Hirakud dam officials suspended
The Orissa government today suspended top officials in charge of the Hirakud dam, including the chief engineer, for yesterday's mishap at Burla in which seven students were feared killed.
Farmers locked in battle for water
Farmers of Sanand, Dholka and Daskroi talukas of Ahmedabad district are locked in a battle with their neighbours from Kheda district over use of Sabarmati river water for irrigation. While farmers leader of Sanand Amarsingh Solanki claims that it is their right to use water, as they have been doing …
Work on Maheshwar hydel project halted
Work at the 400 MW Maheshwar Hydro Electric Project on the Narmada river has ground to a complete halt, with six activists of the Narmada Bachao Andolan going on an indefinite fast demanding a complete review of the project by the Madhya Pradesh Government.
Water management centre soon
UNESCO is setting up an international centre on water resource management in India. Announcing this at a press conference in New Delhi, Dr. Federico Mayor, Director General, UNESCO said that the decision has been taken as water was "the priority of all priorities" and India has rich expertise in all …
The rapid fall of Mexico City, victim of its own water needs
Mexico city is sinking. So much water has been pumped out from the aquifer beneath it to satisfy the metropolitan area's 18 million residents that the ground is collapsing underfoot at a stunning rate. Mexico City has sunk 30 feet. The sinking has made the original gravity fed drainage system …
Pak tribals threaten to blow up dam
The Tarakzai tribals of Peshawar have threatened to blow up the Warsak dam, cutting off electricity to the whole of Punjab province, if power supply is not immediately restored to their areas facing a blackout for quite some time now. The meeting demanded immediate restoration of power supply to the …
Protests against Maheshwar project in MP
Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) activists have opposed the Maheshwar hydel power project in Khargone district. Five members of the andolan have been on an indefinite fast at the project site since Monday.
Pollution kills fish in Ooty lake
The Ooty Lake situation is deteriorating with fish, which are abundant in the lake, reportedly being found dead in large numbers. Enquiries here reveal that toxic waste materials have been discharged into the lake, through the main channel of the town.Disinfectants sprayed in the channel have also found their way …
Panel suggests shelving of three major power projects
The committee of secretaries has recommended shelving of three major power projects worth Rs 5,000 crore. The projects include Farakka expansion phase -III, Koel Karo hydel project and Koel Karo transmission projects.
No promise of full Bakun payments, says Anwar
Malaysia's Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the government cannot commit itself to fully reimbursing outlay on construction of the deferred Bakun dam project in Borneo. Compensation to companies involved in the project would be based on what had been disbursed for the project and what could be certified by auditors …
Government taking measures to amend water policy laws
A little over five years after the passage of a series of sweeping legislation that paved the way for private and foreign participation on hydropower development, the Nepal government is now taking measures to amend some of those laws "to meet the challenges of the future".
State government fails to increase irrigation capacity
The former Water Resources and Narmada Valley Development minister Sheetala Sahai has charged the State government of adopting short term policies in the area of water resource development and said that the government has failed to increase its irrigation capacity even by one hectare inspite of loans to the tune …
Environmentalists to save shrinking Bhutanese lake
Bhutanese environmentalists are trying to save a lake, the shrinking of which local people believe would spell disaster for their community. The Shadilutso lake in the central part of the country is eulogised in Bhutanese folklore for bringing prosperity. A part of the lake, which once had a circumference of …
Kolleru lake in AP facing eco threat
The scenic Kolleru lake, one of the few largest freshwater inland lakes in the world, is fast becoming extinct, endangering a rich variety of animal and plant species, due to indiscriminate exploitation and encroachment of the water body.
Swamy seeks white paper on Periyar Dam issue
The Janata Party president, Dr. Subramanian Swamy has urged the Tamil Nadu Government to bring out a "white paper" on the issue of raising Periyar Dam Water level to 152 feet.
Joint group to review Indo-Nepal water treaty
Discussion on the Nepal-India Mahakali Water Treaty ended here on Friday with the water secretaries of the two countries deciding to instruct the joint group of experts to meet at the earliest, and to regularly review the finalisation of the Pancheswore multi-purpose project.
Narmada Andolan workers threaten fast
The Narmada Bachao Andolan would resort to indefinite fast from 26 January at the dam site of the 1,500 -crore Maheshwar Hydel Project in Khargone district in western Madhya Pradesh in order to press for a complete review of the project. Mr Alok Agarwal said that the six people would …
Indira Canal may herald ecological disaster
Theambitious Indira Gandhi (Rajasthan) Canal Project , designed to meet the water needs of a large part of the desert belt of Rajastha, may well turn out to be an ecological disaster, experts fear. Though the final completion of the project is still awaited even 37 years after the digging …
Buying a gulp of the Colorado
The basin of the Colorado River covers 244,000 square miles of territory and provides water to 25m people, 16m in California alone. So much importance is attached to the distribution of the river's annual surplus of water that the decision is made by the secretary of the interior, no less.
Dam hit villagers on warpath
The villagers on the 'siege' of the controversial Maheshwar dam in the Narmada Valley gheroed the owner-proprietor of the dam on Thursday, and reiterated their resolve not to move out from their village. A press release issued by the Narmada Bachao Andolan here stated that the villagers, stopped them to …
