Media - Urban Water

Renukaji Dilli Ke Nalon Mein - A documentary about the movement against the proposed Renukaji Dam Project

The Renuka Dam Project proposed over the river Giri Ganga (a tributary of the Yamuna) located some 300km away from Delhi, is a joint project of the governments of Himachal Pradesh (HP) and Delhi, to be constructed by the Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL) in Sirmaur district of HP. While HP hopes to generate 40MW of power from this project, Delhi hopes to meet 1250 MLD of its total 3500 MLD requirement from this project.

While Delhi stands to benefit from the project, Renuka Valley is to suffer a high social and environmental cost. 550 families in 17 panchayats will be displaced and 1630 hectares of land, including 49 hectares of Reserve Sanctuary will be submerged. Most of the affected are farmers, who point to the many crops they grow and from which they make a decent living, exposing the false claims of government officials who claim this is a barren and desolate area. Despite local opposition, the project has been granted environmental clearance by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), and forcible land acquisition by the HPPCL is underway.

All this, while Delhi continues to waste water at the rate of 1300 MLD (40% of the total 3500 MLD supplied to city never reaches its people) and make its own rivers, ponds and lakes disappear, to meet its greedy urban expansion plans. Delhi, in fact does not suffer from shortage of water but from unequal distribution, with sarkari areas of Delhi getting supply of 300 LPCD, 10 times the amount of water received in other areas like Mehrauli. And already, Delhi sources water from the Bhakra Nangal Project, Tehri Dam Project and directly from the rivers Yamuna and Ganga, and Renukaji is its next but certainly not last stop.

While the government justifies the dam in the ‘national interest’, the video attempts to brings out the perspective of citizens of Delhi and Renuka Valley, and leaves one wondering just how Delhi is in the national interest and Renuka valley is not.

To support or follow this movement, contact members of the Ma Renukaji Sangarsh Samiti: Puranchand Sharma at +91-9318879228 or Manshi Asher at +91-9816345198, or email Manshi at manshi.asher@gmail.com.

Historical evolution of tank system in Bangalore city - A presentation

Water Tank System of Bangalore The presentation from the ENVIS - CES (IISc) website, emphasises the important role that the tank system has played in the development of the city of Bangalore and highlights:

The principles behind the working of the tank system
The process of evolution of the tank system with respect to the growth of the city
The underlying planning principles that were used in the tank system
The role and importance of water tanks as an asset to the city
The relationship between the system of tanks and the city of Bangalore
The usefulness of the tanks as an important source of drinking water and agriculture in lean periods Read More

An introduction to Urban Water Issues -- Arghyam Trust

This film produced for Arghyam's Second Annual Conference: "Urban Water 360: Envisioning Appropriate Models for Indian Cities" is an excellent introduction to the big i

Birds need water too Bangalore- Shikra having a bath

A small bird bath can bring tens of varieties of birds. Some come for a drink but this SHikra-a small hawk like bird- comes for a bath, food and a drink.

Ecological stewardship - Bangalore

Now if all citizens were like this wonderful auto driver who takes care of a sapling or two near the auto stand where he regularly parks.

Small Towns in a Booming Economy - Part 2

Sunita Nadhamuni is CEO of Arghyam Trust in Bangalore/Bengaluru, Click Here, which is the organisation that mana

Water and energy- The security challenge in Karnataka,India

The big challenge for the country and the state is to manage Food security, water security, energy security and ecological security in a sustainable fashion. What if each is in conflict with each other as the case seems to be?.Energy security seems to be defined as production of more power to feed industrial demand.

Ecological Architecture- Building in Bangalore part 2

Responding to the local ecological context is important.Growing native species is the immediate environment enhances flora and fauna but also modifies positively the micro climate. This house for example uses only natural ventilation. In the immediate vicinity storm water is picked up from the entire neighbourhood and about 1 million litres of water recharged into the aquifer.

"Small Towns in A Booming Economy" -- Part 1

Sunita Nadhamuni is CEO of Arghyam Trust in Bangalore/Bengaluru, www.arghyam.org, which is the organisation that manages the India Water Portal.

Bangalore- Struggle for accessing water

On the outskirts of Bangalore a queue of pots with stones to prevent them from flying away await the release of water. This is the water that is good for drinking and cooking , the other water that people get near their homes is high in salts and difficult to drink.

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