रहा, जिस काम को सरकार और कोई एनजीओ नहीं कर पाई। उस काम को अकेला आदमी पूरा करने में लगा है।
यमुना नहर में अंगद की पांव तरह जमीं गंदगी को साफ करने का बीड़ा उठाया है कोल इंडिया से डीजीएस पद से सेवानिवृत्त आदित्य ने और काफी हद तक वो इसे साफ करने में सफल भी हो रहे हैं। उन्होंने इस दिशा में ध्यान देना शुरू किया। यमुना की सफाई के लिए वे किसी संगठन, सरकार या एनजीओ के पास नहीं गए। बस खुद ही जुट गए। जितना कर सकते थे, किया। शुरुआत में दिक्कत आई। हर रोज दो सेशन में यमुना नहर के घाट की सफाई शुरू की। गंदगी जमा कराना। उसे सुखना फिर जलाना। अब उनकी दिनचर्या का हिस्सा बना हुआ है।
लोग भी हो रहे जागरूक : आदित्य यहां की सफाई तो करते हैं, इसके साथ ही गंदगी डालने वालों से बातचीत भी करते हैं। उन्हें बताते हैं कि यहां श्रद्धालु स्नान करने आते हैं। पूजा करते हैं। ऐसे में यहां गंदगी होगी तो कैसा लगेगा।

बस यह चंद शब्द ही लोगों को यहां गंदगी न डालने के प्रति प्रेरित करने के लिए काफी है। आदित्य ने बताया कि वास्तव में यहां लोग बड़ी मात्रा में पूजा सामग्री डालते हैं। स्नान के बाद कपड़े भी यहां छोड़ जाते हैं। इस वजह से यहां गंदगी भरा माहौल हो जाता है। यह पानी दिल्ली और दक्षिण हरियाणा में पीने के लिए प्रयोग किया जाता है। उनका मानना है कि लोग अब जागरूक होने लगे हैं।
नहर है आस्था की प्रतीक: उल्लेखनीय है कि हथनीकुंड बैराज पर यमुना नदी का पानी पश्चिमी यमुना नहर में डाल दिया जाता है। ऐसे में यमुना नदी यमुनानगर में सूखी है। लोग अपने धार्मिक अनुष्ठान भी नहर किनारे ही करने लगे हैं। इसलिए यह नहर ही आस्था की प्रतीक है।
आदित्य के अनुसार शुरूआत में तो लोग उनकी बात सुनने के लिए तैयार नहीं थे। लेकिन जब वे लगातार इस सफाई के काम में लगे रहे तो लोगों ने भी इसमें रूचि लेने लगे। अब उनकी योजना है कि स्कूली बच्चों व प्रशासन को साथ जोड़ा जाए। आदित्य के मुताबिक यदि यमुना किनारे कुछ डस्टबिन रख दिए जाए तो यह समस्या काफी हद तक दूर हो सकती है। अब लोग मानने लगे कि यमुना में सामग्री डालना सही नहीं हैं।
आदित्य मूलत : इंदौर से हैं। यमुनानगर उनका ससुराल है। इस वजह से उनका नगर में आना जाना लगा रहता था। यमुना की खूबसूरती ने उन्हें इंदौर छोड़ विवश कर दिया। लेकिन जब नहर के हालात देखे तो वे काफी दुखित हुए। यहीं से उन्होंने इसके जीर्णोद्धार के लिए काम करना शुरू किया। शुरुआत में इधर उधर हाथ पांव मारने के बावजूद भी कोई बात नहीं बनी। फिर खुद ही ठान लिया। सुबह साढ़े छह बजे से नौ बजे तक और शाम को साढ़े छह से आठ बजे तक दोनों पहर वे घाट पर जाते हैं। जितनी भी गंदगी मिलती है। साफ करते हैं।
निदेशालय राष्ट्रीय नदी सरंक्षण, पर्यावरण मंत्रालय भारत सरकार ने जापान के सहयोग से यमुना एक्शन प्लान चलाया था। जापान बैंक और इंटरनेशनल ने 17.7 बिलियन येन की मदद दी थी। यमुना एक्शन प्लान का उद्देश्य था कि नहर व नदी को प्रदूषण मुक्त किया जाए। यह काम 2000 तक पूरा हो जाना था। समय पर काम पूरा न होने की वजह से यह काम फरवरी 2003 तक पूरा हुआ। काम पूरा हो गया, लेकिन गंदगी अभी भी बरकरार है। इसकी वजह यह है कि लोगों में अभी इसके प्रति जागरुकता का अभाव बना हुआ है। फिलहाल लोगों में ण्क शुरूआत हुई है जो हर लिहाज से बेहतर माना जा रहा है।

TRRT Workshop Yamuna Nagar (Dainik Bhaskar 08 December 2011)

2011-12-19T00:43:00.000-08:00

TRRT Workshop Yamuna Nagar (Punjab Kesari 30 November 2011)

2011-12-19T00:42:00.001-08:00

TRRT Workshop Yamuna Nagar (Dainik Bhaskar 12 December 2011)

2011-12-19T00:40:00.000-08:00

TRRT Workshop Yamuna Nagar (Dainik Jagran 14 December 11)

2011-12-19T00:31:00.000-08:00

TRRT Workshop Yamuna Nagar (Dainik Jagran 14 December 2011)

2011-12-19T00:27:00.000-08:00

TRRT Workshop Yamuna Nagar (Dainik Bhaskar 13 December 2011)

2011-12-19T00:24:00.003-08:00

Please make public the DDA plans for the BD parks in river Yamuna flood plains in the city

2011-12-16T01:26:00.001-08:00

14 December 2011
YJA/CORRES/12/11

Sri G.S. Patnaik,
Vice Chairman
Delhi Development Authority
New Delhi

Sub: Please make public the DDA plans for the BD parks in river Yamuna flood plains in the city

Dear Sir,

Greetings from Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan, a consortium of civil society groups and concerned individuals, who have come together since 2007 with an aim to promote the restoration of river Yamuna as an ecosystem in its own right.

We at YJA have thus learnt with happiness about the setting up of 'Delhi Biodiversity Foundation' by the DDA under the chairmanship of the Hon'ble Lt Governor of Delhi.

Now while the avowed goals (as seen at the DDA website) of the Biodiversity Parks planned both on the river Yamuna and the Delhi ridge are laudable and welcome, we are concerned on the manner in which the first of the currently planned biodiversity parks named as the "Golden Jubilee Park", immediately south of the Old Railway Bridge in the river bed is coming up as while it could be called as a Public Park, it certainly by no stretch of imagination can be called as a 'Biodiversity Park', meeting the goals as mentioned before (pictorial report is enclosed).

Accordingly kindly permit us to request your good self for the following:

a) The present plans (with full details) for the 4 BD parks in the river bed namely at Bhilaswa, Kudsia Ghat, Golden Jubilee Park and north of DND flyway be made public on the DDA website and this fact be advertised suitably.
b) Since it is about the future of the river's flood plains and these BD parks are being planned in public interest and trust, let the concerned officials of the DDA arrange for a public presentation and debate on these plans at a suitable place (say IIC, IHC or INTACH etc) so that a wide consensus on them could emerge in the city as any such public interest activity should ideally have.
c) All necessary approvals (statutory or otherwise) received by the DDA for such plans say from the DUAC or from an environmental angle may be made public suo moto at the DDA web site under Section 4 of the RTI Act.

We hope that your goodself would find merit in our humble request.

Warm regards,

Manoj Misra
Convener

CC:
Sri Tejender Khanna, Hon'ble Lt Governor of Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Smt Sheila Dixit, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Chief Secretary, Govt. of NCT of Delhi - For your kind information and necessary action please.

Chairman, Delhi Urban Arts Commission, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110 003 – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Chairman, Yamuna Standing Committee, Central Water Commission, Sewa Bhawan, R.K. Puram, New Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.

TRRT Workshop Yamuna Nagar (Punjab Kesari 11 December 2011)

2011-12-12T23:23:00.000-08:00

कुदरती खेती यानी तिनके से क्रांति की कवायद (Dainik Bhaskar 12 December 2011)

2011-12-12T03:08:00.000-08:00

बिजाई, खाद और कीटनाशक का सारा खर्च खत्म, मध्य प्रदेश के किसान कुदरती खेती के जरिए खेती कर कमा रहे हैं मुनाफा भास्कर न्यूज त्न यमुनानगर
खेती का यह तरीका जड़ की ओर लौटने जैसा तो है। पर इसमें किसान की समृद्धि का राज छुपा है। कम से कम वह कुदरती खेती कर कर्ज से जंजाल से तो निजात पा ही सकता है। हरित क्रांति के नाम पर जमीन को जो जख्म मिले। कुदरती खेती इन जख्मों पर मरहम की तरह है। विशेषज्ञ इसे वक्त की जरू तर बता रहे हैं। क्योंकि इनका मानना है तभी किसान कर्ज के जंजाल से निजात पा सकता है। इसी विषय को लेकर पीस इंस्टीट्यूट चेरिटेबल ट्रस्ट की ओर से कनालसी गांव में दो दिवसीय कुदरती खेती पर सेमिनार आयोजित किया। शनिवार को इस कार्यक्रम का शुभारंभ किया गया। कार्यक्रम में पीस के निदेशक मनोज मिश्रा ने बताया कि कुदरती खेती वास्तव में हमारी विरासत है। यह अलग बात है कि वक्त के साथ हम इसे भूल गए। इसी तरीके से जापान के जीव वैज्ञानिक मासानोबू फुकुओका ने कृषि की। जो बेहद सफल रही।
मध्य प्रदेश के किसान कर रहे सफलतापूर्वक खेती : मध्य प्रदेश के ओसंगाबाद के किसान राजू टाइट्स कुदरती खेती कई साल से कर रहे हैं। कार्यक्रम में उन्होंने जब अपनी प्रस्तुति दी तो यहां के लोगो को एक बार तो उनकी बात पर यकीन ही नहीं हुआ। किसान पूछ बैठे। क्या यह संभव है। बिलकुल। मैं आपके सामने उदाहरण हूं। उन्होंने अपनी प्रस्तुति में फोटो और अन्य दस्तावेज लेकर आए।
क्या है कुदरती खेती : इसमें खेत की बुहाई नहीं होती। पेड़ पौधे व फसल को उसकी प्राकृतिक अवस्था में रहने दिया जाता है। यहां तक की पेड़ की शाखा की कटाई भी नहीं की जाती। बस सब कुछ वैसा ही रखा रहने दिया जाता है। जैसा वह होता है। बीज हाथ से रोपे जाते हैं। कई बार जमीन में हल्का खड्ढा खोद कर इसमें बीज लगा दिया जाता है।
कैसे काम होता है : मनोज मिश्रा के अनुसार जब हम बुहाई करते हैं तो बहुत से जीवाणु बरसात के पानी के साथ बह जाते हैं। यहीं वास्तव में खेत की जान है। जब हम कुदरती खेती करते हैं तो जीवाणु स्वयं सक्रिय हो जाते हैं। वे ही सारा काम प्राकृतिक तरीके से करते हैं। बस यहीं इस खेती की सफलता का राज है।
संभव है : विशेषज्ञों के अनुसार यह संभव है। कुछ आदिवासी कबीले भी इसी तरह से खेती कर रहे हैं। मनोज मिश्रा के अनुसार ट्रैक्टर से जब खेत की बुहाई होती है तो जमीन की प्राकृतिक संरचना टूटती है। वास्तव में जमीन का अपना एक चक्र है। जो जीवाणु, हरीखाद व केंचुओं पर निर्भर है। यह सब कुछ स्वयं ही होता रहता है।
80 प्रतिशत तक खर्च कम : किसान फसल की कुल लागत का चालीस प्रतिशत तक तो बुहाई पर लगा देता है। इसके बाद खाद और कीटनाशक बचते हैं। राजू टाइट्स के अनुसार किसान का काफी पैसा तो खरपतवार को खत्म करने में ही लग जाता है। कुदरती खेती में खरपतवार के साथ किसान की दोस्ती की बात करते है। खरपतवार ही फसल बढ़ाने में मदद करता है। क्योंकि इसकी छाया में जीवाणु खूब पनपते हैं।
उत्पादन पर अधिक असर नहीं : मनोज मिश्रा के अनुसार एक दो साल हो सकता है कुछ उत्पादन पर असर पड़े। लेकिन कुछ समय के बाद उत्पादन ठीक हो जाता है। इतना ही नहीं इस तरीके से तैयार फसल की गुणवत्ता भी कुदरती होती है। जो सेहत व स्वास्थ्य के लिए बहुत ही लाभदायक साबित होती है।
कुदरती खेती के सेमिनार को संबोधित करते विशेषज्ञ राजू टाइटस
एक तिनके से आई क्रांति ने लाया बदलाव
राजू टाइट्स ने अपनी बातचीत में बताया कि वास्तव में उनके हाथ मासानोबू फुकुओका की किताब का हिंदी वर्जन हाथ लग गया। एक तिनके से आई क्रांति पढ़ कर वे कुदरती खेती में लग गए। इस वक्त वे सफलतापूर्वक खेती कर रहे है। उनका कहना है कि यह खेती हर किसान को करनी चाहिए। इससे कृषि का 70 से 80 प्रतिशत तक खर्च बचाया जा सकता है।
विधि

Assault on the river bed continues unabated - an Update and another appeal

2011-12-06T03:37:00.000-08:00

6 December 2011
YJA/CORRES/12/2011

Sri Tejendra Khanna
Hon'ble Lt Governor of Delhi
& Chairperson of the Yamuna River Development Authority (YRDA)
Raj Niwas
DELHI

Sub: Assault on the river bed continues unabated - an Update and another appeal

Respected Sir,

Greetings. This is in continuation of our appeal made earlier in the matter to your honour dated 12 November 2011.

Permit us to please submit an update in form of yet another pictorial report from the said site. As is clear from this update that action if any taken either by the DDA or any other authority has had little impact since the dumping of construction waste continues at the site unabated and the water body in question continues to be in the process of getting dumped over despite its very real biodiversity values.

May we request and suggest that your honour in your capacity as the Chairman of the PM appointed Yamuna River Development Authority, YRDA to kindly detail a sub committee of the TAG (Technical Advisory Group) to make a site visit and submit its report to your honour for an urgent action in the matter.

Sir, needless for us is to add that we at the YJA would be glad to assist the said committee in whatever manner it may find useful.

With warm regards,

Manoj Misra
Convener

CC:

Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan, Hon’ble Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Environment and Forests For your kind information and necessary action please.

Smt. Sheila Dixit, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Chief Secretary, Govt. of NCT of Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Vice Chairman, Delhi Development Authority – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Chairman, Delhi Urban Arts Commission, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110 003 – For your kind information please.

Chairman, Yamuna Standing Committee, Central Water Commission, Sewa Bhawan, R.K. Puram, New Delhi – For your kind information please.

Nod for Jal Board project to outsource water distribution (The Hindu 29 November 2011)

2011-12-04T22:48:00.000-08:00

The Delhi Jal Board's ambitious plan to outsource water distribution and revenue collection on a pilot basis in three areas based on a public-private partnership basis has been accorded administrative approval. At a Jal Board meeting chaired by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday the pilot project was given the go-ahead.
The project has a twin purpose: to reduce revenue losses and to improve distribution of water. “Taking a cue from privatisation of power and the subsequent improvement in supply and services, we have decided to carry out an exercise in three areas of the city where operations and management will be outsourced. The aim is to bring in improvement in the city's water supply and raise the bar vis-à-vis services offered by the Jal Board. The project is also expected to plug the leaks in the system and help us reduce losses on account of non-revenue water,” said DJB Chief Executive Officer Ramesh Negi.
The project, which faced opposition on the grounds that it would pave the way for “privatisation of the water sector”, has the approval of the Planning Commission as well.
The pilot project will take off at Malviya Nagar Underground Reservoir command area, Nangloi Water Treatment Plant and Vasant Vihar with their adjoining areas. “We will extensively study the outcome of these projects, and on the basis of the feedback decide if it can be replicated to other areas,” said Mr. Negi.
The Board also approved the proposal of upgrading and improving water supply system in Mehrauli Township at an estimated cost of Rs.145 crore which includes operation and maintenance for a 12-year period.
Approval was also granted for modernisation of the plant and setting up of SCADA system at Bhagirathi Water Treatment Plant and its major booster pumping stations and underground reservoirs at an estimated cost of Rs.271.80 crore with a maintenance period of 10 years.
To improve the water distribution system through tankers, the Jal Board has accorded approval to replace around 250 water tankers, which are around 13 years old, at an estimated cost of Rs.87,48,58,100 with a maintenance period of 10 years. The DJB currently supplies drinking water to areas with no piped connections through 1,000 water tankers.
The Jal Board also gave administrative approval to the estimate for operation and maintenance of the 11-MGD recycling plant at Wazirabad and the 16-MGD recycling WTP at Haiderpur Water Works for a period of 5 years at a cost of approximately Rs.37,63,37,855.
With the objective of replacing defective meters and metering of un-metered connections, the Jal Board has given administrative approval to the revised estimate of Rs.364.50 crore for supply, installation and a 7-year maintenance of 8 lakh domestic water meters.
The Jal Board also approved the replacement of the water mains and reviewed several welfare schemes for its employees.
• Pilot project to take off at Malviya Nagar, Nangloi Water Treatment Plant and Vasant Vihar
• Will be based on public-private partnership; project also has Planning Commission approval

Kerala to Centre: same quantum of water to Tamil Nadu, new dam with our own funds (The Hindu 29 November 2011)

2011-12-04T22:35:00.000-08:00

The Kerala government on Monday gave an undertaking to the Centre that it would continue to provide the same quantum of water to Tamil Nadu, as is being given now, if a new dam was constructed in the place of the existing 116-year old Mullai Periyar dam in the Idukki district. Besides, the State would construct the dam from its own funds.
This assurance in writing, as sought by Union Water Resources Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal from Kerala a few days ago, was jointly given by State Water Resources Minister P.J. Joseph and Revenue Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan here, as authorised by the Oomen Chandy's cabinet.
Mr. Bansal had earlier clearly told Kerala Chief Minister Oomen Chandy that the Centre would try to mediate and convene a bilateral meeting between the governments of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, if Kerala gave such a written assurance.
Meanwhile, talking to The Hindu, Mr. Joseph said Mr. Bansal had promised to discuss with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the fresh development and see what could be done next. The Minister said the team also met Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram and discussed the issue. The two Ministers would meet Dr. Singh on Tuesday and take up the issue again, he said.
Earlier in the day, MPs from Kerala, cutting across party lines, took up the issue in both Houses of Parliament and stalled the proceedings seeking the Centre's immediate intervention.

Widespread protests over Mullaperiyar dam in Kerala (The Hindu 29 November 2011)

2011-12-04T22:25:00.000-08:00

Hartal demanding decommissioning of reservoir total in Idukki district
Kerala saw widespread protests over the Mullaperiyar dam issue on Monday, with people agitating for its decommissioning in five districts and the State capital.
In places like Karinkulam Chappathu in Idukki district, the protests almost took the form of a grass-root level movement with people from different parts of the district joining the stir.
Roads were clogged, though the organisers of the protest — the Mullaperiyar Action Council — did not plan a blockade. CPI leader E.S. Bijimol continued her hunger strike for the second day while P. C. George, MLA, joined the fast on Tuesday.
Traffic held up: The hartal called by the United Democratic Front and the Left Democratic Front was total in most parts of the district. Protesters blocked vehicles at Kumili on the border with Tamil Nadu, resulting in the traffic being held up for hours. However, the protesters allowed vehicles of Sabarimala pilgrims and emergency services to pass through, though pilgrims were often forced to wait for some time.
At Vallakadavu, just eight kilometres downstream of the Mullaperiyar dam, children of the locality joined the fast. Children in this area are a scared lot, with every noise being mistaken for rushing waters.
In Thodupuzha, advocates boycotted the courts. Schools and colleges remained closed. Students took out a protest march at Cheruthoni over the twin demands for decommissioning the existing Mullaperiyar dam and lowering the water level in the dam to 120 feet pending the decommissioning. The protesters demanded urgent Central intervention.
Union Ministers from the State A. K. Antony, Vayalar Ravi and E. Ahamed drew flak from the protesters for their inaction. The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha took out a march to the residence of the Defence Minister A.K. Antony here.
The Kerala Congress (Mani) group organised dharnas in Ernakulam, Pathanamthitta, Idukki and Alappuzha. The party's Idukki member of the Assembly Roshy Augustine sat on a hunger strike before the Accountant General's Office here.
Water level rises Meanwhile, water level in the Mullaperiyar reservoir crossed the 136 feet stipulated by Kerala. Water is flowing down through all the open spillways. The district administration opened control rooms to monitor the situation and assist people in case of an emergency.

S Delhi water project on PPP model (Times of India 29 November 2011)

2011-12-04T22:07:00.000-08:00

NEW DELHI: In its first step towards partial privatization of water management, Delhi Jal Board (DJB) received clearance for starting a pilot project on public-private partnership model for water distribution in Malviya Nagar, Vasant Kunj and Nangloi.
Officials said the project would entail appointment of private companies through a bidding process. This, they hope, would improve efficiency of the water distribution network and reduce non-revenue water. The companies would also be responsible for operation and maintenance of the underground reservoirs in the areas and collect revenue for the board.
In a board meeting held on Monday, approval was also given to water supply upgrade and improvement project at Mehrauli at an estimated cost of Rs 145 crore. Approval was also granted for setting up of the SCADA system at the Bhagirathi water treatment plant and its major booster pumping stations and UGRs.
To improve water distribution through tankers, the Board also decided to replace around 250 water tankers that are more than 13 years old. The Board gave approval to the estimate for operation and maintenance of the 11 MGD recycling plant at Wazirabad and the 16 MGD recycling water treatment plant at Haiderpur Water Works for a period of five years at a cost of over Rs 37 crore.
Approval was also accorded to a revision in a proposal worth Rs 364.5 crore for supply, installation and a seven-year maintenance contract of eight lakh domestic water meters. A project to replace water mains was also passed in the meeting. These would include the 1,100 mm dia PSC west Delhi water main by MS pipe from Wazirpur depot to Shakkurpur Village along the Ring Road and Shakurpur Pushta to PWD office in Punjabi Bagh; 1,000 mm and 1,500 mm dia PSC water pipelines emanating from Haiderpur in stretches near Prashant Vihar, Delhi Cantt Booster Pumping Station, Mongolpuri, Meera Bagh and Cariappa Marg .

There's need and also greed (Times of India 29 November 2011)

2011-12-04T21:50:00.000-08:00

According to Gautama Buddha tanha or desire and craving is the cause of human suffering. Once we are free of desire for worldly objects, we are free from suffering and we attain the state of nirvana. Hence it is greed, not need, that we have to do away with. The more we have, the more we want. Greed is a never-ending cycle.

How to make the distinction between need and greed? Economists explain the distinction between the two in terms of 'needs' and 'preferences' or 'desire satisfaction'. The distinction between 'preference' and 'need' is that the former is intentional and the latter is extensional. The need, for example, is to quench our thirst; the preference is whether we use bottled water or drink straight from the tap.

The need of a person is something which depends on his factual material, mental, physical and social condition. It also depends upon the available objects which are perceived as possessing the capacities to contribute to his survival and well-being. Whether a person prefers one object to another depends upon the nature of the person's beliefs about the objects.

While the concept of need is a threshold concept, the concept of preference is not. Need is a threshold concept because having more or less than one's needs would harm one's survival. Need is that without which the individual cannot survive. For example, a person needs a certain amount of water, food or shelter to lead his life and maintain social relations.

Moreover, while the objects required for 'preference' or 'desire satisfaction' may have several alternative substitutes, needs are objective and specific and do not admit any substitute. For example, it is admitted by everyone that there is no substitute for good health, good friends and good environment. They are specific to the needs for the well-being of all individuals.

Desires and preferences can be artificial or superfluous. For example, the desires for accessories are artificial. They are market-governed and even market-determined. Desires can be natural or non-natural. It would be instructive here to listen to a conversation between Alexander and an Indian thinker, Dandamis.

Alexander was greatly struck by the austerity of life and majesty of the Indian thinker. The Indian told Alexander that natural desires are quenched easily: thirst by water, hunger by food. But the craving for possession is an artificial one; it goes on unceasingly and is never fully satisfied.

The sage explained the criterion for making a distinction between a natural or real and a non-natural or contrived desire. A natural desire is fulfilled the moment you get what you sought. For example "If you drink the water you thirst for, your desire ceases. Similarly, if you are feeling hungry, you receive the food you seek, your hunger comes to an end. If, then, man's appetite for gold were on the same natural level, no doubt his cupidity would cease as soon as he obtained what he wished for. But this is not the case. On the contrary, it always comes back, a passion is never satiated, and the craving remains because it does not proceed from an inclination implanted by nature."

The criterion of distinction between need and greed is: Natural desires are our needs, therefore they are those which come to an end or are satiated when one fulfils them. Artificial desires are greed, as they are those which can never be satiated.

The writer teaches philosophy at Delhi University.

यमुना की दुर्दशा पर सरकार को अवमानना नोटिस (Amar Ujala 28 November 2011)

2011-11-28T02:23:00.001-08:00

नई दिल्ली। हाईकोर्ट ने दिल्ली सरकार को अवमानना नोटिस जारी कर पूछा है कि यमुना की साफ-सफाई को लेकर पांच वर्ष पहले दिए गए आदेश का अभी तक क्रियान्वयन क्यों नहीं किया गया। अभी भी यमुना में शहर का कूड़ा फेंका जा रहा है। हाईकोर्ट ने सरकार से पूछा है कि आखिर इस मुद्दे पर कोर्ट की अवमानना की कार्रवाई क्यों नहीं शुरू की जाए। मामला हाईकोर्ट के न्यायमूर्ति विपिन सांघी की अदालत का है।
अदालत ने दिल्ली सरकार के पर्यावरण मंत्रालय, एमसीडी और डीडीए के खिलाफ अवमानना की याचिका पर नोटिस जारी किया है। संबंधित विभागों को सात फरवरी तक जवाब देना है। पर्यावरणविद विनोद जैन की अवमानना याचिका पर कोर्ट ने यह नोटिस जारी किया है। जैन ने अदालत का ध्यान इस संबंध में वर्ष २००६ में आकर्षित कराया था। कहा गया था कि यमुना में किसी तरह का कूड़ा या प्लास्टिक नहीं फेंका जाए। रोकथाम संशोधन कानून प्रभावी ढंग से लागू करने के निर्देश भी जारी किए गए थे। पांच वर्ष पूर्व अदालत ने सरकार और स्थानीय निकाय को कानून के प्रावधानों को लागू करने और मूर्तियों के विसर्जन के लिए घेरा बनाने की बात की थी, लेकिन इस फैसले पर दिल्ली सरकार और स्थानीय निकाय ने ध्यान नहीं दिया। पर्यावरणविद् ने याचिका में कहा है कि २००६ में अदालत ने यमुना की सफाई को लेकर सरकार को निर्देश जारी कर कोर्ट ने कानून के तहत कचरा, पूजा सामग्री नदी के तल, नालों और पानी में बहाए जाने पर रोक लगाए और उचित कदम उठाये जाएं। याचिकाकर्ता ने कोर्ट से यह भी कहा है कि दिल्ली प्रदूषण नियंत्रण समिति ने मूर्तियों के विसर्जन के लिए एक विशेष प्रांगण बनाए जाने का सुझाव दिया था।

Thames trust to help conserve Ganga, Yamuna (The Hindu 27 November 2011)

2011-11-27T23:15:00.000-08:00

The initiative to be launched in New Delhi on December 15
JAIPUR: If the Ganga cannot go to Britain for its own “holy” reasons, it is the Thames now poised to join India's most revered river for the sake of conservation.
The Thames River Restoration Trust (TRRT), winner of the Theis International River Prize for 2010, has tied up with Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Peace Institute Charitable Trust (PICT) to work for restoration of a 300-km stretch of the Ganga and the Yamuna on both sides of the banks. The United Kingdom's Environment Agency Thames Region (EA) will provide guidance in the endeavour.
Decks have been cleared for the initiative and the formal launch will take place at the WWF premises in New Delhi on December 15. Robert Oates, Director of the Thames River Restoration Trust (TRRT), will pilot the project. Peter Spillett, President of the Institute of Fisheries Management, UK, will give the keynote presentation on ‘Restoring fish population around the world to benefit people and wildlife' on the occasion.
It all started with TRRT winning the Theiss International River Prize. The prize money, more than Rs.1-crore, was to be put to use in a developing country. India came up as the eventual decision following Mr. Oates' visit to a few river-sites up north of New Delhi. It will be a one-and-a-half-year-long work on restoring portions of the Ganges and its tributary, Yamuna.
About 100 km along the upper Ganga and about 200 km along the Yamuna, including its nearly 35 km stretch from the Chambal river confluence to Dibholi Ghat which forms the National Chambal Sanctuary, would be taken up, informs conservationist Harsh Vardhan who had invited Mr. Oates sometime back to the Mansagar Birding Fair here to speak on Thames restoration and the possibility of replication of the success story on India's polluted rivers.
“ I had met Rob several years ago at the British Bird Watching Fair. The river-twinning idea was floated when Rob led the Birding Fair in Jaipur two years ago when he was expecting the Theiss Prize from Australia,” Mr. Vardhan notes. In fact when this correspondent met Mr. Oates in Jaipur that time he was not pessimistic over state of India's rivers as he felt it was part of the industrialisation process, faced in Britain a century ago, now being faced by India.
The WWF on its part will carry forward its existing project on the Ganga conservation, through the new inputs now available, at Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh to reintroduce the endangered gharial and other wildlife. It will also help people to improve their agricultural policies, says Parikshit Gautam, Director, WWF's Freshwater Division.
The long-term plan is to ensure a viable population of gharial with favourable habitat through increased capacity support from local people. It will also benefit fish population, fresh water turtles, Ganges river dolphins and other riverine species like otters and water birds in the lower Yamuna.
‘River-twinning'
The PICT will join in for developing community river restoration techniques in association with local groups and develop sustainable livelihoods. Its activities will be carried out in different 10 grids located along the Yamuna, in regions falling in Uttarakhand, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
Dr. Gautam, Director, along with Manoj Mishra, Director of PICT, will overview the novel “river-twinning” project. Both will give and take river restoration related technical expertise and experiences with TRRT in Britain.
• 100 km along the Ganga, 200 km along the Yamuna would be taken up for restoration
• Long-term benefits include a viable population of gharial, fish population, turtles

Delhi pays Rs. 50 crore more, asks Haryana to complete canal (The Hindu 25 November 2011)

2011-11-27T21:27:00.002-08:00

Delhi has sent yet another reminder to Haryana asking it to complete work on the long-pending Munak Canal. A simmering issue between the two States, the canal has been delayed for a long time for various reasons, mostly to do with money.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has shot off another letter to the Haryana Administration to resume work for completion of the canal.
“A few days ago, Delhi released Rs.50 crore for the project. Following this, the Chief Minister, who is also Chairperson of the Delhi Jal Board, has now pressed for the timely completion of the pending work,” said a Delhi Jal Board official.
To break the logjam over the Munak issue, a Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram had in July arbitrated a meeting and ordered Delhi to release an additional Rs.50 crore to Haryana for the construction of the canal, which is expected to mitigate the city's water problems.
“After the GoM's intervention, Haryana agreed to complete the pending work saying it would do so in the next two months. It also agreed to supply 610 cusecs of water through the canal, as was agreed to initially,” said the official.
Delhi had baulked at Haryana's demand for an additional Rs.150 crore, citing cost overruns.
“In keeping with the orders, Delhi has released the money and said that whatever else needs to be paid for will be done as well. The GoM had suggested that Haryana's claims for an additional Rs.150 crore for meeting new expenses will be reviewed by the Central Water Commission. Delhi has assured that whatever the Commission announces in is report will be complied with and if there is an order to pay more, it will do so,” the official explained.
Haryana had also opposed the construction of two water treatment plants, one each at Okhla and Dwarka, and that issue too has been referred by the GoM to the Upper Yamuna River Board to review and report on. Haryana had to construct the 102-km canal that Delhi is paying for. About 200 to 300 metres of the total canal length remains to be completed. The canal was supposed to be ready in 2009.
While Delhi has been banking on the canal to carry water without wastage, a Central Pollution Control Board study had indicated the canal could be a solution to the high pollution levels in Delhi's raw water supply. Delhi expects to save around 80 million gallons per day once the canal becomes operational.
• Work delayed for various reasons, mostly monetary
• Canal is expected to mitigate Delhi's water problems

Contempt of court notices over enclosures along the Yamuna (The Hindu 25 November 2011)

2011-11-27T21:27:00.001-08:00

The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued contempt of court notices to the Delhi Government, the Delhi Development Authority and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi asking them to explain why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them for their failure to build enclosures along the Yamuna in the Capital for immersion of idols and religious material to control pollution.
The Government had in an affidavit in 2007 informed the Court that it had chalked out a plan in association with the DDA and the civic body to build 13 enclosures along the river for immersion of idols and religious material into the river at festival times and thereafter release the water into the river after treating it and collecting un-degradable material likes clothes and plastic bags.
The Government had filed the affidavit in response to two orders passed by the Court asking it to build confined ponds or bunds along the river for immersion of idols and religious material into it to prevent pollution under the Delhi Plastic Bag (Manufacture, Sale and Usage) and Garbage Control Act, 2004.
‘Control pollution'
The Court had passed the orders on a public interest litigation by social activist Vinod Jain seeking implementation of the Act to control pollution in the river as the legislation prevents dumping of garbage in river, ponds and at public places.
In the contempt petition, Mr. Jain alleged that the Government instead of constructing the enclosures as promised to the Court had been promoting immersion of idols and religious material into the river at the festival time by providing access to vehicles carrying idols for immersion into the river by various religious organisations.
According to the plan drawn up in 2007, the DDA has to provide finances and the civic body to build the enclosures. At one time, the Government had informed the petitioner that it had launched a pilot project to test the success of the enclosure to control pollution in the river, and if successful, it would be implemented along its whole stretch in the Capital but nothing had been done so far, the contempt petition said.
Issuing the notices, Justice V.K. Shali asked the respondents to file replies by February 7 next year, the next date of hearing

Court raps govt for failing to curb Yamuna pollution (Times of India 25 November 2011)

2011-11-27T21:25:00.000-08:00

New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Thursday demanded an explanation from the state government why contempt of court proceedings shouldn’t be initiated against it for failing to construct enclosures along the Yamuna so that garbage could not be dumped into the river, especially during the festival season. HC issued the enclosure order five years ago. Justice Vipin Sanghi also issued similar showcause notices to the Delhi government’s environment department, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), seeking their replies by February 7 on the contempt plea.
The plea was filed by Vinod Jain, director of NGO Tapas, on whose PIL in 2006 the court had asked the Delhi government to create 13 enclosures along the Yamuna where idol immersions and disposal of pooja samagri could take place. The work was to have been undertaken under the Delhi Degradable Plastic Bag (Manufacture, Sale and Usage) and Garbage (Control) Act, 2000, under which MCD also had the power to fine those who threw in anything into the river directly.
The court had directed the government in September 2006 to take measures to ensure that no garbage and worship material was thrown into the river, drains and sewers. The agencies concerned were to have constructed the 13 permanent enclosures for which land had also been identified. DDA was supposed to finance the project while MCD was in charge of constructing and maintenance. “The environment department has sent several reminders to them but to no avail. Till 2010 only one enclosure had been built at Kudsiya Ghat and that too was dismantled and stolen within a year. DDA has released funds but concerned agencies do not seem to be bothered,” said Jain. Jain added that HC had in its order also directed authorities to give wide publicity to make the general public aware of this ban. Even the Delhi Pollution Control Committee had suggested making specific enclosures for immersion of idols, following which the civic agency had assured the court for the development of such enclosures within three months, the petitioner stated.

CROSSING DEADLINE: HC asked authorities to build 13 enclosures

River bed and water body in it under assault - This time it is reportedly the Dept of Irrigation and Flood Control and MCD

2011-11-12T03:27:00.000-08:00

12 November 2011
YJA/CORRES/11/11

Sri Tejendra Khanna,
Hon'ble Lt Governor of Delhi
Raj Niwas
DELHI

Sub: River bed and water body in it under assault - This time it is reportedly the Dept of Irrigation and Flood Control and MCD
Respected Sir,

Greetings.

Please permit us to draw your kind attention to the enclosed pictorial report which is self explanatory.

We find it extremely saddening and frustrating when reportedly more government departments (this time it is reportedly the Department of Irrigation and Flood Control and the MCD) are hell bent on compromising the integrity of the remaining flood plains of the river in the city.

This incidence as could be made out from the map/s (in the report) is in the river bed next to the Yamuna Pushta (East Marginal Bund) in east Delhi across the road from the east Delhi colonies of Krishan Kunj and Vishwakarma Park.

Sir, as can be seen from the 2006 edition map of the city (shown in the report) that the water body in question in the river bed is a water body of long standing and any compromising of it is nothing short of a sacrilege and exhibits yet again the ad hocism and utter lack of understanding and concern amongst the authorities for the river and its needs.

We are also wondering as to what is the DDA and its officials doing since the land fill and the conversion of the water body (as can be seen from the picture) is clearly not a recent activity and what is happening is clearly an illegal activity, unless the DDA has sanctioned (????) the said land fill or the destruction of the water body?

May we request your honour to not only kindly direct (after of course a due verification) an immediate cessation of the said activity but also discipline suitably the concerned officials of the department/s concerned, as also instruct the DDA to restore the river bed and the water body (as a matter of fact the river flood plains need more such water bodies in it) to its original state.

Sir, in continuation, may we also request your good self once again to kindly permit us to make a presentation at the next meeting of Yamuna River Development Authority, YRDA, so that we could bring to your and other members of the YRDA, notice such and other ongoing activities which are deleterious for the river, its flood plain and its ecology.

In particular, as we have also mentioned before, that we have serious issues with the developmental plans as prepared by the DDA for the river bed and we request that DDA's plans may kindly be put on a hold till the said meet.

With warm regards,

Manoj Misra
Convener

CC:

Smt. Sheila Dixit, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Chief Secretary, Govt. of NCT of Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Vice Chairman, Delhi Development Authority – For your kind information and necessary action please.

2 rivers captured in public art to prick conscience (Times of India) 10 Nov 11

2011-11-11T23:23:00.000-08:00

NEW DELHI: People in the city are getting the whiff of two different worlds: one that lives along the Yamuna; the other, which is enlivened by the Elbe.

Visitors to 'The Yamuna-Elbe - Public.Art.Outreach Project' on Wednesday were actually offered two bowls that had water from both these rivers. They were asked to smell the water and then share their feelings with a German artist, who later put them down on the canvas.

The location of the exhibition - the Yamuna bank - has created an impact. It's happening in the area that will be developed into the Golden Jubilee Park. The entire span of the Old Yamuna Bridge is visible from the banks; the soft, uneven ground has patches of tall grass, and an attenuated form of the Yamuna (replete with filth) flows by. "This is a historic setting. The bridge was built in 1866. It's a complete span and it is still there. You should see it at night. It is itself art," says curator Ravi Aggarwal.

An initiative of the Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan (New Delhi), the City of Hamburg and the Delhi government, the project will include an art exhibition with the two rivers as theme, and a range of activities, including walks, music shows and discussions.

Artists Sheba Chhachhi and Asim Waqif placed their works on the river itself. Chhachhi places a 'form' - "It can be anything, a seed or a human body" - made of thermocol and iron wrapped in bandages. "The idea is of a wounded organic form," says Chhachhi, "A metaphor for wounded river." In the dark, flames (created with the help of a projector on the bank), engulf it.

"Water that has a lot of toxins can catch fire," she adds. Her work is best viewed from atop a staircase put together with bags of sand with excerpts from the Yamuna Ashtakam, a 14-century hymn to the Himalayas. Waqif's work included a row of plastic bottles tied to a rope that was dragged through the river by a motor-boat.

Bottles also featured in the work of Atul Bhalla, who has also participated in the Hamburg part of the Yamuna-Elbe project. Giant bottles were embedded in the ground and had questions from the 54 questions Yaksha asked Yudhisthira in the Mahabharata. It invites viewers to contemplate their treatment of the river, the attempts to "control the river", the waste, and the "ecological catastrophe" it could all lead to. Gigi Scaria's "Fountain of Purification" - a 24-foot tower representing an apartment complex - draws water from the Yamuna, runs it through a few levels of purification, and dispenses clean water from the top.

There's also a lot for the visitors to do at the exhibition. Visitors to the exhibition will be asked to sniff the water of the Yamuna and the Elbe and express what they feel for "research for an Elbe-Yamuna perfume" that Berlin-based artist, Ines Lechleitner, is developing with the help of Vienna-based Indian perfumer, Yogesh Kumar. "I've brought Elbe in a bottle," says Lechleitner. She conducted the same exercise in Hamburg and recorded the reactions of those who'd tried it. "I'm working on a perfume that combines my associations with the two rivers," she says.

Lechleitner is one of the five German artists featured at the exhibition; Jochen Lempert, Michael Clegg, Martin Guttmann and Nana Petzet are the others. Petzet has created a biodiversity patch using an existing patch of grass and planting photographs of birds, insects and flowers in them. "A patch is not just a patch, it's full of life," says Aggarwal. The event in Hamburg, says curator Nina Kalenbach, was different in that it included artists from countries other than India and Germany. "There are a lot of artists in Europe, who are working on research-art," says Kalenbach.

Golden Jubilee Park was chosen by Aggarwal. Toxics Link is his day job and this is his first shot at being a curator. There are bamboo benches and light poles and an amphitheatre made of piles of gunny bags with soil from the riverbank. "This place is a cusp between Old Delhi and New Delhi. New things are coming up here. It's like the city is seeking a new proposition," he says. The exhibition will continue till November 20.

NGO for demolition of Games Village (The Asian Age) 5 Nov 11

2011-11-11T23:17:00.000-08:00

As various Commonwealth Games projects are already under the scrutiny of different probe agencies, a new front was sought to be opened on Tuesday in the Supreme Court with an NGO seeking demolition of the Games Village as it is allegedly built on Yamuna bed in violation of “wetland” norms.

A public interest litigation filed by the NGO, Foundation of Indian Wetland, came up for hearing before a bench of Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia and Justices A.K. Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar with its counsel highlighting the “violations” of wetland norms in the construction of CWG village.
“Wetlands are nature’s bounty. They help maintain the delicate ecological balance and need to be protected for that reason. Flood plains of Yamuna are such wetlands,” the PIL said.

“Wetlands are regulators of water flow. Many a rivers remain a reliable source of water throughout the year because their flow is impeded by swamp lands so that seasonal downpours drain away slowly and water continues to flow during the dry seasons. Wetland also protect many of our sources of drinking water,” the NGO stated.
Claiming that it had opposed all types of constructions on Yamuna bed, the NGO said since the CWG complex has served its purpose, all the buildings constructed there “illegally” should be demolished to restore the flood plains to its original form.

In support of its demand, the NGO cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in Hinchlal Tiwari case of 2001, in which it had ordered demolition of all structures raised on a wetland in Sant Ravidas Nagar, UP.
However, during the hearing, the CJI reminded its counsel Krishnan Venugopal about another order of the apex court related to the Yamuna bed construction with regard to Akashdham Temple case.
The top court reminded that in that case, the government had placed on record the findings of experts that the construction in the area did not violate any environment norms.
In view of this, the NGO’s counsel sought two weeks’ time to study the order related to the Akshardham case and prepare his case accordingly.

Brick by brick, the litany of a river (The Sunday Standard) 6 Nov 11

2011-11-11T21:29:00.000-08:00

Seema Harkauli

NEW DELHI: The Yamuna is dying a slow death in Delhi. At least 40 per cent of the Yamuna floodplain has already been claimed by ‘development’ activity, and though the Delhi government appears to be doing its best to save the remainder, encroachment along the riverbed continues unabated.

Despite a moratorium on construction on the riverbed, imposed by Delhi’s Lieutenant-Governor (LG) Tejendra Khanna in 2007, two controversial projects still managed to get clearance to be located on it. They are the Millennium Bus Depot (MBD) near the CWG Village, and the DMRC flats being constructed at the Yamuna Bank metro station. Neither project has, however, been cleared by the Delhi Urban Arts Commission (DUAC), set up by Parliament in 1973 to maintain the aesthetics of Delhi’s urban space. “No riverbed project, including the MBD, has got clearance from the DUAC since 2007,” said K T Ravindran, former Chairman of the commission.

The MBD was originally permitted on the Yamuna floodplain with the assurance that it would be a temporary structure for the duration of the 2010 CWG. Subsequently, the DTC has refused to budge from the 60 acre area. Their argument: as a heavy investment of `60 crore of public money has already been made, it ought to be used to park the thousands of buses required for the city’s public transport system. A PIL, seeking demolition of the depot has been filed, and the matter is pending before the Delhi High Court. When contacted, the LG’s office refused to comment, stating that the matter was sub-judice.

At Yamuna Bank metro station, mean-while, DMRC is building around 90 flats to house its maintenance staff. This is also on the floodplain, and has been opposed by DUAC, which earlier said it was misled by DMRC about the project. DUAC maintains that DMRC had not informed it about the staff quarters when it sought clearance from it for the project.

According to the zonal development plan for the river, the stretch of the river from Burari in the north, to Jaitpur in the south, falls in the ‘O’ Zone. No construction activity is permitted in this area, as the 22 km stretch includes the entire floodplain of the river, and is its water recharge zone. “Unfortunately, at the moment, there’s no legal protection for the river. It is being viewed as a waterbody, rather than a complete ecosystem that needs to be preserved,” said Suresh Babu, Director, Water Policy and River Basins, WWF.

Over the past 10 years, the floodplain has witnessed large scale construction, with housing colonies coming up in east Delhi. The Shastri Park metro station and the Akshardham temple were among the first structures on the riverbed. “The CWG Village, bus depot and several new roads and flyovers, like the Ring Road Bypass, are all located on the floodplain. Over the years, development along both its banks has led to gradual narrowing of the river. During the monsoons, these areas get flooded, as the additional water has no place to go,” says Manoj Mishra, convenor of the NGO Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan, involved in its restoration.

Irreversible climate change in five years, says energy agency (The Hindu)

2011-11-11T20:59:00.000-08:00

Fiona Harvey

The world is likely to build so many new fossil-fuelled power stations, energy-guzzling factories and inefficient buildings in the next five years that it will become impossible to hold global warming to safe levels, and the last chance of combating dangerous climate change will be “lost for ever,” according to the most thorough analysis yet of world energy infrastructure.

Anything built from now on that which produces carbon will continue to do so for decades to come, and this “lock-in” effect will be the single factor most likely to produce irreversible climate change, the world's foremost authority on energy economics has found. If this infrastructure is not rapidly changed within the next five years, the results are likely to be disastrous.

“The door is closing,” said Fatih Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency (IEA). “I am very worried — if we don't change direction now on how we use energy, we will end up beyond what scientists tell us is the minimum [for safety]. The door will be closed forever.” Every month now counts: if the world is to stay below 2°C of warming, which scientists regard as the limit of safety, then emissions must be held to no more than 450 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere; the level is currently around 390ppm. But the world's existing infrastructure is already producing 80 per cent of that “carbon budget”, according to a new analysis by the IEA, published on Wednesday. This gives an ever-narrowing gap in which to reform the global economy on to a low-carbon footing.

If current trends continue, and we go on building high-carbon energy generation, then by 2015 at least 90 per cent of the available “carbon budget” will be swallowed up by our energy and industrial infrastructure. By 2017, there will be no room for manoeuvre at all — the whole of the “carbon budget” will be spoken for, according to the IEA's calculations.

Forthcoming talks in Durban

Birol's warning comes at a crucial moment in international negotiations on climate change, as governments gear up for the next fortnight of talks in Durban, South Africa, from late November. “If we do not have an international agreement, whose effect is put in place by 2017, then the door to [holding temperatures to 2°C of warming] will be closed forever,” said Birol.

But governments around the world are preparing to postpone yet again a speedy conclusion to the negotiations. Originally, the aim was to agree a successor to the 1997 Kyoto protocol, the only binding international agreement on emissions, after its current provisions expire in 2012. But after years of setbacks, an increasing number of countries — including the U.K., Japan and Russia — now favour postponing the talks for several years.

Both Russia and Japan have spoken in recent weeks of aiming for an agreement in 2018 or 2020, and the U.K. has supported this move. Greg Barker, the U.K.'s Climate Change Minister, told a meeting: “We need China, the U.S. especially, the rest of the Basic countries [Brazil, South Africa, India and China] to agree. If we can get this by 2015 we could have an agreement ready to click in by 2020.”

Birol said this would clearly be too late. Nor is this a problem of the developing world, as some commentators have sought to frame it. In the U.K., Europe and the U.S., there are multiple plans for new fossil-fuelled power stations that would contribute significantly to global emissions over the coming decades.

Emissions have risen

It was revealed in May that an IEA analysis found emissions had risen by a record amount in 2010 despite the worst recession for 80 years. Last year, a record 30.6 gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon dioxide poured into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuel, a rise of 1.6Gt on the previous year. At the time, Birol said that constraining global warming to moderate levels would be “only a nice utopia” unless drastic action was taken.

The November 9 research adds to that finding, by showing in detail how current choices on building new energy and industrial infrastructure are likely to commit the world to much higher emissions for the next few decades, blowing apart hopes of containing the problem to manageable levels. The IEA's data is regarded as the gold standard in emissions and energy, and it is widely regarded as one of the most conservative in outlook — making today's warning all the more stark.

The central problem is that most of the industrial infrastructure already in existence around the world — the fossil-fuelled power stations, the emissions-spewing factories, the inefficient transport and buildings — are already contributing to the current high level of emissions, and will continue to do so for decades to come. Carbon dioxide, once released into the atmosphere, stays there and continues to have a warming effect for about a century, and industrial infrastructure is built to have a useful life of several decades at least.

Yet, despite intensifying warnings from scientists over the past two decades, the new infrastructure even now being built is constructed along the same lines as the old, which means that there is a “lock-in” effect — high-carbon infrastructure built today or in the next five years will contribute as much to the stock of emissions in the atmosphere as previous generations.

This “lock-in” effect is the single most important factor increasing the danger of runaway climate change, according to the IEA in its annual World Energy Outlook, published on Wednesday.

Fukushima effect

Climate scientists estimate that global warming of 2°C above pre-industrial levels marks the limit of safety, beyond which climate change becomes catastrophic and irreversible. Though such estimates are necessarily imprecise — warming of as little as 1.5°C could cause dangerous sea level rises and an increased risk of extreme weather — the limit of 2°C is now inscribed in international accords, including the partial agreement signed at Copenhagen in 2009, by which the biggest developed and developing countries for the first time agreed to curb their greenhouse gas output.

Another factor likely to increase emissions is the decision by some governments to abandon nuclear energy, following the Fukushima incident in Japan early this year. “The shift away from nuclear worsens the situation,” said Birol. If countries turn away from nuclear energy, the result could be an increase in emissions equivalent to the current emissions of Germany and France combined. Much more investment in renewable energy will be required to make up the gap, but how that would come about is unclear at present.

Birol also warned that China — the world's biggest emitter — would have to take on a much greater role in combating climate change.

In addition, by 2035 at the latest, China's cumulative emissions since 1900 are likely to exceed those of the EU, which will further weaken Beijing's argument that developed countries should take on more of the burden of emissions reduction as they carry more of the responsibility for past emissions.

In a recent interview, China's top climate change official, Xie Zhenhua, called on developing countries to take a greater part in the talks, while insisting that developed countries must sign up to a continuation of the Kyoto protocol — something only the European Union is willing to do. His words were greeted cautiously by other participants in the talks.

The IEA's World Energy Outlook, published annually, provides the touchstone for global energy trends. This year's outlook is unusually gloomy, following one of the deepest recessions on record for the developed world.

The IEA said: “There are few signs that the urgently needed change in direction in global energy trends is under way. Although the recovery in the world economy since 2009 has been uneven, and future economic prospects remain uncertain, global primary energy demand rebounded by a remarkable five per cent in 2010, pushing CO{-2} emissions to a new high. Subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption of fossil fuels jumped to over $400bn.” Meanwhile, an “unacceptably high” number of people — about 1.3bn — still lack access to electricity. If people are to be lifted out of poverty, this must be solved — but providing people with renewable forms of energy generation is still expensive. (Fiona Harvey is the environment correspondent.) — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2011

Thanks for building the new bridges on stilts - few issues still remain

2011-11-09T21:53:00.001-08:00

8 November 2011
YJA/CORRES/11/11

Dr E. Sreedharan
Managing Director
DMRC
New Delhi

Sub: Thanks for building the new bridges on stilts - few issues still remainRespected Sir,

Greetings from Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan.

Sir, kindly allow us to draw your attention to the enclosed letter from the CE (Planning) of DMRC received by us courtesy the office of the Director, Department of Environment, Govt of Delhi.

Based on the facts as narrated in the said letter, while it is a matter of great satisfaction that the DMRC has decided to build future bridges on the river only on stilts - thus setting a shining example of river sensitivity for other agencies like the PWD to emulate- so that the flow of flood waters is not hampered, we fail to understand or appreciate other assertions made in the said letter.

Sir, it is well known that any construction activity in the river bed or Zone O, is subject to prior clearance/s or approvals from the following regulatory authorities / agencies:

a) Yamuna Standing Committee (YSC) at the Central Water Commission

b) Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC) which is a statutory body created by the Parliament in 1973

c) Delhi Development Authority (DDA) which has statutory control over the Zone O

d) Yamuna River Development Authority (YRDA) chaired by the Hon'ble LG of Delhi and created in 2007 by the Hon'ble PM

e) Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) which has under the EIA Notification of 2006 mandate to vet any new construction from environmental impact angle.

Accordingly it is incorrect on the part of the Hon'ble CE (Planning) at the DMRC to claim that while it (DMRC) requires prior clearance from the YSC, it needs no other clearances either from the DDA or the DUAC. The letter makes no mention about clearance required either from Yamuna River Development Authority, YRDA or the MoEF.

More amazingly while the said letter says that the bridges would be constructed in accordance with the approval of Yamuna Standing Committee, it has not bothered to await the prior scrutiny and clearance/rejection (with or without conditions) from the YSC before even starting its bridge construction work, which has already begun on the ground (see pics). Does that mean that for the DMRC getting a clearance from YSC is just a formality and hence without even applying for the clearance it can go ahead with its tendering and even starting its construction work. Such taking for granted of a mandatory regulatory authority by the DMRC does not behove a reputed agency like the DMRC.

Also just because the fact that the GOI has approved Phase III of Delhi MRTS and that it has be completed by March 2016 cannot be any valid excuse to either bypass or short circuit mandatory statutory and executive prior approvals/clearances as DMRC is unfortunately exhibiting in the instant case.

Sir, we hope that you would agree with us that DMRC otherwise cited as a shining example of efficiency must also fully adhere to applicable statutory norms of various kinds as represented by DDA, DUAC, YRDA and the MoEF.

We are sure that your honour would see merit in what we submit above and take urgent and appropriate corrective measures in the matter.

With warm regards,

Manoj Misra
Convener

Yet another instance of DMRC willfully encroaching the river bed (Zone O) - Why is the river bed seen as easy milking cow for the DMRC?

2011-11-04T01:16:00.001-07:00

31 October 2011
YJA/CORRES/10/11

Sri Tejendra Khanna
Hon'ble Lt Governor of Delhi
Raj Niwas
DELHI

Sub: Yet another instance of DMRC willfully encroaching the river bed (Zone O) - Why is the river bed seen as easy milking cow for the DMRC?
Respected Sir,

Greetings from Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan.

Sir, we are constraint to yet again bring to your kind notice another instance of a willful encroachment in the river Yamuna bed (Zone O) by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) with a request to please get the facts verified and to initiate exemplary preventive action in the matter. The facts of the matter are as under:

DMRC is planning and actually actively executing (as can be seen from the enclosed NITs) those plans, to build two bridges and a depot in zone O (river zone) in the city as part of its Phase III expansion. The bridges as planned are a) south of the existing HNZ bridge and b) south of the Okhla Barrage. The depot is planned at Kalindi Kunj in Zone O.

Now the reason why we call these plans to be an instance of willful encroachment in the river are as under:

a) These plans are not part of the DDA's sanctioned zonal plan for the Zone O and any construction in violation of the same is illegal being violative of the DDA Act.

b) The DDA has while received a request from DMRC for allotment of land for the said depot no permission by DDA for even such planning what to speak of allotment of such land has yet been given as we has been learned from an RTI response received from the DDA.

c) To our best knowledge none of these plans have been vetted and approved / rejected / otherwise by either the DUAC (Delhi Urban Art Commission) or the Yamuna Standing Committee (YSC) or the Yamuna River Development Authority (YRDA) which is chaired by your honour.

d) Certainly none of these plans have any environmental clearance from the MoEF since the DMRC claiming to be a railways project presumes that its projects do not either have any environmental impact nor attract any clearance scrutiny.

Now, when such is the situation then planning apart, how can any agency of the state (which is expected to be a model observer of laws and rules and regulations extant in the land) and we gather that DMRC, created by an act of the legislature, is a state agency, be permitted to violate them with such brazenness?

Sir, your honour would agree that as a matter of fact, an agency like DMRC (which otherwise is indeed providing a notable public service) that is implementing projects with the assistance of external aid (that in effect puts every citizen of the nation under foreign debt) needs to be far more conscious and respectful of nation's regulatory laws, rules and regulations.

Sir, you may have noticed that in this appeal we are not even mentioning about the adverse impacts that these constructions are going to have on the river and its flood plains and whether all feasible alternatives away from the river were explored by the DMRC before it zeroed onto the river bed is anybody's guess as such information is never disclosed suo motto by it on its website as is required and should be done in good faith by it under the section 4 of the RTI Act. At the very least we fail to understand as to why can't DMRC locate its depot away from the river bed (Zone O) in Kalindi Kunj, where as per the NIT it has already started actions to dig and fill the soil? Also from where does the DMRC get the authority to promise 10,000 sq m of land (as is provided for in sec 2.3 at page 13 of the NIT for the Bridge) on the river Yamuna bank to the approved contractor for raising the bridge construction depot?

With warm regards,

Manoj Misra
Convener

CC:

Smt Sheila Dixit, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Vice Chairman, Delhi Development Authority – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Chairman, Yamuna Standing Committee, Central Water Commission, Sewa Bhawan, R.K. Puram, New Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Chief Secretary, Govt. of NCT of Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Chairman, Delhi Urban Arts Commission, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110 003 – For your kind information and necessa

The risks arising from Asia's water stress (The Hindu 29 October 2011)

2011-10-30T22:30:00.002-07:00

Brahma Chellaney
The Hindu STATECRAFT: The Asian economies must make do with their own water resources, a significant share of which is in transnational watercourses. This fact only serves as a strong incentive for some nations to try and commandeer internationally shared waters before they leave their national borders. Pictured here is the Brahmaputra flowing through Morigaon district of Assam. Photo: Ritu Raj Konwar
The fastest-growing economies in the region are all in or near water-stressed conditions, with huge implications for economic growth and inter-riparian relations.
Water, the most vital of all resources, has emerged as a key issue that would determine if Asia is headed toward cooperation or competition. After all, the driest continent in the world is not Africa but Asia, where availability of freshwater is not even half the global annual average of 6,380 cubic metres per inhabitant.
When the estimated reserves of rivers, lakes, and aquifers are added up, Asia has less than one-tenth of the waters of South America, Australia and New Zealand, not even one-fourth of North America, almost one-third of Europe, and moderately less than Africa per inhabitant. Yet the world's fastest-growing demand for water for food and industrial production and for municipal supply is in Asia, which now serves as the locomotive of the world economy.
Today, the fastest-growing Asian economies are all at or near water-stressed conditions, including China, India, South Korea, Vietnam, and Indonesia. But just three or four decades ago, these economies were relatively free of water stress. Now if we look three or four decades ahead, it is clear that the water situation will only exacerbate, carrying major implications for rapid economic growth and inter-riparian relations.
Water, the new arena of conflict : Yet Asia continues to draw on tomorrow's water to meet today's needs. Worse still, Asia has one of the lowest levels of water efficiency and productivity in the world. Against this background, it is no exaggeration to say that the water crisis threatens Asia's economic and political rise and its environmental sustainability. For investors, it carries risks that potentially are as damaging as non-performing loans, real estate bubbles, and political corruption. Water has also emerged as a source of increasing competition and discord within and between nations, spurring new tensions over shared basin resources and local resistance to governmental or corporate decisions to set up water-intensive industries.
These developments raise the question whether the risks of water conflict are higher in Asia than elsewhere in the world. With Asia becoming the scene of increasingly fierce intrastate and interstate water competition, the answer clearly is yes. Water is a new arena in the Asian Great Game.
In fact, water wars — in a political, diplomatic, or economic sense — are already being waged between riparian neighbours in several Asian regions, fuelling a cycle of bitter recrimination and fostering mistrust that impedes broader regional cooperation and integration. Without any shots being fired, rising costs continue to be exacted. The resources of transnational rivers, aquifers, and lakes have become the target of rival appropriation plans.
Grand projects; crisis factors : With a river or groundwater basin often becoming tied with a nation's identity, ownership and control over its resources is considered crucial to national interests. That has helped give rise to grand but environmentally questionable ideas — from China's Great Western Route to divert river waters from the Tibetan Plateau to its parched north and South Korea's politically divisive four-rivers project, to India's now-stalled proposal to link up its important rivers and Jordan's plan to save the dying Dead Sea by bringing water from the Red Sea through a 178-kilometre-long canal, which is also to serve as a source for desalinated drinking water.
Several factors have contributed to the Asian water crisis, which is leading to river and aquifer degradation. One key factor responsible for the water crisis is that Asia is not only the largest and most-populous continent but also the fastest-developing continent. How the swift economic rise of Asia has brought water resources under increasing pressure can be seen from the fact that most Asian economies now are water-stressed. The exceptions are few: Bhutan, Burma, Papua New Guinea, Laos, Cambodia, Brunei, and Malaysia.
Unlike fossils fuels, mineral ores, and timber that they import even from distant lands, the Asian economies must make do with their own water resources, a significant share of which is in transnational watercourses.
This fact only serves as a strong incentive for some nations to try and commandeer internationally shared waters before they leave their national borders. Given the critical role of water in economic modernisation, this continent has emerged at the centre of the global water challenges.
Another factor is consumption growth, as a consequence of rising prosperity. The plain fact is that the average Asian is consuming more resources, including water, food, oil, and energy. The consumption growth is best illustrated by the changing diets, especially the greater intake of meat, whose production is notoriously water-intensive.
A third factor is the role of irrigation in accentuating the Asian water stress. Asia more than doubled its total irrigated cropland just between 1960 and 2000. Once a continent of serious food shortages and recurrent famines, Asia opened the path to its dramatic economic rise by emerging as a net food exporter on the back of this unparalleled irrigation expansion.
Asia now boasts the leonine proportion of the world's surface land under irrigation. About 70 per cent of the world's 301 million hectares of land equipped for irrigation is in Asia alone, making it the global irrigation hub. Just three sub-regions of Asia—South Asia, China, and Southeast Asia — by themselves account for about 50 per cent of the world's total irrigated land.
It is thus hardly a surprise that Asia leads the world in the total volume of freshwater withdrawn for agriculture. Indeed, almost 74 per cent of the total global freshwater withdrawals for agriculture by volume are made in Asia alone.
Water literally is food in Asia. Yet the growth of rice and wheat output in Asia, after the dramatic increases of the previous quarter century, has actually slowed since the late 1990s, raising concerns that Asian countries will become major food importers, roiling the international market. The international food market is not large enough to meet major import demands from Asia.
A fourth factor is that the fastest increase in water demand in Asia is now coming not from agriculture but from the industrial sector and urban households, in keeping with the fact that this continent has become the seat of the world's fastest industrialisation and urbanisation.
A final factor linked to Asia's water stress is the large-scale impoundment of water resources through dams, barrages, reservoirs, and other human-made structures without factoring in long-term environmental considerations. Dams, to be sure, bring important benefits. But upstream dams on rivers shared by two or more nations or provinces in an era of growing water stress often carry broader political and social implications, especially because they can affect water quality and quantity downstream. Dams can also alter fluvial ecosystems, damage biodiversity, and promote coastal erosion and saltwater intrusion.
Most number of dams : Asia is not just the global irrigation hub; it is also the world's most dam-dotted continent. China, the world's biggest dam builder, alone has slightly more than half of the approximately 50,000 large dams on the planet. Most of the best dam sites in Asia already have been taken. Yet the numerous new dam projects in Asia show that the damming of rivers is still an important priority for policymakers. Such a focus on dam building has only intensified intrastate and interstate water disputes and tensions in Asia, with implications for regional security and stability.
The countries likely to bear the brunt of upstream diversion of waters are those located farthest downstream on rivers like the Brahmaputra, Mekong, and Tigris-Euphrates: Bangladesh, whose very future is threatened by climate and environmental change; Vietnam, a rice bowl of Asia; and Iraq, still internally torn. Cross-border water appropriations from the Illy River threaten to turn Kazakhstan's Lake Balkhash into another Aral Sea, which is dying.
A way out : So, the big question is: How can Asian nations prevent the sharpening struggle for water resources from becoming a tipping point for overt conflict? To contain the security risks, Asian states must invest more in institutionalised cooperation on transboundary basin resources in order to underpin strategic stability, protect continued economic growth, and promote environmental sustainability.
The harsh truth is that only four of the 57 transnational river basins in Asia have a treaty covering water sharing or other institutionalised cooperation. These are the Mekong, Ganges, Indus and Jordan river basins. The absence of a cooperative arrangement in most Asian transnational basins is making inter-country water competition a major security risk, increasing the likelihood of geopolitical tensions and instabilities.
With its multitude of inter-country basins, Asia cannot continue to prosper without building political and technological partnerships to help stabilise inter-riparian relations, encourage greater water efficiency, promote environmental sustainability, take on practicable conservation strategies, and invest in clean-water technologies. If Asian states are to address their water challenges, they will need to embrace good practices on the strategic planning and management of water resources.
(Brahma Chellaney is Professor of Strategic Studies at the Centre for Policy Research. The article is adapted from the author's newly released book, Water: Asia's New Battleground, Georgetown University Press and HarperCollins.)

As the Yamuna ebbs away, water-birds give Delhi a miss (The Hindi 21 October 2011)

2011-10-30T22:30:00.001-07:00

Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar
The Hindu Spot billed ducks seen at the Okhla Bird Sanctury in Delhi. While the fish are dying, chances are many migratory water-birds may not make it to the Okhla Bird Sanctuary this year
The depleting water levels of the Yamuna, brought about by the twin impact of less water flow into Delhi and a mechanical fault with the Okhla barrage, have had a tragic effect on the fish in the river and on the arrival of migratory birds at the Okhla Bird Sanctuary.
According to avid bird-watchers, this year could prove to be particularly bad for the arrival of migratory birds at the sanctuary since the river has almost dried up at the point where it leaves Delhi. Also the fish, which are now confined to the small pools, are quickly dying.
“The water levels at Okhla Bird Sanctuary have never been this low. The reason is that very little water is entering Delhi. Also, due to the repairs being carried out at the barrage the gates remained open and the water which should have been retained in the sanctuary flowed out,” says Asian Waterbird Census coordinator Tarun K. Roy who has been following the situation closely.
He adds that while some local migratory water-birds like brahminy ducks, northern shovelers, pied avocets, whiskered terns, green sandpipers, wood sandpipers and ruffs had been spotted at the sanctuary in the first week of October, they are quickly vanishing from there due to the sharp fall in availability of water.
The sanctuary on the Delhi side of the Yamuna is almost non-existent now due to rampant encroachment by illegal colonies. It is on the other side of the Yamuna that the sanctuary supports some bird life. Incidentally, this area is located barely a couple of kilometres from the Dalit Prerna Sthal, which was inaugurated recently by U. P. Chief Minister Mayawati.
“On this side too, the small fish are almost dead and only a few large ones remain in the small pools that now exist. The birds are fast exiting the area,” says Mr. Roy.
Having carried out the bird census on behalf of Wetlands International's South Asia Division for many years, he is concerned that the arrival of the migratory birds from abroad this winter may be affected by the water crisis.
“Already about a dozen resident water-bird species like the Indian moorhen, purple swamphen, little greeb and march harrier, have given Delhi a go-by. And it now seems that birds like the Eurasian wigeon, tufted pochard, comb duck, bar-headed geese and grey leg geese which come in from abroad may also give the Okhla sanctuary in Delhi a pass on not finding water here,” Mr. Roy warns, demanding a minimum water level in the sanctuary that could support fish and bird life.

A new tragedy of the commons (Hindu 20 October 2011)

2011-10-23T22:15:00.000-07:00

The mega-city's unquenchable thirst for land is the backstory of the recent communal clash in Gopalgarh.
As the dust settles on the Gopalgarh firing in Bharatpur, in which nine Meos were killed, State and community versions have begun to unravel. Recent conversations with Gujars highlight the shocking role of the administration. This had already been pointed out by the Citizen's Report coordinated by the PUCL to which I was signatory. It would seem that the order to fire was given under pressure from right-wing leaders and an aggressive section of Gujars. Two, it was signed purportedly on the basis of false information that the Meos, who had collected in the local mosque, were about to commit martyrdom, were armed and had already killed five persons. Whatever the flaws of the draft Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill, its strength is that it clearly puts the onus of inter-communal peace on the administration. In sum, Gopalgarh only proves what we already know about ethnic conflict: that in most cases it can be prevented given administrative and political will.
‘Not communal'
Further, the dispute between the Meos and Gujars of Gopalgarh was not “communal” to begin with, contrary to media and administrative versions. Instead, it approximated a feud, an essential aspect of the subcontinent's intercommunal and intracommunal life. The conflict was over their respective claims to a piece of land that both sides saw as their respective common property resource, the Meos as a graveyard, the Gujars as a pond (jauhar). The land was levelled in order to dig graves after the administration declared that in the Revenue Settlement it had been acknowledged as Meo “commons.”
Tension heightened and the Imam was assaulted by a few Gujars on September 13 having been proactive in the legal dispute. Crowds collected on both sides the following morning from surrounding villages, again typical of the numerous feuds that Meo/Gujar/Jat/Ahir clans have fought. The term “riot” is equally questionable as eventually both the police and an aggressive segment of the Gujars seem to have turned on the Meos in Gopalgarh's mosque, leaving nine dead and 22 injured after some 219 rounds of firing. That only 3 died of bullets and the rest of knife and other injuries is indicative of the nefarious collusion of the State and a segment of the local community and the tragic deployment of the ‘riot control' armoured vehicle that could have been used to disperse crowds on both sides instead of being used eventually as a death van. Indeed, the judicial commission must also look into why Gopalgarh was not instead brought under Section 144 or curfew by noon of September 14.'
Disrupting the communal fabric
The greater tragedy is the rupturing of the region's inter-communal fabric. Gujars and Meos have lived together in intimacy in villages for centuries, addressing each other by kinship terms, sharing languages and mythologies, practices and pilgrimages including to the Siva temple at Jhir. They have even intermarried in the past, as their common clan names suggest. The friendship between a Meo and a Gujar chief is described by the metaphor of “dant kati roti,” i.e. sharing the same bread! If the Meos were recognised as “marginally Muslim,” the Gujars have been “marginally Hindu” in the period preceding Partition. In a folk epic from the Meo oral tradition dating to the late 19th century, a Gujar woman weeps in the hills for the tiger has eaten her only cow. The Meo brothers, Ghurchari and Meo Khan, the “good” bandits, rescue her cow and dare to kill the tiger “protected” for the kingly kill, an act of supreme defiance against the Rajput-ruled kingdom.
In the rural areas of Delhi, Rajasthan and Haryana, Gujar and Meos live in mixed or adjacent villages. An everyday cosmopolitanism marks local cultures, impossible to capture in the theory of high cosmopolitanism. Without it, one cannot understand peasant-pastoral lifeworlds of bare sustenance that many Gujars and Meos share. The upward mobility of other OBC peasant castes bypassed both groups in the previous two centuries until recently, when we witness the phenomenon of “city as imperium.”
Changing land regime
The background of a land dispute culminating in firing, vandalism and scorched bodies in Gopalgarh's mosque is constituted by Delhi's changing land regime and its fallout which seems to be escaping economists, urbanists, and planners. The entrepreneurial governance and spider-like agility of the “global city” has been highlighted by David Harvey and Aihwa Ong. But they fail to recognise how the mega-city in both China and India depeasantises and depastoralises. The urban corridor from Mehrauli to Mumbai — termed a “megalopolis” — gobbles land at a frenzied pace. Between Delhi and Ajmer, the industrial areas of Bhiwadi, Neemrana and Bagru thrive and are fast dissolving the cultural regions known for centuries as Gujarvati and Mewat. Gujars and Meos are both communities whose primary identity derives from land. And that land is now being sought by others willing to pay vast sums.
The genocide of 1947 against the Meos was a traumatic event and Gopalgarh suggests at its continuing reverberations. The new phenomenon is a politico-cultural ethnocide as Meo and Gujar landholders increasingly join the race to make quick money from land sales. Gurgaon was built on a few Gujars and others exchanging their land for thousands of crores.
The mega-city covets agricultural land, “wastelands” and the commons including its water bodies and waqf-owned land. Stone from the Aravallis is being mined at a furious pace. Six thousand truckloads from one village alone daily feed Delhi's limitless appetite for construction despite a Supreme Court stay order. The Aravallis are the oldest mountains in the world and responsible for the region's rainfall, fertility and the ways in which the scarce resource of water has been maximised by communities for a millennia.
Bhiwadi is one of the utopias that have mushroomed in this new landscape: Sunshine City, malls, real estate agent offices, gated apartment buildings and billboards provide incessant temptation to the capital's middle classes. Ranajit Guha described colonialism as dominance without hegemony. In this new mode of imperialism, hegemony is absolute, based on the total consent of the governed, urban and rural. Delhi's rise and Gopalgarh's descent are intrinsically connected. Indeed, the very conceptions of “urban” and “rural” are being transformed. Empire and nation have been older and established modes of imperialism. The 21st century is witness to the city as imperium.
(Shail Mayaram is a professor at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi.)

NCR population shot up by 40% in 10 years (Times of India 20 October 2011)

2011-10-23T22:14:00.001-07:00

Rukmini Shrinivasan & Hemali Chhapia, TNN Oct 20, 2011, 05.52AM IST
DELHI/MUMBAI: The urban agglomeration of Delhi has for the first time overtaken that of Mumbai, whose UA's population in 2011 stood at 18.4 million according to the latest census data, but if Vasai-Virar municipal corporation is added to Mumbai UA, it still stands shy of 20 million.
If the same satellites are added to 2001 data, Delhi UA was still smaller than Mumbai a decade ago - 15.5 million to Mumbai's 16.6 million - showing that the relative change has taken place in the past 10 years. Overall, Delhi-NCR's population has shot up 40% to 21.7 million in the last decade.
Kolkata was listed by the census in 2001 to be the second biggest Indian UA with 13.2 million people; it remains the third biggest UA with 14.1 million people now. The big three - known as "megacities" since they have populations of more than 10 million - remain far ahead of the other big cities. About 15% of India's total urban population lives in these three cities. Along with the rest of the country, population growth is slowing down in these cities too, more so for Kolkata and Mumbai. Delhi is also slowing down, but it still added more than five million people - a third of its 2001 size - in 10 years. Chennai, which remains the fourth biggest, is less than half the size of Mumbai or Delhi.
Bangalore has knocked Hyderabad off the fifth position and is now almost as large as Chennai; 8.5 million to Chennai's 8.7 million, closing a gap of almost a million that existed in the last census. S Parasuraman, director of the Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences, attributed this to the "economic activities in these centres. They have improved significantly." Comparing the cost of living in Mumbai and Bangalore, he said: "The cost of a house in the heart of Bangalore is the same as the cost of a similar-sized house in Dombivli, in the outskirts of Mumbai."
Overall, there are now 53 million-plus cities as compared to 35 in 2001 and 43% of India's urban population lives in them. Among the new cities on this list is Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir's first million-plus city. Rapidly urbanizing Kerala has added six new million-plus cities to Kochi, its only such city in 2001, and Jharkhand now has three where it had none. Orissa, on the other hand, does not have a single million-plus city; nor does the entire north-east. More than a quarter of a billion people live in just 468 Indian cities known as Class I cities, each having a population greater than one lakh.

Sanjay Van a bird sanctuary in the making (Hindu 20 October 2011)

2011-10-23T22:13:00.002-07:00

Lieutenant-Governor launches International Year of Forests celebration by planting a sapling
Amid a growing demand from nature lovers that Sanjay Van, a city forest spread over 783 acres near Neela Hauz, be made a bird sanctuary, the 2011 International Year of Forests celebration was launched by Lieutenant-Governor Tejendra Khanna on Wednesday by planting a sapling in the forest.
The Sanjay Van, which is presently undergoing restoration through a unique collaborative effort between the Delhi Development Authority and a citizen's group, could become a model that will be replicated to restore other ridges in the Capital.
The forest, which is part of the Mehrauli South Central Ridge, has undergone severe degradation in recent times with the proliferation of the Prosopsis Juliflora tree which is non-endemic to the Aravalli ranges and has caused depletion of the ground water level, killing native flora and changing the natural soil characteristics of the Aravallis. Sewage water and effluent discharge into Sanjay Van has also affected this green belt in the Capital.
Following the intervention and active petitioning of a group of citizens under the banner of Working With Nature Group (WWN) to the L-G, the DDA invited Air Vice-Marshal (retd.) Vinod Rawat of the group, to implement a scientific approach towards reviving the Sanjay Van. AVM Rawat organised a team which included two ecologists, Professors P. S. Ramakrishnan and K. S. Rao besides avid bird-watcher Dr. Surya Prakash, and in the last one year over 40,000 native Aravalli trees were planted – many of these by enthusiastic schoolchildren from neighbouring schools who volunteered to help.
Water management
Among the trees planted were those on the verge of disappearing from Sanjay Van like the dhak, khair, khejri, kumattha, desi keekar, hingot, ronjh, bistendu, and siris . The WWN also managed to revive, through better water management, 5,000 “ ber” bushes which had once flourished in Sanjay Van.
Though handicapped by the authorities not giving permission to remove the rapidly spreading Prosopsis Juliflora , the WWN team has worked around this problem by eradicating its seed pods, uprooting young saplings, and filling of open areas with native plants.
Another area where the team under AVM Rawat has made significant progress is water management. A detailed topographic map of Sanjay Van has been completed, and a DDA team is working with the WWN group to create water-harvesting structures, and cleaning of the discharged sewage water and effluents. AVM Rawat said the recharging of ground water would in a few years help create a large water body which will also help recharge the adjacent Neela Hauz lake.
Their results are already bearing fruit and Dr. Surya Prakash has testified to the presence of many rare birds like golden oriole, Asian paradise flycatcher, Eurasian sparrow hawk besides the pied-crested cuckoo which flies in from South Africa to breed in this forest. With Delhi being on the Central Asian Flyway, AVM Rawat said the development of rich greenery and water-bodies will help Sanjay Van attract a variety of migratory birds.
Besides the migratory ones, the forest is also a natural habitat for blue bulls, golden jackals, a large variety of butterflies, snakes, and birds like heron and peacock. The DDA has also promised to secure the forest through construction of a compound wall and appointing security staff.

Nod for new water scheme (Hindu 20 October 2011)

2011-10-23T22:13:00.001-07:00

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Wednesday approved the bid documents of a new canal-based water supply scheme for Panipat town on a turnkey basis.
He said approval had also been given for procurement of all material including ductile iron (DI) pipes by the contractor on through rate basis.
The State Irrigation Department has also been directed to issue sanction for raw water outlet connection of 49 cusecs from Parallel Delhi Branch or Carrier Lined Channel.

Japanese financial assistance for Rajasthan canal project soon (Hindi 20 October 2011)

2011-10-23T22:12:00.000-07:00

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will shortly provide financial assistance worth Rs.1,774 crore for the second phase of a lift canal project in Nagaur district of Rajasthan to provide drinking water to 978 villages and seven towns. The water will be brought from the Indira Gandhi Canal Project.
A six-member fact-finding team of JICA met Nagaur Collector S. S. Bissa on Wednesday to discuss the modalities of the project. Mr. Bissa told the Japanese delegation that land for the project would be allotted without delay and the procedure would be simplified to facilitate early initiation of work.
He said the paucity of drinking water in the desert district could be resolved only through the Indira Gandhi Canal Project. “The ground water [in Nagaur] has high fluoride contents causing fluorosis and other diseases of bones and teeth. The availability of fresh drinking water is going to provide much-needed succour to the people here,” he told the JICA team.
The JICA team, which studied environmental and geographical conditions at the grassroots, found that Nagaur district has a rich mineral wealth that has not been exploited because of paucity of water. Besides, the district has superior breeds of the livestock, but animal husbandry remains a neglected area for want of water.
Second phase
According to an official release here, the Japanese group was told that it was mostly government land which was available for the project's second phase. The members of the team included Koichi Kitamura, Toyoda Mariko, Mino Sato and Itaya.
The seven towns in Nagaur district which would get drinking water from the project are Kuchaman, Nawa, Makrana, Parbatsar, Deedwana, Ladnu and Degana. The project's Superintending Engineer, G. S. Bhati, and Superintending Engineer (Water Resources) G. R. Bhakar were also present during the JICA team's interaction with Mr. Bissa.
The JICA, established in 1974, is the primary Japanese Government agency implementing the country's programme for assisting Asian countries in their socio-economic development. Japan's official development assistance commitment has increased annually and expanded to more countries with Japan remaining the world's top donor since 1991.

Manmohan urged to save the Taj (Hindu 12 October 2011)

2011-10-18T01:20:00.001-07:00

Smriti Kak Ramachandran
Alarmed over the threat to the historic Taj Mahal because of the drying of the Yamuna, a group of concerned citizens have asked for a White Paper on the river and its current state.
In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, they have said that a White Paper on the Yamuna will not only prove helpful in saving the river and the eco-system and heritage that it sustains but also help in framing policies in the future for river conservation.
“It is alarming that the Taj Mahal might just collapse or tilt because the river is drying up. If we don't take immediate steps, we might lose the heritage as well as the eco-systems along the river. There is a dire need to prepare a document on what has gone wrong with the river and what urgent steps should be taken to make amends,” said Manoj Misra, convenor of the non-government organisation Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan, which is also a signatory to the letter.
Mr. Misra said the river has begun to run dry in the summer months over the past ten years, and attributed it to the construction of the Hathnikund barrage. “When Tajewala barrage was in use there was still enough water in the river to maintain the necessary flow. However, ever since the Hathnikund barrage has become functional, it has given Haryana a means to divert most of the water and left the river with no minimum flow.”
In the letter to the PM, the group said: “It is no secret that the rivers in the country are today in a highly-threatened state, with the Yamuna -- passing through the historic and holy cities of Delhi, Vrindavan, Mathura, Agra and hundreds of villages -- being the worst of them all.” So, they said, it did not come as a surprise when a question mark was raised recently on the future of the Taj Mahal which stands on the banks of the Yamuna in Agra.
Among the letter's signatories are Prakash Singh, former DGP (UP); Himanshu Thakkar of the NGO South Asian Network on Dams, Rivers and People; Madhu Bhaduri, former diplomat and ambassador; Anand Arya, environmentalist; Sureswar Sinha; and Yamuna Sewa Samiti, Haryana.

Sir, Threats to TAJ resulting from a d(r)ying river Yamuna are REAL - Request for a WHITE PAPER on the same

2011-10-11T06:08:00.001-07:00

11 October 2011
YJA/CORRES/10/11

Dr Manmohan Singh
Hon’ble Prime Minister
Govt of India
Raisina Hill
New Delhi

Sub: Sir, Threats to TAJ resulting from a d(r)ying river Yamuna are REAL - Request for a WHITE PAPER on the same

Respected Dr Singh,

Greetings.

It is no secret that the rivers in the country are today in a highly threatened state, with river Yamuna (part of the river Ganga basin, the subject of National Authority chaired by your honour) passing through the historical and holy cities of Delhi, Vrindavan, Mathura, Agra and hundreds of villages, being the worst of them all.
So it has not come as any great surprise, when a question mark has recently been raised on the future of one of the most famous historical monuments in the country, namely the Taj Mahal, that stands on the banks of the river Yamuna in the city of Agra.
Sir, It is neither unusual nor unexpected that experts are divided on this issue of threats to the Taj Mahal. This lack of seriousness and understanding may also be because the river Yamuna has started to go effectively dry for almost 9 months of the year only since the year 2002 when the barrage at Hathnikund in Haryana began to divert away almost 100% of the river’s water in non monsoon months. And as if the river’s drying was not enough, reports after reports of CPCB point to the fact that the river cannot withstand the pollution load emanating from untreated and little treated drains opening into the river from cities standing on it. That the large number of hydro-projects continue to add to its’ woes and the river’s flood plains remain threatened from various agencies is no secret, with the recent judgment from the High Court at Allahabad pointing to its seriousness in all starkness. Above all remain the looming climate change impacts on the river and all else dependent on it.

Sir, the Taj Mahal iconically typifies India on the tourist map of the world and it cannot be denied that the threat to the Taj from the d(r)ying of the river Yamuna downstream of the barrage at Hathnikund in Haryana cannot be wished away as just a doomsayer’s nightmarish prophesy.
Accordingly we the following seek a detailed but time bound consultation by a government appointed but credible independent expert group leading to the issuance of a “white paper” by the government on the current state of the river Yamuna, reasons thereof, likely adverse impacts of the same on the ecology and the natural and built heritage in its basin, and the urgent remedial steps needed to mitigate the serious situation as it exists.
We believe that such a white paper, while on the one hand would help unravel and highlight the causes and remedies for ameliorating the threatened state of the river Yamuna, on the other it would also go a long way in aiding the State to come up with appropriate policy and legislative measures to safeguard all other rivers in the country.
Sir, we do hope that your honour and the government would see strong merit in our genuine request and initiate urgent steps in the matter as requested.
Sincerely,
1. Prakash Singh, former DGP (UP), NOIDA,
2. Himanshu Thakkar, SANDRP, Delhi
3. Madhu Bhaduri, former diplomat and Ambassador, Delhi
4. Anand Arya, Environmentalist, NOIDA,
5. Com. (retd) Sureswar Sinha, New Delhi
6. Commodore (retd) Lokesh Batra, NOIDA
7. Brij Khandelwal, Journalist, Agra
8. Maan Mandir Seva Sansthan, Barsana, UP
9. Sudha Mohan, Delhi
10.Harsh Vardhan, Jaipur
11.Ravi Singh, Agra
12.Bhim S Rawat, Delhi
13.Videh Upadhyay, Advocate, New Delhi
14.Hemendra Panwar, Former Director, WII, Gurgaon
15.Dr Sitaram Taigor, Gwalior
16.Manoj Misra, Delhi
17.Yamuna Sewa Samiti, Kanalsi, Haryana
18.Yamuna Gram Sewa Samiti, Ramra (UP)
19.Dau ji Maharaj Yamuna Jan Kalyan Samiti, Ova (UP)
20.Guru Gargacharya Yamuna Jan Kalyan Samiti, Gadaya (UP)
21.Sunil Goel, New Delhi

CC:
Shri Pawan Kumar Bansal, Hon’ble Minister of Water Resources - For your kind information and necessary action please.

Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan, Hon’ble Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Environment and Forests - For your kind information and necessary action please.

Shri Subodh Kant Sahai, Hon’ble Cabinet Minister of Tourism - For your kind information and necessary action please.

Ms. Sejla Kumari, Hon’ble Minister of Culture - For your kind information and necessary action please.

Sri Tejendra Khanna, Hon'ble Lt Governor of Delhi - For your kind information and necessary action please.

MCD to govt: Help stop encroachment on Yamuna riverbed (Hindustan Times 11 October 2011)

2011-10-11T03:55:00.001-07:00

New Delhi, The chairman of the Works Committee of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) Jagdish Mamgain on Monday said that illegal constructions are mushrooming on the Yamuna riverbed and that the Delhi government should direct its departments to stop them instead of blaming MCD.
While
providing pictorial evidence, Mamgain said it was a matter of concern that illegal encroachments and constructions were continuing on the Yamuna riverbed and that the government seems least bothered. "Whenever any incident happens due to illegal construction, the Delhi CM and her colleagues pass the buck on to MCD. Preventive measures and strong action against the law violators is better than trading changes later. Flood department should conduct a survey about the status of river Yamuna and its bed," said Mamgain.
He added that no construction should be allowed at least up to the danger area. The DND road may be taken on priority as maximum illegal activities are undergoing on it.
Alleging that it shows the insensitivity towards protection of natural resources, which may cause environmental hazard, Mamgain said, "Starting from Noida to Delhi and onwards, a number of buildings including pucca buildings are being raised and all these structures are going to be completed soon. I am surprised how builders managed to build without attracting any one's attention," he said.

A unique initiative for community empowerment (Time of India 10 October 2011)

2011-10-10T23:17:00.002-07:00

The youth of Nagla Banjara village in Bharatpur, Rajasthan have taken up street vending with help from the Lupin Foundation. –Photo: Rohit Jain Paras
Jaipur: Through utilisation of existing resources, a large number of street vendors at Nagla Banjara village in Nadbai teshil of Bharatpur district have been helped out to expand their business, construct houses and send their children to school.
The residents of the small Nagla Banjara village, situated near Antara on the Agra-Bikaner National Highway, are traditionally known in eastern Rajasthan as “Pheri Wallas” (street vendors). They travel to far-off villages and sell items of daily use mostly on bicycles and handcarts.
The village has about 100 households mostly of the people belonging to the Banjara (nomad) clan. They were earlier engaged in buying and selling of the cattle used in agricultural farms, but their utility ended after the advent of mechanisation in the agriculture sector. For several years now, they have taken up street vending as their principal vocation.
The Banjaras travel to the rural areas not just in Rajasthan but also in the States such as Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Orissa, Punjab and Haryana, where they have been earning good profits by selling different kinds of commodities.
For street vending, they bring the goods such as utensils, wooden and metal items and cosmetic products from the cities and sell them in the villages. In the absence of adequate capital, they had to travel earlier to the cities over and over again for buying the merchandise.
Sixty per cent of the villagers are engaged in street vending, while the rest work as farm labourers to earn their livelihood, as they do not own any agricultural land. Women rear the cattle to supplement the family income. On any given day, one can only find old people, women and children in the village during the day, while the youths venture out for vending.
On the development front, 80 per cent of the families in Nagla Banjara did not have a brick house till about a year ago and most of them were staying in the huts with thatched roof and sheds erected on pasture land. Barely 20 to 30 persons were literate, even though there is a primary school in the village.
The Lupin Human Welfare and Research Foundation – the corporate social responsibility wing of pharmaceutical major Lupin – adopted Nagla Banjara about a year ago with the intention of launching all-round development works for benefiting the local population.
The first task it took up was getting loans of Rs.25,000 each to 53 persons from the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for construction of brick houses to replace the huts and sheds. Ten other households were helped out in getting financial assistance from the Chief Minister's Below Poverty Line Housing Scheme.
According to Lupin Foundation Executive Director Sita Ram Gupta here, brick houses are being constructed at a fast pace in the village and many of the dusty pathways have been converted into regular roads by utilising the MP's Local Area Development Fund.
The Lupin Foundation laid emphasis on revamping of street vending as an existing resource for livelihood. It gave loans of Rs.20,000 each on easy terms to 78 youths for purchasing items for selling and gave training for fabrication of metal chains to 10 women in the village. Three others were provided with the buffaloes of the improved ‘Murra' breed.
Mr. Gupta points out that the people in the village have now understood the significance of education, as it helps and provides expertise even in a work like street vending. Attempts are underway to bring the out-of-school children to new education centres.
The State Government has since joined the efforts of Lupin Foundation to ensure the village's development and installed separate drinking water tanks for human and cattle consumption. Besides, the youths belonging to BPL families are being trained under the Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana for working as security guards.
Having got information about the Government's welfare schemes, the villagers now approach the elected representatives of Panchayati Raj institutions for getting their benefits. The sustained year-long efforts have seemingly ensured the nondescript village's march on the road to progress and prosperity.
The villagers' empowerment along with the creation of new livelihood opportunities has generated a model for others for taking similar initiatives, he says.

Brace for power cuts as plants are low on coal, water (Time of India 10 October 2011)

2011-10-10T23:17:00.001-07:00

TNN Oct 10, 2011, 05.54AM IST
Tags: i) power generation at BTPS ii) power cuts in delhi
NEW DELHI: City may have to reel under power cuts on Monday if coal shortage continues to hit power plants. Delhi received up to 1,000 MW less power on Sunday leading to load shedding in many areas; but no crisis situation arose due to less demand as it was a holiday.
While the units at NTPC's plants at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh, Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh, Farakka in West Bengal and Kahalgaon in Bihar were already producing less power due to shortage of coal and wet coal, fewer water supply from the Agra Canal led to a shortfall in supply from the Badarpur plant on Sunday. Discoms have warned that load shedding may have to be intensified on Monday when demand rises.
"Due to further reduction in power generation at BTPS, supply to Delhi fell short by as much as 1,000 MW for certain periods on Sunday. The impact wasn't pronounced it being a Sunday, but we may have to resort to load shedding on a rotational basis on Monday if the problem is not sorted out. There will be an obvious increase in power demand on a working day," said a discom official. The peak load on Sunday was 3,526 MW which was about 200 MW less than what it was on Saturday. According to Transco, the load shedding was to the tune of 270 MW on Sunday.
"Due to shortage of water used for cooling and also technical snags, generating stations in the city, including BTPS and Rajghat, were cumulatively producing around 410 MW less power. They normally supply around 1,100 MW to Delhi," a discom official said. Sources said the city received only 800 MW power from the Dadri plant even though its quota is 1,400 MW. The power plants have been cutting down on their generation for nearly a week due to inadequate supply of coal.
Incessant rain in the east has severely hit mining and loading of coal due to which discoms have been overdrawing from the Northern Grid. Last week, load shedding in the city had to be increased to maintain grid frequency. As per Delhi government sources, neighbouring states were heavily overdrawing from the Grid. According to discoms, they cannot arrange to buy power from other sources for the time being as power supply has been hit in other parts of the country, too.
"This problem is beyond our control. All states are overdrawing due to coal shortage. Where is the power to buy?" an official said. Delhi government has also written to NTPC, requesting restoration of full supply to the city.

Puja flowers to give Holi colour (Time of India 09 October 2011)

2011-10-10T23:16:00.002-07:00

Ambika Pandit, TNN Oct 9, 2011, 04.33AM IST
Tags: i) floral tributes ii) Durga puja
NEW DELHI: Floral tributes paid to goddess Durga on Vijaya Dashami are benefitting the under-privileged in the city. Volunteers of different NGOs have salvaged nearly six tonnes of flowers from the banks of the Yamuna after the visarjan (idol immersion) held on Thursday to mark the end of Durga Puja.
Eco-friendly colours will be made from these flowers and sold during Holi, thereby serving as a means of livelihood for hundreds of differently-abled people.
Dr Madhumita Puri, who leads a project called 'From Trash to Cash' and coordinated the flower collection exercise at the enclosures set up along the river banks, said: "The flowers have been collected under the banner of 'Avacayam', a project by virtue of which volunteers collect waste flowers. About six tonnes flowers were collected from Kalindi Kunj, Qudsia Ghat, Geeta Ghat and Jagatpur."
She added: "The response was better than last year when we managed to collect flowers from only one ghat. But this is smaller than what I was hoping to collect: about 12 tonnes. To build awareness among people a wider and more focused campaign is required.
"People need to be informed and requested to put aside puja offerings like flowers before the immersion of the idol so that they can be recycled for a cause.
"From next time, the campaign for an eco-friendly visarjan must be organized much before the puja celebrations begin. Building awareness during the festivities when everyone is too busy with the celebrations does not have that big an impact," she said.
The state environment department has proposed to issue an advisory to all puja organizers next year.
This, they hope, will generate awareness among puja organizers to make idol immersion more eco-friendly. The advisory will talk about prevention of river pollution and how puja offerings like flowers can be recycled and put to better use.
"Our volunteers collect nearly 500 kg of flowers every day from temples. In this, they are aided by 20 other NGOs, who collect at least 100 kg of flowers every day. The flowers are then cleaned, cut, dried and converted into natural colours by differently-abled people," said Puri, who coordinates the Avacayam project round the year.

Water resources minister seeks law akin to RTI (Time of India 09 October 2011)

2011-10-10T23:16:00.001-07:00

Abantika Ghosh, TNN Oct 9, 2011, 01.21AM IST
Tags: i) RTI Act ii) ministry of water resources
NEW DELHI: Buoyed by the recent standing committee recommendations about putting water on the Concurrent List if not the Union List, the ministry of water resources is looking at a national framework law on the lines of the RTI Act to ensure state compliance on water conservation and pricing.
"The matter (of putting water on the Concurrent List or the Union List) will be taken up by the group of ministers soon. Our stand is clear. We need some say in the matter as leaving it to states is serving nobody's purpose. It's a politically sensitive issue and electoral concerns mean that tough measures like pricing are seldom implemented. But evolving a political consensus might be equally difficult. That's why we are looking at a national framework law. Once we get it passed with support from two or more states, other states will have to adopt it," said a senior official in the ministry of water resources.
The standing committee in its report on the augmentation of ground water had recommended: "Taking note of the recurrent disputes between certain states and regions over water sharing, the Committee hardly need to underline the need for evolving national planning development, conservation, exploitation and distribution of water in an equitable and sustainable manner...The Committee would urge the government to initiate steps in right earnest to strive to build national consensus to bring water either in the Union list of the concurrent list after due consultation with state governments."
The panel has asked the ministry to initiate a draft proposal on this at the earliest.
Senior ministry officials say that efforts are on to have a law in place by the start of the 12th Five Year plan. The law would have provisions for setting up of a water authority in each state - much like the State Information Commission under the RTI Act - and tackle issues like water pricing, where each state now has adopted a separate regime.
Lack of Central powers in the matter has led the ambitious river linking project hanging fire for many years. The first project, Ken-Betwa, is stuck over the inundation threat to the Panna Tiger Reserve. While Madhya Pradesh has withdrawn consent to the Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal linking project, maintaining that it doesn't stand to benefit from it. "These are some of the things that would ease once there are more powers on water issues," said an official.

Croat captures colour and emotion on banks (Time of India 07 October 2011)

2011-10-10T23:15:00.002-07:00

Indrani Basu, TNN Oct 7, 2011, 05.22AM IST
New Delhi: As hundreds of devotees sang songs in praise of the Goddess Durga on Vijayadashami, Croatian documentary filmmaker Ljubica Jankovic Lazaric was busy capturing emotions on the Kalindi Kunj ghat. The well-known filmmaker has been busy recording the festival for the past four days in Delhi with her Lucknow-based camera person Ali and her friend Kartik, a Delhi-based interior and graphic designer who has been helping her communicate with locals.
"I am shooting a documentary on Delhi as seen through the four seasons and trying to capture those things in this city that change and that which remains constant. The personality of the city of Delhi is dynamic, with lots of things changing every day as it rushes to become a world-class city. Some of the changes will cause it to lose its uniqueness but things like Durga Puja and the festivities that surround it will remain a constant. Each year, the ghats are crowded with devotees and I am here to capture this excitement and activity," explained Lazaric to TOI.
Lazaric has been visiting different puja pandals in the city to catch the festive flavour. "The celebration of this festival marks the start of autumn in Delhi. I have been to the CR Park Mela Grounds where we captured the beautiful idol and the hundreds of people who visited the pandal. The entire immersion process has been equally beautiful. After this, I am also planning to shoot the Ramlila. The variety and vibrant environment of Delhi is infectious. Earlier, when I shot ten stories of India in Chennai, Rishikesh, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Pushkar, Ajmer and Varanasi among others and it was aired in Croatia, it became very popular. Now I want to focus on Delhi and its many moods through the year," said Lazaric.
The filmmaker first came to India six years ago when she shot brief episodes on Indian culture for Croatian television. Four years ago, she visited India again. This time, with a mission to capture multifaceted Delhi, Lazaric is shooting two documentaries on Delhi, one of them being Delhi through the seasons.
"Delhi has become a home to me and this film is a tribute to the city. When I leave, this will be my present," said the filmmaker, who is currently living in Noida. Lazaric, who studied at the University of Zagreb and is a member of Croatian Film Director's Guild, has directed more than 250 documentary films in countries such as Germany, Australia, USA, Italy, Albania, Iran, and India.

Ghats packed with devotees as festival culminates with immersion of the deity (Time of India 07 October 2011)

2011-10-10T23:15:00.001-07:00

Indrani Basu, TNN Oct 7, 2011, 05.26AM IST indrani.basu@timesgroup.com
Tags: South Delhi Joint Procession Committee
New Delhi: With unbridled enthusiasm, they danced to the fervent beat of drums and chanted Durga's name, before bidding adieu to their beloved goddess.
Four days of festivities culminated in Vijaya Dashami on Thursday as hundreds of devotees thronged the Yamuna ghats to immerse the idols.
The send-off was an elaborate affair, with men, women and children holding pots containing burning coconut husk and dancing in front of Durga's idols, in reverence to the goddess.
The immersion took place at four main ghats in the capital - Kalindi Kunj, Geeta Ghat, Kudsiya Ghat and Ramghat. The Kalindi Kunj ghat alone witnessed over 250 visarjans by various puja samitis from south Delhi, Dwarka, Mayur Vihar, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Noida among others. "We have 135 puja samitis who have registered for visarjan at Kalindi Kunj Ghat this year. There are over 150 unregistered puja samitis who also brought their idols for immersion here," said Anjan Mukherjee, member of South Delhi Joint Procession Committee.
"Friday onwards, we will go back to our normal routine. Until then we are pulling out all stops and singing and dancing to our heart's content. At least 50 to 60 people from our puja pandal have come to the Kalindi Kunj ghat," said Shubha Goswami of Sarita Vihar puja pandal.
Each puja committee brought their teams comprising of young and the elderly to carry the idols to the river for immersion. Spinning the idol thrice for good fortune, devotees waded into the river and bid the goddess farewell with a heavy heart, their eyes moist with tears as the idol drifted away. "Vijayadashami is a bittersweet day for us. We are sad to see Ma Durga drift away after four days of non-stop celebrations and excitement. Her immersion has left a void in the heart of the devotees. The only consolation is that everyone is aware of the fact that the goddess will return next year, to fill us with joy and colour," said Niharika Roy.
Members of many puja committees were seen sporting T-shirts specially printed for their respective puja samitis.
Ashoka Enclave Sarbojanin Durga Puja Committee of Faridabad had a team of 70 people from various walks of life coming to the ghat for the visarjan. "The committee boasts of engineers, chartered accountants, IT professionals, advertising professionals and school teachers. We are 85 families who love to organize Durga Puja and celebrate together. We are a very close-knit community, and this is why everyone wants to come to the ghat," said puja samiti cultural secretary Arjun Sengupta.

Just wading into river, little water (Time of India 07 October 2011)

2011-10-10T23:14:00.002-07:00

Jayashree Nandi & Indrani Basu, TNN Oct 7, 2011, 05.25AM IST toireporter@timesgroup.com
New Delhi: After Durga was immersed with festive fervour, devotees bent their heads reverentially for the sprinkling of 'holy water'. But they were in fact breathing stench and getting sprayed with drain water. The Yamuna seemed like a dirty nullah choked and frothing with filth and scum.
And what's shocking, the water level has receded to such low levels that devotees were seen wading in the middle of the river, the water barely touching their knees.
"There will probably be a time when we won't need boats. And it's just not about the water level, the stench here is unbearable. We spend our days here and pollution is killing the river," said Vikas Paswan, a boatman at Kalindi Kunj ghat.
The ambitious New Ganga and Yamuna Action Plans have still not been able to bring the river back from the brink. And activists say speedy implementation of the plan can still save the Yamuna.
"There are several reasons for the receding water levels. Water is diverted into Yamuna's tributaries like Renuka, which is also dying due to lack of natural water source. Rising population and depleting agricultural land are also exerting pressure on the river," said Puran Chand, an activist of the Renuka Bandh Sangharsh Samiti.
Experts say the city is hardly equipped to treat waste water. "Under the Water Pollution Act, 1974, it is illegal to dump untreated water. The national capital is setting the worst example by not treating waste water. Even the small amount that is treated is released into the untreated waste water that defeats the entire purpose. The river does not belong to the Delhi alone. There are a lot of excuses offered by authorities, including migration and overpopulation for not treating water, but it has been many years and the situation is just getting worse," said Himanshu Thakkar, coordinator for South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People.
Environmentalists say there is almost no fresh water in the Yamuna today. With fresh water diverted from Wazirabad for urban use, the water flowing downstream carries untreated pollutants from Delhi. The urban and industrial waste and drain water from Najafgarh pass through Kalindi Kunj ghat.

Scavengers strike gold in trash heap (Time of India 07 October 2011)

2011-10-10T23:14:00.001-07:00

Indrani Basu, TNN Oct 7, 2011, 05.23AM IST indrani.basu@timesgroup.com
New Delhi: With the immersion of the idols on Vijaya Dashami, it is curtains to Durga Puja, but for these ragpickers, the festival has just begun. These band of boys from the nearby jhuggi clusters around the Yamuna ghats look forward to this day each year when hundreds of puja devotees come for the immersion and leave behind offerings. What is waste for others is big money for them.
Proudly clutching his "booty" in a dirty, white plastic sack, seven-year-old Suhaib says he collected enough utensils to last a year for his family in about 50 minutes. There are many others who like Suhaib are busy sifting through piles of incense sticks, puja samagri and packets of flowers to retrieve what they consider "useful" waste.
"I collect gatta (cardboard) and plastic. Gatta sells for Rs 5 a kilo and plastic for Rs 13 a kilo. Today, I have already made two trips to my house to empty my bag. I will collect enough to sell for at least Rs 50. All my siblings are also here. We will have a feast tonight," said a jubilant nine-year-old Bhuwan. He stays in a rundown hut near the Shamshan Ghat with his paralytic mother and three siblings.
For most of these children, the festivities begin only when the puja ends for the devotees. Each year, these children watch from the banks of the Yamuna as the puja committees come the ghats with their idols. As the devotees dance and pray in front of the idols before the visarjan, the scavengers too join in, in anticipation of the treasures that they would soon find in the devotees' waste. Most people coming for the visarjan carry water bottles and plastic packets that they carelessly throw away before leaving the ghat, and these children are only too happy to pick them up and stow them away in the bags they bring with them.
"Sometimes, we have demarcated areas where each scavenger can forage. We cover the whole ghat and some of the more experienced swimmers dive into the water to salvage packets of utensils which the devotees throw into the river. Our operation continues till late into the evening. For us, it's a hard day's work, but it is also our one of the happier days. Vijaya Dashami is the day when we are assured of a full meal at night. Many of the things we manage to salvage keep us going for the rest of the year," said 12-year-old Vijay, who has been visiting the ghat on Vijaya Dashami since he was eight years old.
As devotees pull out of the ghats chanting "Ma Durga would be back again next year", these young scavengers join in to echo their prayer.

Yamuna chokes on toxins as puja samitis flout norms (Time of India 07 October 2011)

2011-10-10T23:13:00.000-07:00

Jayashree Nandi, TNN Oct 7, 2011, 05.24AM IST jayashree.nandi @timesgroup.com
New Delhi: As Durga idols slowly sank into the Yamuna, nostalgia hung heavy and so was an overbearing stench over the ghats. The muddy, smelly waters along the Kalindi Kunj ghat were choked as hundreds of idols were hauled up by cranes and immersed. Plastic bottles, packets, thermocol and ornaments of goddesses were washed ashore in the ebb and flow.
Though most organizers claimed idols were decked up with herbal color, hardly anyone followed immersion guidelines. Toxic dyes and insoluble material sunk into the polluted waters, which drastically brings down the biological oxygen demand levels of aquatic life. Clothes or ornaments were also not removed in clear violation of the norms.
"The water is already polluted. I don't think it's only because of use of chemical colours or the large number of idols immersed," said Moloy Das, a member of Ashoka Enclave 3 puja committee in Faridabad.
Member of South Delhi immersion committee, Anjan Mukherjee, said eco-idols is the trend this year. "Most of our registered members said they have used herbal colours. There is no way we could monitor this. And going by the promise, pollution should be low this year. We have also created separate enclosures to dump non-biodegradable material like ornaments, plastic and thermocol. Last year, we received several complaints that dumping of plastic had affected fish culture. Most of the violators are unregistered members," he said.
Artistes of the Cooperative Ground Durga Puja Samiti for instance said they had used vegetable dyes and clay from the Yamuna and Ganga, Many puja samitis also claimed to have used minimal paint. But majority of the samitis had flouted guidelines and used toxic lead-based colours.
"Some organizers have shifted to eco-colours. But most colours contain heavy metals and toxins. And not all immersions take place at Wazirabad, many idols are taken upstream. This leads to toxins trickling into the water works.
Most idols remain afloat for months due to the kind of material used. The number of puja pandals have also increased. We have to find other ways to deal with it," said Ravi Agarwal of Toxic Link, an NGO working on toxic pollution.
Durga puja organisers say authorities need to maintain strict vigil on the day of immersion. Some devotees who flocked the ghats couldn't believe it was a river. "Look at the state of the river. Chemicals and waste have killed it. Immersion is not the sole reason for pollution. The river is under too much pressure," said Shobhit Mukherjee, who came with his friends to watch the event.
Communities living around Kalindi Kunj ghat say clean water is needed at least for the immersion ritual as it has tremendous religious and cultural significance. Vikas Paswan, a boatman, said,
"We have been living here for a decade. Each year, the water gets more polluted. Even human excreta is let out into the Yamuna. The water here is frothing with industrial waste from factories and the stench is because of the heavy inflow of drain water. I really wish there was clean water to bid farewell to our gods."

Sir, Zone O (river) is a 'waterscape' and not a 'landscape' - Its planning needs to keep this fact in mind

2011-10-10T20:30:00.001-07:00

YJA/CORES/10/11
7 October 2011

Sri Tejendra Khanna
Hon'ble Lt Governor of Delhi
Raj Niwas
DELHI

Sub: Sir, Zone O (river) is a 'waterscape' and not a 'landscape' - Its planning needs to keep this fact in mind

Respected Sir,

Greetings from Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan.

First of all kindly pardon the length of this communication. In addition although we are made to understand that the matter that we are raising for your honour's consideration has already been vetted and approved by you, still we request that the same may kindly be re-considered in the light of our submissions made as under.

Sir, the Zone O (river zone) in the city is perhaps its most valuable natural heritage. Yet it is no secret that it is also the most abused and threatened. One of the primary reason in our view for such state of affairs is the lack of understanding and acceptance by the planners that this 9700 ha of open spaced 'ribbon' is a waterscape and NOT a landscape. It is the land that has been defined and continues to be defined by the recurrent floods in the river, of which the floods of Aug-Sep 2010 is the most recent. Accordingly any planning including human intervention in this 'ribbon' should take the following fundamentals into consideration:

a) natural topography of the flood plain that must not be allowed to be altered through human action

b) water coverage of the land during recent floods, so that public money is not invested for obvious reasons in areas that are floodable.

c) there is a natural ensemble of flora and fauna that every river is characterised by and which should not be allowed to be 'polluted' in any manner
d) what may be true and permissible say in the river Thames or even river Cauvery would not necessarily hold true in case of river Yamuna

Sir, with the above as the caveat, we find serious problems with the plan as prepared and shared through media report (TOI, 4 Oct 2011) by the DDA. Sir, while prima facie the plan might seem attractive as it is shunning permanent construction of any kind, it is gravelly flawed and hence requires a serious and urgent relook. In any case any action on these plans may not be permitted until a thorough public scrutiny including by independent ecologists and city planners.

But first of all, we find it very odd and unacceptable that while the plan is being released selectively through media, the same is not yet (website seen on 7 Oct 2011) available on the DDA website. What can be seen there (DDA website) are old postings with no details available whatsoever on the plans as they relate to Yamuna Biodiversity Park, Qudsia Ghat, Golden Jubilee Park, and the DND flyway. Why are these plans not being shared with general public, who's money is on the block in form of planned interventions, many of which might get lost to floods the soonest it comes.

Sir, as your honour is well aware that the river in NCT of Delhi is 50 km long with 26 km (rural stretch beginning the Palla village) lying upstream of Wazirabad barrage, 22 km between Wazirabad and Okhla Barrages (Urban river stretch) and 2 km downstream of Okhla barrage till the Jaitpur village. So it is necessary that this rural - urban divide in the river is fully kept in mind and not permitted to be obscured under a uniform planning process as it seems is currently underway.

Secondly the three zonations (protective biodiversity; interactive biodiversity and recreational) should follow a natural logic and the river's topography and not just a random juxtaposition without any obvious basis or logic. Otherwise how come recreational and interactive biodiversity would over ride, here and there, the protective biodiversity zone in their proximity to the river channel proper. Also we wonder if this planning has taken into account the inundations seen in the river's flood plains during Aug-Sep 2011.

Sir, we have pics from the 2011 floods and based on them there is no way, that anything should be planned for example at the Golden Jubilee Park site, which otherwise as per the TOI report, active plans seem to be already chugging along? We wonder for example as to what is a Mythological Park (?); an Amphitheatre; Multipurpose Grounds; Food plaza; Urban (?); Site Office/s; etc doing at a site that had gone under deep water during the Sep 2010 Floods?

Sir, pardon us saying this but the DDA has still to prove its expertise in managing the water bodies and the river in the city. Even the phase I of the Yamuna Biodivesirty Park is in places unnecessarily humanised. Accordingly we request that let the DDA first make its Zone O plans (with all details) public on its site, invite suggestions and comments from general public and professionals and only then embark on any planned intervention in the zone O (river). This should be perfectly possible as at least now there is no hurry or a deadline like the CWG to meet for the DDA.

Sir, a river like Yamuna with recurrent floods is the easiest to plan. Let there be no human intervention in its 10 yr flood zone. Very little human presence in form of few bridle paths in its 25 yr flood zone. And some recreation props like sitting places, pagodas etc in its 50 yr flood zone.

Sir, in case of Delhi it is only the higher perches along the right (western) bank adjoining the original ring road where the river bank is clearly higher than the river channel, and where today power plants, Majnu Ka Tila, and the DTC temporary bus depot stands (that all needs relocation) and alone deserves any recreational intervention. Rest all over we have documentary evidence to prove that there was deep to shallow flood waters during Sep 2010.

In addition we wonder if the DDA has taken into account the plans already underway or under planning of other agencies like the DMRC, the PWD, The Flood Control and Irrigation Departments, to name a few that could impact their own plans? Should the websites of all such agencies not carry composite and interconnected information on all their plans since public money is involved in all of them?

We also suggest if we may, that please create a "River and Water bodies Restoration Agency" in the city to be headed by a ecologists of eminence and this body's word may be made final (after DDA, DUAC, MOEF, YSC or any other agency has vetted a proposal) when any agency plans any project in Zone O or other zones where notified water bodies in the city are located. Such a move we believe is long over due for a proper restoration of life-line river and water bodies in the city.

Finally, Sir, please allow us to reiterate that Zone O is a 'waterscape' and not a 'landscape' (and this fact has also been noted in the past by the High Court of Delhi in one of its orders in the Wazirpur Bartan Nirmata Sangh case) and hence it may not be allowed to be planned like the latter. Also it is wrong for the DDA to keep reiterating that Zone O is 9700 ha strong which it clearly is no longer true, with large chunks already (and unfortunately irreversibly) lost to encroachments (legal and illegal both) of all kinds. Should the DDA not first come clean on the exact extent of land which is still available with it and to the river?

Sir, we fervently hope that your honour would see merit in what we say and please get the DDA's plans for zone O, made fully public. scrutinised and then only put into effect.

With warm regards,

Manoj Misra
Convener

CC:

Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan, Hon’ble Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Environment and Forests For your kind information and necessary action please.

Smt Sheila Dixit, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Chief Secretary of Delhi, Govt. of Delhi - For your kind information and necessary action please.

Vice Chairman, Delhi Development Authority, Delhi - For your kind information and necessary action please.

Chairman, Delhi Urban Arts Commission, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110 003 – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Chairman, Yamuna Standing Committee, Central Water Commission, Sewa Bhawan, R.K. Puram, New Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.

DDA's plans for Zone O are flawed - Pictorial evidence

2011-10-10T20:12:00.001-07:00

YJA/CORRES/10/11
8 October 2011

Sri Tejendra Khanna,
Hon'ble Lt Governor of Delhi
Raj Niwas
DELHI

Sub: DDA's plans for Zone O are flawed - Pictorial evidence

Respected Sir,

Greetings from Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan.

Sir, in continuation of our appeal sent to your honour from yesterday (7 Oct 2011) please find enclosed a pictorial report that proves that DDA's plans for the so called 'Jubilee Park' in the river bed are flawed as the site in question falls within the 10 year flood zone and had actually gone under water in Sep 2010. The same also holds true (we again have pictures with flood waters at these sites) for large part of Qudsia Ghat and the DND area where again DDA plans similarly.

We accordingly request that DDA may kindly be prevented from going ahead with its plans to invest public money at sites where the same is likely to turn waste soonest the floods recur.

The entire plan (with all details) of DDA for zone O may kindly be directed to be put on its (DDA) website and let it be scrutinised by the knowledgeable in the light of the experiences from the floods of Sep 2010 and unless a firm flood zonation (10 yr, 25 yr and 50 yr) is identified and demarcated on the grounds, no further plans may kindly be approved.

With warm regards,

Manoj Misra
Convener

CC:

jayanthi.n@sansad.nic.in; cmdelhi; csdelhi; vcdda; duac74

Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan, Hon’ble Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Environment and Forests For your kind information and necessary action please.

Smt Sheila Dixit, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Chief Secretary of Delhi, Govt. of Delhi - For your kind information and necessary action please.

Vice Chairman, Delhi Development Authority, Delhi - For your kind information and necessary action please.

Chairman, Delhi Urban Arts Commission, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110 003 – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Chairman, Yamuna Standing Committee, Central Water Commission, Sewa Bhawan, R.K. Puram, New Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Kerala submits proposal for new Mullaperiyar dam (The Hindu 02 October 2011)

2011-10-07T00:33:00.000-07:00

Ahead of the October 10 meeting of the Empowered Committee headed by former Chief Justice of India A.S. Anand, the Kerala government has submitted the feasibility report for new Mullaperiyar Dam to be located at 366 m below the centre line of the existing dam.
According to the Kerala government, the old dam will be demolished only after completion of the new dam and as such diversion of river flow for carrying out the construction of new dam will not be a major problem.
The present arrangement of water diversion to Tamil Nadu will continue to function uninterruptedly during the construction of the new dam and also after its commissioning.
According to the 130-page report, a copy of which is with The Hindu the total estimated amount for the new dam is Rs.663 crore and it is to be built spread over a period of four years.
“It is a straight gravity concrete dam. The structure consists of a main dam and a small saddle dam on the right side. The spillway is located in river portion and is located +366.0m downstream of the existing old Mullaperiyar Dam. The favourable geomorphological conditions coupled with reduced additional area of submergence (26.33Ha) of flora and fauna make the location highly technically and environmentally acceptable. The new dam has been designed for earthquake forces also.”
The height of the new dam will be 52.16 metres (from deepest foundation up to road level) and its length will be 305.9 m (including piers) and bottom width will be 42.253 m. The crest level and FRL is kept the same and hence actually no shutters are necessary at 52.16 m.
But since the outflow is to be restricted to 1.22 lakh cusecs, whenever reservoir level reaches a particular level between 148 and 149 feet, the effective vent way is to be reduced by lowering the shutters to the required level.
The report says a special purpose vehicle is being created to carry out the effective and efficient management of the construction of the New Mullaperiyar Dam after obtaining all the mandatory clearances. Kerala will commission the New Dam most expeditiously and in the minimum time frame to safeguard the lives and properties of its thousands of people and to ensure continued supply of water to the needy farmers of Tamil Nadu.
Justifying the necessity for construction of a new dam, the report says, “There is a limit to the number of years one can keep dams in service through maintenance and strengthening measures. In the case of Mullaperiyar dam, the dam has to be there for another 884 years for diverting water to Tamil Nadu as per Lease Deed. This is an impossible proposition. All over the world, safety of dams is being reviewed as per modern standards and hundreds of dams have already been dismantled considering the safety aspects of human life and property.”
The report says, “In view of the definite conclusions of the scientific studies conducted by national institutions of repute and the persistent threat which the dam poses, it is imperative that the present old Mullaperiyar Dam demands urgent decommissioning for discharging the responsibility of the State to protect the lives and properties of its citizens.”

Met dept to change official Monsoon dates

2011-10-05T01:28:00.000-07:00

Met dept to change official Monsoon datesNeha Lalchandani, TNN Oct 4, 2011, 04.52AM IST

Tags:Scientist|IMD|Ajit Tyagi

NEW DELHI: Armed with exhaustive data on rainfall from several more stations in the past 30 years, the Indian Meteorological Department is working on an analysis that will see a change in the date of monsoon onset and withdrawal over the country. Since 2006, the monsoon's retreat has been commencing between September 21 and September 30 against a normal date of September 1.

A report on India's climate profile by IMD director-general Ajit Tyagi and Dr S D Attri reveals that between 1941 and 2000, there has been a slight shift in monsoon activity with late onset and late withdrawal and a general increase in duration by about a week. More evidently, as IMD set specific criteria for onset and withdrawal four-five years ago, making it mandatory for all conditions to be met before they declare onset or withdrawal, the withdrawal date has shifted by two-three weeks.

"As we have started following the criteria, we have new dates for onset and withdrawal. We will have to test these against the normal, work out variability and see if changes are required. The process has started but we need to have experts ratify our findings before the formal dates can be declared. The process may take a year or so," said Tyagi.

Between 1971 and 2000, Jammu and Kashmir saw a standard deviation of 14 days in the onset of monsoon from the normal date. West and northwest India have seen onset delayed by an average of 1.5 weeks.

Withdrawal dates have also shifted by about one to 1.5 weeks. "A general late onset suggests a shift in the monsoon activity. The duration of the southwest monsoon has also been found to be higher in all meteorological sub-divisions in the past 60 years," said Tyagi.

Dr M Rajeevan, scientist and monsoon expert with the National Atmospheric Research Laboratory, said it was high time that IMD proposed such changes. "The normal dates for monsoon activity were set several years ago and there has been a marked change in circulation, dates etc that should now be updated. For instance, onset of monsoon has been steadily getting delayed over the eastern parts of central India. Such changes are due to a natural variability and not a result of global warming," he said.

Officials also said a change had also been recorded in the total rainfall across various regions, though there had not been a significant change in the overall rainfall for the country. "In the four months of monsoon, we have seen large regional variation with east getting lesser and west getting more rainfall," said Tyagi.

In June, west and southwest India have recorded a significant increase in rainfall while central and eastern parts have shown a significant decrease. In July, central and peninsular India have shown a decrease while northeast India has shown a significant increase.

August has shown a significant increase in rain over Konkan and Goa, Marathwada, Madhya Maharashtra, Vidarbha, west Madhya Pradesh, west Uttar Pradesh and Telengana while September has shown a decrease in average rainfall over Vidarbha, Marathwada and Telengana and an increase for sub-Himalayan West Bengal.

Holiday by the Yamuna in 2015 (Times of India) 4 Oct 11

2011-10-05T01:23:00.000-07:00

YA M U N A R I V E R F R O N T D E V E LO P M E N T P L A N
Holiday by the Yamuna in 2015

With jungles,camping sites and playgrounds,riverfront will offer a perfect getaway without the carbon miles

Neha Pushkarna | TNN

Amid the hustle and bustle of Delhi,you can finally look at Yamuna for respite in a few years from now.Come 2015,the way we know and treat Yamuna is going to change.DDAs much-needed Yamuna Riverfront Development plan is finally off the ground with work already on at a couple of sites,and estimates,sketches and deadlines drawn up for the others.If administrative lethargy doesn't set in,the banks of Yamuna will be full of theme parks,promenades,amphitheatres,wellness centres and biodiversity zones for ecological study,camping and bird-watching,giving Delhiites a refreshing break without really having to go far and away.

The Yamuna Riverfront Development plan was conceived last year.In a meeting with lieutenant governor Tejendra Khanna in September,DDA officials made a presentation on the progress of the plan which looked both promising and challenging.The plan aims at refurbishing the land along the river from Palla in the northwest to Jaitpur in the south,a distance of 48km.But encroachments and existing land use pose a huge challenge.

DDA is starting with the development of banks on four sites Yamuna Biodiversity Park (YBP) near Wazirabad,Qudsia Ghat behind Kashmere Gate ISBT,Golden Jubilee Park (GJP) near Geeta Colony and the Delhi-Noida-Delhi Flyway.DDA says most parts of these locations are available for redevelopment and will be converted into three zones protective biodiversity,interactive biodiversity and recreational based on their natural condition,availability of flora and fauna and accessibility.The last two zones will be for public use.Work on YBP and GJP is under way.Redevelopment at Qudsia Ghat is likely to begin in April 2012,while it should start in late 2013 at DND flyway.

These zones have been identified on the basis of value analysis of the region done through urban exploration or riverine ecology study besides considering other data and site context, said a DDA official.Biodiversity experts from the Centre for Environmental Management of Degraded Ecosystems are working to provide details of the wildlife available in the region and find ways for revival of their habitat.Land along Yamuna falls under Zone O of the Master Plan 2021 Delhi has been divided into 15 zones from A to P with Zone O having special characteristics and ecological significance.

About 9,700 hectares will be redeveloped.The four sites identified total up to 1,600 hectares in which 142 hectares in the DND Flyway zone is under habitation.The plan may help curb pollution of Yamuna.About 22km of Yamuna lies in the urban area with thermal and gas power stations,bathing ghats,sewage treatment plants and fly ash brick plants located alongside.
The riverfront development plan will restore and conserve the biotic heritage of Yamuna, said Neemo Dhar,spokesperson,DDA.

BAMBOO FOUNDATION

With construction prohibited on Yamunas banks,DDA plans to set up structures like bridges,seating areas,shelters,machans,naturopathy huts,eating areas and tree house using bamboo Bamboo will be planted on the banks of the river because of its ability to grow up to four feet a day without any fertilizers Eco-skywalk will be created as part of interactive biodiversity zone on the southern side of DND Flyway amid natural wetlands and grassland.It will be an elevated bamboo structure with a walking area and pause points for bird watching Zen Garden will be a spiritual wellness area located north of DND.Herbal garden,aroma garden,meditation areas,naturopathy and yoga huts will come up here

RIVER SIDEWALK

SITTING AREA

BRIDGES

NATUROPATHY HUT

ROCK GARDEN

SCULPTURES

WORKSHOPS

PROTECTIVE BIODIVERSITY ZONE |

Areas with existing wetlands and rich flora and fauna of river basin will be developed into core biodiversity zone.It will have thick and diverse plantation and even wildlife to achieve effects of a natural ecosystem

INTERACTIVE BIODIVERSITY ZONE |

It will have a moderate biodiversity layer and act as a buffer to the core zone.People will be allowed to enter for camping,exploring nature & ecological study

PUBLIC RECREATION ZONE |

Areas close to habitation with easy access will be developed for recreation.DDA has proposed to build playgrounds,theme parks,riverside promenade,orchards,exhibition areas and an informal bazaar

Environmentalists protest against Yamuna embankment proposal (Times of India 28 Sep. 11)

2011-09-27T21:42:00.001-07:00

Neha Lalchandani, TNN | Sep 28, 2011, 02.17AM IST
NEW DELHI: Another proposal to usurp a substantial part of the Yamuna floodplain has raised the hackles of environmentalists. An RTI query has revealed Noida Authority's plans of building an embankment on the left bank of the Yamuna, stretching from NH-24 to the Chilla Regulator. While the proposal to the Yamuna Standing Committee claimed it is a flood control measure, senior officials of the authority accept that it is only a bid to reclaim land.
Interestingly, the authority has not even decided what to do with the over 15-lakh sqm land that it will gain through this. "It will take about three years for the embankment to come up and only then will we decide how to use the land. Flood control measures are not required as the Noida link road serves that purpose. The project is under consideration," said a senior official. He was unable to explain why the authority is eyeing the land even though it has no use for it at present.
The proposal was mooted by the UP government in August 2008 and sent to the Yamuna Standing Committee in 2009. The committee cleared it conditionally, asking the government to ensure that all required environmental clearances were obtained before work started. The authority has already marked the area on ground using poles and barbed wire.
"It was by sheer chance that we learnt about the project. We first managed to access the minutes of the YSC meetings through RTI and then applied once more to get details of the project. The LG has been apprised of the situation and we hope some action will be taken," said Manoj Mishra of the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan.
The project report states that the length of the embankment would be about 4km, stretching from 280m at NH-24 to 660m at the Chilla Regulator in width. The embankment will be 6m high with a 6m width on top and about 40m wide base. "The project is worth Rs 92.1 crore. The area under consideration is the only relatively secure floodplain we have in Delhi and it is highly important for groundwater regeneration. In the 2010 floods, there was 3-4m water in the area. The right side of the river has already been concretized under Commonwealth Games Village and the Akshardham Temple. This will be the death of the river," added Mishra.

Flood alert sounded in Bihar (Hindu 27 September 2011)

2011-09-27T21:41:00.000-07:00

Making merry: Children playing in the water-logged Gandhi Maidan after heavy rain that lashed Patna on Monday. Photo: Ranjeet Kumar
An alert was sounded on Monday as the overall flood situation in Bihar worsened following heavy rain in the catchment areas of the rivers and the discharge of water from two dams in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has directed the State Water Resources and Disaster Management departments to be on high alert and intensify relief and rescue operations.
Following discharge of 9.50 lakh cusec of water from the Bansagar dam in Madhya Pradesh and the Rihand dam in Uttar Pradesh into the Sone during the past 48 hours several villages of Rohtas, Arwal, Patna, Aurangabad and Bhojpur districts were inundated, official sources said.
The water discharge from Bansagar on Sunday was recorded at 9.58 lakh cusec, the highest ever since 1975, forcing the State government to send letters to Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand governments registering its protest over erratic discharge to the Sone.
In view of the worsened flood situation, the government has cancelled leave of all engineers till October 15 and postponed the State-level meeting of the chief engineers scheduled on September 29 and 30 to October 15 and 16.
The government has also sounded alert in Vaishali, Chapra, Samastipur, Katihar and Bhagalpur districts as the water level of the Ganga is rising due to heavy discharge into the Sone which culminates in the Ganga near Haldi-Chapra.
Heavy downpour in the catchments areas of the Sone led to the collapse of several mud houses in Rohtas.
Rohit Kumar (8) was killed and his sister Gudia (6) critically injured when their mud house collapsed at village Jamuna-Nawadih under Rohtas block on Sunday, sources said.
The government has taken up immediate relief and rescue operations and pressed into service a team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to rescue the marooned people.
Reports said the NDRF team reached Rohtas to rescue villagers stranded on small islands in the Sone area.

Nitish reviews Bihar flood situation (Hindu 26 September 2011)

2011-09-27T21:40:00.000-07:00

No respite: Vehicles trudging through a waterlogged road after heavy rain lashed Patna on Sunday. -Photo: Ranjeet Kumar
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday reviewed the flood situation in several districts, with rivers Sone and Ganga in spate after release of over nine lakh cusecs from Indrapuri barrage.
The Chief Minister, who spoke to the district officials of Rohtas, Aurangabad, Arwal, Bhojpur, Saran, Patna, Munger and Bhagalpur, directed them to issue alert and warn people about the flood situation.
Kumar also held a review meeting with the Water Resources Development (WRD) Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, Chief Secretary Anup Mukherjee, WRD Principal Secretary Afzal Amanullah and Disaster Management Principal Secretary Vyasji.
He urged the officials to constantly monitor the situation and carry out rescue and relief works as required.
The meetings took place in the backdrop of 9.58 lakh cusecs of water, the highest since 1975, being discharged from Indrapuri barrage this morning.
While the water level in Sone river has abated from this afternoon bringing respite to the central districts, the surging Ganga water flooded Haldichapra and moved downstream to Digha and Gandhighat at Patna on way to Hathidah, Munger, Bhagalpur and Kahalgaon, official sources said.
The Punpun river too was in spate and flowing 1.93 meters above danger mark due to incessant rains since the past three-four days, they said.
In view of the sitution, the WRD minister has cancelled the leaves of the engineers till October 15 next and postponed the State-level meeting of the WRD engineers that was scheduled to be held in Patna on September 29-30, the sources added.
The Minister said he will write letters to his counterparts in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand saying they had given wrong information to Bihar about release of water from their dams/barrages. “The authorities in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand discharge more water during floods than the quantum intimated to Bihar, while during drought situation, the release of water was less than promised for irrigation,” he alleged. This led to a piquant situation for the State government in management of water resources, the Minister said.

Water under the bridge

2011-09-27T03:34:00.000-07:00

Water under the bridge
Manoj Misra, Hindustan Times
September 25, 2011

India has officially been ‘battling’ floods in its rivers since 1954. This is manifested in the construction of multipurpose dams over rivers with flood control as one of their ‘multiple’ roles. The raising of embankments to keep flood waters away along some 33,000 km of India’s river banks is also a prime example of this ongoing ‘battle’.

And yet, according to the World Bank, over the past 50 years, flood-affected areas in India have almost doubled from a mere 5% to about 12%. Is there an explanation for this progressively ‘losing’ war?

Nature doesn’t indulge in wars. Humans do. Our rivers flood every monsoon, especially during a good monsoon, something every farmer prays for.

High rainfall naturally results in flooded streams and rivers spreading over their plains as flood waters race downstream to the seas. Can there be anything more natural than this?

This is akin to a ‘cold wave’ during winter or a ‘hot wave’ in summer. If a cold wave or a hot wave is endured by humans and never spoken of in terms of their being ‘natural disasters’, why are river floods thought of in those terms and grand plans made to ‘combat’ them?

That we continue — and shall continue — to fail in this meaningless combat has once again been brought home in a telling manner by the recent Mahanadi floods in Odisha. The ‘multipurpose’ dam over river Mahanadi at Hirakud stands as one of the first such dams created in independent India. Many experts now wonder if the dam has actually worsened, rather than helped, the flood situation in the state.

In monsoonal India, we must first understand floods in rivers and then prepare ourselves through non-structural ways and methods to remain safe.

The first of these measures is improved and state-of-the-art flood forecasting. Monitoring methods through the use of technological props like satellite imageries and climate watch techniques are necessary.

It is a matter of satisfaction that the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) is quite up-to-date on these technologies.

Second, legislative measures can secure the flood plains against rampant encroachment by vested interests of all kinds. The River Regulation Zone (RRZ) notification by the ministry of environment and forests is yet to see the light of day.

Third, the natural drainage systems in different parts of the country — badly truncated or mutilated by the building of roads, highways and railways with little regard to the natural path that flood waters have traced over the ages — must be restored. The situation is further confounded by the relentless urbanisation seen in recent times.

For example, the manner in which the city of Delhi is flooded by a few hours of rainfall is a testimony to the results of an utter disregard by the city planners for the city’s natural drainage system.

Can any Mumbaikar forget July 25, 2005, when almost the entire city went under floodwaters with natural drains built upon or lost?

So, shall we let our rivers and their flood plains be? Shall we let the natural drainage systems created by the flowing water over the years be respected and restored?

Shall we utilise the advantages of the latest advancements in climate prediction and flood forecasting, communicating them far and wide for people in vulnerable sites to move to safe locations?

An affirmative on all those questions would make for less misery during the monsoons.

Manoj Misra, is the convener of the Delhi-based Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan. The views expressed by the author are personal)

Greetings on World Rivers Day, 2011 and another appeal for an urgent notification of RRZ

2011-09-26T23:45:00.001-07:00

24 September 2011
YJA/CORRES/9/11

Smt Jayanthi Natarajan,
Hon'ble Union Minister of State (I/C)
Ministry of Environment and Forests
Paryavaran Bhawan, CGO Complex
Lodhi Road, Delhi – 110 003.

Sub: Greetings on World Rivers Day, 2011 and another appeal for an
urgent notification of RRZ

Respected Madam,

Greetings on the World Rivers Day, 2011 from the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan.

Madam, as you are aware that the last Sunday of September has been designated since 2005 and endorsed by the UN under its Water for Life initiative as the World Rivers Day, which in 2011 falls today, the 25th of September.

Please allow us on this auspicious day, to once again petition your good self for an urgent notification of a RIVER REGULATION ZONE (RRZ) to safeguard our rivers which are not only under relentless pressures for alternative use/conversion by vested interests of all kinds, but in absence of which millions of unwitting people suffer from harms caused by flood waters of rivers in spate as people in parts of the state of Orissa are experiencing even today as we write to your honour.

We also take this opportunity to submit to your honour some salient principles (enclosed) which could guide the drafting of the said notification by the expert group already set up at the ministry. We request if we may that such a notification might even be promulgated as an ordinance pending the final drafting and formal invitation of objections and suggestions from various quarters, which would obviously take some time once a draft RRZ is in hand at the MOEF.

Today a sense of urgency for the protection of rivers in the country is no less in evidence then it was in the year 1980 for the protection of country's forests, when the Forest (Conservation) Ordinance,1980 was promulgated by the then government led by Smt Indira Gandhi. A recent effort by the government of UP to slice away a part of the river's flood plains in Delhi is the latest example of the irresponsible behaviour being shown by even many governments that requires urgent regulation/prohibition.

Madam, the definition of the extent of RRZ (500 m from the highest flood lines) as suggested by us is based on a recent order of the High Court of Allahabad (since upheld by the Hon'ble SC).

We are sure that your honour would see merit in this appeal made on the World Rivers day, 2011.

Sincere regards,

Manoj Misra
Convener

CC:

Sri Tejender Khanna, Hon'ble Lt Governor of Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Smt Sheila Dixit, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Chief Secretary, Govt. of NCT of Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Chairman, Delhi Urban Arts Commission, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110 003 – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Chairman, Yamuna Standing Committee, Central Water Commission, Sewa Bhawan, R.K. Puram, New Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Sri T. Chatterjee, Secretary to Ministry of Environment & Forests, Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.

No clearance for Yamuna bridges: NGO (Times of India 20 September 2011)

2011-09-21T23:43:00.002-07:00

New Delhi: More projects of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation are meeting with resistance from environmentalists.The Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan has lodged a complaint with the lieutenant-governor against two bridges that DMRC has proposed over the Yamuna.It has alleged that though tenders have been invited for the projects,no formal clearance has even been applied for.
The plans for both bridges,one downstream of the Nizamuddin bridge and the other downstream of the Okhla barrage,are irregular and illegal.Any new bridge on the Yamuna requires prior approval from the Yamuna Standing Committee,Delhi Urban Art Commission,Delhi Development Authority and the Yamuna River Development Authority.The bridges find no mention in the zonal plan for zone O and if they are to come up,at least a modification in plans is necessary.We are not against the bridges but want that DMRC does not circumvent the rules, said Manoj Mishra,convener,YJA.
Metro officials said the plans had been submitted to the Central Water Research Station (CWRS) in Pune,which will submit its recommendations to the standing committee (YSC).DDA is a member of YSC and if needed,we will apply to the Delhi Urban Art Commission.The projects were tendered before approval to fast-track the process.No plan has been finalized, said an official.
But sources say the tender contains details of the project and DMRC should have first approached YSC for approval.

Supreme Court reserves verdict on Ghaggar river bundh (The Hindu 20 September 2011)

2011-09-21T23:43:00.001-07:00

Punjab says flooding due to bundh will be grave “nuisance”
The Supreme Court on Monday reserved its verdict on Punjab's application to restrain Haryana from strengthening the Ghaggar river bundh . Punjab filed this application in its main suit opposing construction of the Hansi-Butana canal.
A Bench of Justice J. M. Panchal and Justice H. L. Gokhale reserved the verdict at the end of arguments from counsel for both parties. Senior counsel Harish Salve and senior counsel Rajeev Dhavan appearing for Punjab strongly opposed the work on the bundh , contending that such a construction would prevent natural flow of flood waters and result in drowning of 70 of Punjab's villages under eight feet of water.
They questioned Haryana's unilateral action in strengthening the bundh and said it was in violation of cooperative federalism. They argued that strengthening the bundh to save Haryana from flooding would be a grave “nuisance” to Punjab.
However, senior counsel Gopal Subramaniam appearing for Haryana said Punjab's fears were misplaced and its application was misconceived as it had nothing to do with the main suit objecting to the construction of the Hansi-Butana canal. While Haryana cited a Central Water Commission report that said the work would not pose any problem for Punjab, the latter argued that the CWC report was not acceptable to it.
During an earlier hearing, Haryana had argued that Punjab should make better use of the Mirapur drain to deal with flooding in the monsoon. Haryana said the 3.5-km-long toe-wall along the bundh was below the surface and as such would not push back the flood waters to the surface.

अधर में कालिंदी बाईपास (Dainik Jagran 17 September 2011)

2011-09-18T22:01:00.001-07:00

कालिंदी बाईपास योजना का निर्माण पिछले पांच वर्षो से रुका पड़ा होना निश्चित ही दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण है। इस योजना पर 52 करोड़ रुपये खर्च हो जाने के बाद अब इसके अधर में लटक जाने से न सिर्फ इतनी बड़ी धनराशि बेकार गई है, अपितु इससे लाभ मिलने की उम्मीद कर रहे लोगों को घोर निराशा भी हुई है। यह योजना लोक निर्माण विभाग की महत्वाकांक्षी परियोजना थी। योजना को लेकर एक ऐसी परिकल्पना की गई थी कि जिन लोगों को दिल्ली से बाहर आगरा की तरफ जाना होता या उधर से आना होता तो लोग हरियाणा के बल्लभगढ़ से पल्ला, मीठापुर, कालिंदीकुंज होते हुए सीधे आइटीओ तक आ-जा सकते। इसका प्रमुख उद्देश्य दिल्ली से आगरा के बीच लगने वाले समय को कम किया जाना था। इसके तैयार हो जाने से आश्रम से बदरपुर तक जाने में भी अपेक्षाकृत कम समय लगता। साथ ही फरीदाबाद जाने के रास्ते में आइटीओ से बदरपुर तक लगने वाले जाम में वाहन चालकों को नहीं जूझना पड़ता और उनके समय व ईंधन दोनों की बचत के साथ ही प्रदूषण भी कम होता। लेकिन 62 करोड़ रुपये की अनुमानित लागत के साथ वर्ष 2003 में शुरू की गई इस योजना पर 2006 में कार्य बंद हो गया। इस दौरान सिर्फ 2.8 किलोमीटर की दूरी तक मिट्टी डालने का ही कार्य हुआ। अब हालात यह हैं कि जहां एक ओर यमुना के सौ मीटर के दायरे में निर्माण पर अदालती रोक है, वहीं जसोला के पास करीब डेढ़ किलोमीटर के हिस्से को लेकर उत्तर प्रदेश के सिंचाई विभाग और दिल्ली विकास प्राधिकरण के बीच विवाद है। परियोजना के प्रथम चरण का कुछ भाग ओखला पक्षी विहार से होकर गुजरना है, जिस पर उत्तर प्रदेश का वन विभाग राजी नहीं है और यूपी सरकार परियोजना को सिंचाई विभाग की कॉलोनी व वीआइपी गेस्ट हाउस के नजदीक से गुजरने देने के लिए भी तैयार नहीं है। विभाग अब पूरी योजना को एलीवेटेड बनाने की सोच रहा है, जिसके लिए नए सिरे से कार्य करने के उद्देश्य से कंसल्टेंट की खोज की जा रही है। परियोजना से होने वाले लाभ को देखते हुए यह काफी महत्वपूर्ण है, लिहाजा इसे तैयार करने के लिए पूरी इच्छाशक्ति से प्रयास किए जाने चाहिए। विभाग को चाहिए कि वह योजना के मार्ग में आने वाली सभी रुकावटों को फौरन दूर कर इसका निर्माण कार्य जल्द से जल्द शुरू कराए।

यमुना की बेहतरी के लिए हरियाली योजना जल्द (Dainik Jagran 17 September 2011)

2011-09-18T22:00:00.004-07:00

नई दिल्ली, जागरण संवाददाता : दिल्ली विकास प्राधिकरण (डीडीए) की शुक्रवार को हुई बोर्ड बैठक में कई बड़ी परियोजनाओं पर चर्चा की गई। इसमें यमुना किनारों की हरियाली का मामला भी शामिल है। इस परियोजना के तहत यमुना के 42 किलोमीटर आसपास के इलाके के साथ दोनों किनारों को विकसित किया जाएगा। यह दूरी दिल्ली क्षेत्र के अंतर्गत आती है। इस क्षेत्र में 97 सौ हैक्टेयर जमीन आएगी। बोर्ड बैठक में दिल्ली के विकास को लेकर कई मामलों पर चर्चा की गई। डीडीए बोर्ड के चेयरमैन तेजेंद्र खन्ना ने सभी सदस्यों से सुझाव मांगे कि वे डीडीए द्वारा तैयार की जा रही मुख्य योजना की समीक्षा के लिए अपने सुझाव दें। इसके अलावा कई अन्य मुद्दों पर भी चर्चा की गई। डीडीए बनाएगा कम लागत के मकान डीडीए ने जानकारी दी कि वह दिल्ली में 67 हजार 846 कम कीमत वाले मकान बनाएगा। इसमें ईडब्ल्यूएस व एलआइजी फ्लैट शामिल होंगे। इसमें से 19,560 फ्लैटों का निर्माण शुरू कर दिया गया है, जबकि 24 हजार एलआइजी मकान का निर्माण शीघ्र पूरा कर लिया जाएगा। डीडीए आवास योजनाओं के अंतर्गत 87 सौ ईडब्ल्यूएस आवासीय योजनाएं प्रस्तावित हैं। इसके अलावा 47 सौ फ्लैट अन्य निम्न श्रेणी के अंतर्गत हैं। इसके अतिरिक्त स्व स्थाने पुनर्वास परियोजनाओं के अंतर्गत लगभग 10 हजार 886 फ्लैटों का निर्माण किया जाएगा। जबकि अन्य 24 सौ फ्लैट अभी योजना के स्तर पर हैं। प्रीफेब टैक्नोलॉजी को दिया जाएगा बढ़ावा बैठक में फ्लैटों के निर्माण के लिए डीडीए द्वारा प्रमुखता से लाई जा चुकी प्रीफेब टैक्नोलॉजी के विस्तार पर जोर दिया गया। इस तकनीक से फ्लैटों का निर्माण तेजी से हो सकेगा। ऐसे फ्लैट टिकाऊ होंगे और पर्यावरण के लिए अनुकूल भी नरेला व द्वारका में ऐसे फ्लैट बनाए जा रहे हैं। धार्मिक स्थान बनाने वालों को राहत डीडीए से जमीन लेकर धार्मिक स्थान बनाने वालों को बड़ी राहत देते हुए उनके द्वारा शुरू किए गए निर्माण कार्य को पांच साल और दे दिए गए हैं। जबकि डीडीए की ओर से निर्माण करने की समय सीमा पूरी हो चुकी है। इनमें से कई काम धन की कमी के चलते पूरे नहीं हुए हैं।

Delhi Metro to build two more bridges across Yamuna (The Hindi 16 September 2011)

2011-09-18T22:00:00.003-07:00

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation will build two more bridges across the river Yamuna as part of its Phase- III project, which will be part of the Mukundpur to Yamuna Vihar and Janakpuri to Kalindi Kunj corridors.
Bids invited
The Delhi Metro has invited bids for construction of the two bridges across the river, which has been put up on its website www.delhimetrorail.com.
The DMRC had earlier built two bridges on the Yamuna during its Phase-I and Phase- II of metro construction. One bridge connects Kashmere Gate with Shastri Park station and the other one connects Indraprastha with Yamuna Bank in East Delhi.
According to the tender document, the bridge on the Janakpuri to Kalindi Kunj corridor will cover 14 spans across the river, including Okhla Barrage at Kalindi Kunj and will be constructed “about 85 metres downstream of the existing Okhla Bridge”.
The stipulated time for construction of the bridge once the tender is awarded is 24 months.
The bridge piers will be such that these do not obstruct the water way of the existing Okhla Barrage bridge upstream.
The bridge on the Mukundpur to Yamuna Vihar line will cover 15 spans, constructed about 83 metres downstream of the existing Nizamuddin Road bridge.
• Bridge on Janakpuri-Kalindi Kunj corridor to cover 14 spans across the river
• Bridge on Mukundpur-Yamuna Vihar line to cover 15 spans

Need for better water management highlighted (Hindu 15 September 2011)

2011-09-18T22:00:00.001-07:00

The Delhi Jal Board in association with the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) organised the first consultative workshop on formulating a water policy for Delhi on Wednesday.
Chief executive officer of DJB Ramesh Negi spoke on the need to bring about effective policy instruments through consultative processes in order to better manage the state water resources. He pointed out that there are huge technological and political issues that have to be tackled in the wake of an increasing density of population in different command areas, and highlighted the need to call for a change in the culture towards water to bring about a change in the water distribution system.
Various issues pertaining to demand-management of water were discussed at length as were issues related to raising the standard of sewage treatment, decentralising treatment of water and increasing the quality of recycled water.

After Ganesha immersion, now pray once more for water (The Hindu 13 September 2011)

2011-09-18T21:59:00.000-07:00

COST OF WORSHIP: Devotees immersing an idol of Lord Ganesha in the Yamuna on the last day of Ganesha Chaturthi in Delhi. Photo: S. Subramanium
Immersed idols and other pollutants block filters of two water treatment plants
A day after idols of Lord Ganesha were immersed in the Yamuna, water production at two of the Capital's water treatment plants had to be scaled down on account of pollutants floating in the waters.
According to Delhi Jal Board officials, water production at the Wazirabad and Chandrawal water treatment plants was scaled down by 10-12 million gallons a day on Monday on account of heavy pollutants in the river water.
“After the immersion of idols and flowers on Sunday, the level of impurities in the water rose considerably. We had to lower the production of water at both the plants and depute extra forces to clean up the choked filters,” said a senior DJB official.
Water production is expected to resume full capacity in the next 48 hours. “As of now about 20 lakh consumers are going to be affected by the dip in production, but we are hopeful production will be normalised by Wednesday,” said the official.
Separate enclosures for immersion needed
“Immersion of idols, flowers and other material of religious significance leads to pollution and a lot of these things block the filters of the water treatment plants. Because the quantity of pollutants is so high, we have no option but to stop or scale down production as is the case,” he added.
Non-government organisations that are campaigning for the revival of the Yamuna have been fighting for establishment of separate enclosures for immersion of idols and other religious rituals. “There was also a High Court order that said 13 enclosures should be built across the city for immersion of idols and other religious material, but so far the task remains incomplete,” said Vinod Jain of NGO Tapas, that filed a petition in the Court for preventing the immersion of idols and such in the Yamuna.
Among the areas that will face a shortfall of water supply on account of the recent pollution are North Delhi, North-West Delhi, parts of West Delhi, Central Delhi, parts of South Delhi, the NDMC area and the Cantonment Board.

Bihar flood situation likely to aggravate (The Hindu 13 September 2011)

2011-09-18T21:58:00.000-07:00

Looking for safer haven: A woman leads her cattle in search of a safer place after increase in water level in areas around the Ganga near Patna on Monday. — Photo: Ranjeet Kumar
The flood situation in Bihar is likely to aggravate following discharge of 8.3 lakh cusecs of water from Bansagar dam in Madhya Pradesh, said State Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday after making an aerial survey on Sunday.
The flood situation in several districts of central and north Bihar is likely to aggravate once the water discharged from the dam enters the Sone river in central Bihar and the Ganga in north-central part of the state, he told journalists.
Flood waters have already entered villages situated on either side of the Sone, trapping a large number of people. A flood-like situation will be created in north-central Bihar when the released water enters the Ganga, Mr. Kumar said.
The Disaster Management Department has pressed into service National Disaster Relief Force teams to evacuate people trapped by the flood waters.
Some people who had taken refuge at higher places have been evacuated and provided with succour, the Chief Minister said, adding that rescue operations are under way to evacuate the remaining.
Ruling out help from the Air Force for rescue and relief operations as of now, Mr. Kumar said the disaster management department was competent enough to tackle the situation.
The water was released from the Bansagar dam into Sone river two days ago.

A complaint - Irregular and illegal plans of DMRC of two new pseudo bridges on river Yamuna in NCT

2011-09-17T05:07:00.001-07:00

17 September 2011
YJA/CORRES/9/2011

Sri Tejendra Khanna
Hon'ble Lt Governor of Delhi
Raj Niwas
DELHI

Sub: A complaint - Irregular and illegal plans of DMRC of two new pseudo bridges on river Yamuna in NCT

Respected Sir,

Greetings from Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan.

Sir, this is in continuation of our communications dated 8th and 17th August 2011 sent to your honour on the subject.

Now we seek to reach out and lodge a complaint against the DMRC's plans on two new pseudo bridges on river Yamuna, to your honour in your capacity as the Chairman, DDA and the Chairman of the PM appointed Yamuna River Development Authority.

Sir, we submit that these plans of DMRC, one of constructing a bridge downstream of HNZ bridge and another downstream of Okhla barrage are both irregular and illegal. Please allow us to explain.

Any new bridge on river Yamuna in the city shall require prior scrutiny and approval / suggestions from at least the following regulatory agencies:

a) Yamuna Standing Commitee of CWC, which is the apex expert body in the matter
b) Delhi Urban Art Commission, which is a statutory body
c) Delhi Development Authority, DDA, which has statutory control over Zone O (river zone) in the city and is obliged to follow the general guidelines as formulated by the NEERI report of 2005
d) Yamuna River Development Authority, YRDA a body created by the Hon'ble PM

Sir, it is a matter of record that in the past any new such structure even by the DMRC (both in case of Shastri park and Yamuna Bank) have been always submitted and scrutinised and approved or otherwise by all the above authorities except the YRDA, which came into existence only the year 2007.

Sir, it is matter of record that the existing Zonal Plan for Zone O (river Zone) or its map has no mention of these two bridges and thus these bridges being in violation of the Zonal Plan would be illegal.

Sir, the recommendations of the DDA sponsored NEERI report of 2005 titled 'EMP for Rejuvenation of River Yamuna in NCT' has clearly stated that since the river bed in the Delhi stretch has lost its carrying capacity hence any "access road in the river shall be created at the river bed level." Clearly any bridge on the river that creates raised embankments as access roads (as planned in these bridges) shall be violative of NEERI report and hence irregular.

Sir, a perusal of all recent minutes of the Delhi Urban Art Commission, DUAC (available at its website) has no mention of any such plans of DMRC. Clearly these bridges in violation of the DUAC Act would again be illegal.

Sir, a perusal of the minutes of all the meetings of the Yamuna Standing Committee, YSC till date (including the 78th meeting held on 17.6.2011) nowhere mentions of any such new bridges. Thus these if allowed shall be in violation of the Yamuna Standing Committee and hence be highly irregular. Here it may be mentioned that the Yamuna Standing Committee, YSC at its 74th meeting dated 15.7.2008 had approved a new bridge upstream of HNZ bridge on the river Yamuna as planned by the PWD only on the following conditions:

"The committee decided to clear the proposal subject to the condition that the approach road on left side of river Yamuna should also be designed and constructed on stilts (i.e., on piers) to allow flood water to flow freely."

Sir, we are not aware if the YRDA under your chairmanship has provided any approval to the DMRC for these bridges. If not then these would be irregular being violative of the YRDA mandate, too.

We thus feel duty bound in our role as the Convener of the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan and obliged by our duty under the Article 51 A(g) of the Indian Constitution that says that "it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures" to formally lodge this complaint against the illegal and irregular plans on the part of DMRC that shall further compromise the integrity of the river and its flood plains in the city, which shall be to the detriment both of the river as well as the citizens of the city threatened by flood fury made worse by these pseudo bridges.

Sir, we hope that your honour would see merit in what we complain and thus prevent DMRC from creating these illegal and irregular structures on the river.

Please allow us to submit that we donot oppose construction of any proper bridge by any agency on the river which has access roads built on stilts as specified by the Yamuna Standing Committee, YSC and after all due statutory and expert clearances have been procured.

With warm regards,

Manoj Misra
Convener

cc:

Sri Anuj Dayal, PRO, DMRC. Please bring these facts to the kind attention of Dr E. Sreedharan ji, Hon'ble MD of DMRC. We request that only proper bridges and not psuedo bridges be built and that too after taking all due clearances and permissions, as mentioned above. Thanks.

Smt Jayanthi Natarajan, Hon'ble Union Minister of State (I/C), Ministry of Environment and Forests – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Smt Sheila Dixit, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Chairman, Yamuna Standing Committee, Central Water Commission, Sewa Bhawan, R.K. Puram, New Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Chairman, Delhi Urban Arts Commission, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110 003 – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Chief Secretary, Govt. of NCT of Delhi – For your kind information and necessary action please.

Vice Chairman, Delhi Development Authority – For your kind information and necessary action please.