J&K floods: Why Central Water Commission has no flood forecasting mechanism in place, wonders SANDRP

By A Representative
South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP), a premier Indian non-profit organization focused on the impact of dams and river water projects on people, has asked a pointed question to the Government of India as to why the body controlled by it, Central Water Commission (CWC), does not have any flood forecasting mechanism for Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), which suffered from one of the worst-ever floods. In a recent article it has posted on its site, it has said, “Shockingly, India’s premier water resources body, CWC, responsible for flood forecasting and providing advisory to the states for tackling floods, has no flood forecast for any place in J&K.”
Referring to the CWC’s flood forecast list as on September 6, 2014, when heavy rainfall lashed the state, SANDRP said, the list has “18 level forecasts and eight inflow forecasts, but none of them are from J&K.” It further says, “CWC’s flood forecast site has another option -- which provides hydrographs for various rivers and location. Again, for J&K, the CWC provides no hydrographs.” The SANDRP adds, “The options on CWC’s flood forecast site for list based selection and map based selection again has no information about J&K.”
Calling this as a “shocking omission on the part of the CWC”, which functions directly under the Union Ministry of Water Resources, SANDRP says, this only shows how the top body has failed to update its work despite the past experience of Uttarakhand flood. In fact, the CWC at that time also “completely failed to provide any flood forecast when Uttarakhand faced its worst floods in June 2013.” Asking the CWC to “urgently include flood vulnerable sites of J&K in its flood forecasting”, SANDRP wants the Central body to also explain “to the people of J&K and rest of the country why these sites were not included so far”.
There is no word on this either from the CWC or the Government of India so far on the contentious issue.
Pointing towards how the floods in J&K got accelerated because of “mismanaged hydro projects”, SANDRP said, “The Dulhasti hydropower project on Chenab river opened its flood gates during the worst flood period, which led to further increase in flood levels in the downstream areas.” SANDRP quotes media reports to say how the release of water by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) dam increased the levels of the Chenab massively between Kishtwar and Ramban. “Surged level led to submergence of the highway”, they added.
Insisting that such additional floods could have been avoided if the gates were kept opened in anticipation of floods, SANDRP has said, “Such opening of gates during the floods can lead to catastrophic consequences for the downstream areas as happened in case of Srinagar Hydropower project in Uttarakhand in June 2013.”
SANDRP points towards another disturbing trend. It says, “The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has been clearing hydropower projects in the Chenab basin even without proper social and environment impact assessment.” Saying that this was “evident in case of Sach Khas project most recently”, it adds, “As SANDRP pointed out in a submission to the Expert Appraisal Committee, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and public hearing process of the Sach Khas Hydro Electric Project (HEP) has been fundamentally inadequate and flawed, and yet without even acknowledging the issues raised in this submission the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) has recommended approval of the project.”
Emphasizing that this is bound to be “legally untenable decision”, SANDRP has said, “Such decisions by the EAC and the MoEF are likely to add to the disaster potential in Chanab and other basins in J&K. There is also no cumulative impact assessment of such massive number of big hydropower projects any basins of J&K.” It concludes, “It is well known, as witnessed in case of Uttarakhand in 2013, that hydropower projects hugely add to the disaster potential of the vulnerable areas. We hope the J&K and Cgovernments make this assessment on urgent basis and the Supreme Court does not have to intervene for such assessment, as it had to do through its order of Aug 13, 2013 in case of Uttarakhand.”

Comments

Plastic burning in homes threatens food, water and air across Global South: Study

By Jag Jivan In a groundbreaking study spanning 26 countries across the Global South , researchers have uncovered the widespread and concerning practice of households burning plastic waste as a fuel for cooking, heating, and other domestic needs. The research, published in Nature Communications , reveals that this hazardous method of managing both waste and energy poverty is driven by systemic failures in municipal services and the unaffordability of clean alternatives, posing severe risks to human health and the environment.

Economic superpower’s social failure? Inequality, malnutrition and crisis of India's democracy

By Vikas Meshram India may be celebrated as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, but a closer look at who benefits from that growth tells a starkly different story. The recently released World Inequality Report 2026 lays bare a country sharply divided by wealth, privilege and power. According to the report, nearly 65 percent of India’s total wealth is owned by the richest 10 percent of its population, while the bottom half of the country controls barely 6.4 percent. The top one percent—around 14 million people—holds more than 40 percent, the highest concentration since 1961. Meanwhile, the female labour force participation rate is a dismal 15.7 percent.

The greatest threat to our food system: The aggressive push for GM crops

By Bharat Dogra Thanks to the courageous resistance of several leading scientists who continue to speak the truth despite increasing pressures from the powerful GM crop and GM food lobby , the many-sided and in some contexts irreversible environmental and health impacts of GM foods and crops, as well as the highly disruptive effects of this technology on farmers, are widely known today.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Stands 'exposed': Cavalier attitude towards rushed construction of Char Dham project

By Bharat Dogra* The nation heaved a big sigh of relief when the 41 workers trapped in the under-construction Silkyara-Barkot tunnel (Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand) were finally rescued on November 28 after a 17-day rescue effort. All those involved in the rescue effort deserve a big thanks of the entire country. The government deserves appreciation for providing all-round support.

'Restructuring' Sahitya Akademi: Is the ‘Gujarat model’ reaching Delhi?

By Prakash N. Shah* A fortnight and a few days have slipped past that grim event. It was as if the wedding preparations were complete and the groom’s face was about to be unveiled behind the ceremonial tinsel. At 3 PM on December 18, a press conference was poised to announce the Sahitya Akademi Awards .

The war on junk food: Why India must adopt global warning labels

By Jag Jivan The global health landscape is witnessing a decisive shift toward aggressive regulation of the food industry, a movement highlighted by two significant policy developments shared by Dr. Arun Gupta of the Nutrition Advocacy for Public Interest (NAPi).

The illusion of nuclear abundance: Why NTPC’s expansion demands public scrutiny

By Shankar Sharma* The recent news that NTPC is scouting 30 potential sites across India for a massive nuclear power expansion should be a wake-up call for every citizen. While the state-owned utility frames this as a bold stride toward a 100,000 MW nuclear capacity by 2047, a cold look at India’s nuclear saga over the last few decades suggests this ambition may be more illusory than achievable. More importantly, it carries implications that could fundamentally alter the safety, environment, and economic health of our communities.

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Search This Blog