Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of In Re: News Item Titled "Neglected Katora Houz in Hyderabad’s Golconda Fort Cries for attention appearing in ‘The Siasat Daily’ dated 25 May 2025". The application was registered suo-motu based on the news item titled “Neglected Katora Houz in Hyderabad’s …
WHILE the world celebrated World Environment Day on June 5, Sri Lankans relived the horrors of another June 5. On the night of June 4, 1992, while the country's prime minister and key environmentalists were attending the Earth Summit, a considerable portion of the island of Sri Lanka was going …
The cash-strapped Bihar government has plugged funds meant for the Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY) for flood control measures. The state's rural development department has asked the district magistrates of 6 flood-prone districts to utilise funds meant for employment schemes to repair embankments. However, even though the Bihar government had planned …
THOUGH floods cannot be wished away, they could soon be whisked away. A group of British computer experts is trying to model river flows so as to predict the best way to control flooding (New Scientist, Vol 141, No 1907). When a river spills over its sides, some of the …
THE ENVIRONMENTALIST group Loire Vivante is creating waves in France. Following its five-year-long protest movement, the French government has decided to shelve a controversial dam project on the Loire, the country's longest river. For more than a century, government planners have endeavoured to harness the Loire. The scheme for the …
FLOODS have ravaged India from times immemorial and people have controlled and turned them into beneficial processes. But today they are seen as catastrophic events that are to be forcefully contained by dams and embankments. This perception has its roots in India's colonial past, according to recent evidence from Orissa. …
If the mid-August assault on some officials of the Bihar water resources department, on an inspection tour of the eastern Kosi embankment in Saharsa, is anything to go by, flood control officials in the state face an unenviable future. The attack was triggered by the villagers' perception that embankments were …
Nation in turmoil RIMJHIM JAIN FLOODS are a major source of human misery in India and this year, too, they have wreaked havoc. Agriculture minister Balram Jakhar claims 2 million ha of cropped area has been damaged this year by the swirling waters. Reports from across the country present overwhelming …
THE MONSOONS in Bangladesh have once again triggered floods, displacing 1.5 million people. The worst affected are Sylhet and Chittagong, where road and rail links with the rest of the country were snapped. Bangladesh, located in the delta regions of two major rivers, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra, receives vast …
THE INTERNATIONAL Flood Action Campaign Committee says the Flood Action Plan (FAP) for Bangladesh, coordinated by the World Bank, ignores environmental aspects and will uproot thousands of people. The Brussels-based coalition of European parliamentarians, nongovernmental organisations and academics, demands environmental impact studies be done before project work begins. This could …
CONTROLLING floods in the plains is laudable, but it is not a harmless activity as far as near-shore fish are concerned. Almost all fish-harvesting in Bangladesh is near the shore. All the dams, culverts, embankments and river closures installed in Bangladesh to protect 3 million, flood-prone hectares, have led to …
EVERYONE recognises the importance of forests. We have over the years set up several structures and evolved policies to try and conserve them. How effective these are is, of course, another question. Wetlands, on the other hand, remain an area of darkness. And the recent imbroglio over the Chilika lake …
Even as floods play havoc in Uttarakhand, states have opposed provisions of this bill prepared by CWC in 1975. It provides clauses about flood zoning authorities, prohibition of the use of the flood plains, compensation & most importantly removing obstructions to ensure free flow of water. Model Bill for Flood …
The nation stands together behind the residents of Chennai, but will the latest floods improve India's preparedness for similar natural disasters in the future?
