"As It Flows"

National Alliance for People’s Movements condemns arrest and harassment of anti-dam protesters in Assam – A press release demanding scrapping of big dams in Brahmaputra River Valley

Content courtesy: National Alliance for People's Movements

On the 26 December, 2011, at 2:15 am, Assam Police in collusion with other security forces swooped down on the protesters at Ranganadi who have been blockading the Highway since December 16 and thwarting state’s attempt to carry turbines and dam materials to project site of Lower Subansiri Dam. Nearly 200 people have been arrested and earlier also security forces have been harassing the protestors. In past too, Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti fighting against the big dams on Brahmaputra have faced government’s ire and often been attacked and jailed. NAPM stands in solidarity with KMSS and other students groups of the region who have been consistently opposed to the big dams in highly sensitive seismic zone. We condemn the sustained action and harassment of KMSS and their activists and targeting of Akhil Gogoi for constantly opposing the destructive development policies and corruption of the government machinery.

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Category: River Watch, News, Dams, "As It Flows", Announcements

Yamuna-Elbe - A public art and outreach project at the Yamuna riverscape in Delhi

Guest post by: Amita Bhaduri

People in the capital got to “experience the rivers” when the Yamuna-Elbe public art outreach project organized by the Max Mueller Bhavan in association with the Government of Delhi and the Goethe-Institut (Hamburg, Germany) as a part of the “Year of Germany in India” programme opened on 5^th of November, 2011. The art exhibition which continued till the 19^thof November co-curated by artist Ravi Agarwal who is also a practicing environmentalist (Director, Toxics Link) along with German artist, Till Krauser attempted to create a pulsating synergy between the Yamuna and Elbe rivers.

Gigi Scaria’s - The fountain of purification

Photo courtesy: Rocky Thongam

This is a 24 ft installation representing a four storey apartment complex that draws Yamuna water, purifies it at various levels and dispenses it from the top in the form of a fountain.

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Category: Urban Water, River Watch, Photos and movies on current water topics in India, "As It Flows"

Traditional water bodies of Delhi – A lecture by Sohail Hashmi on the heritage city

Guest post by: Amita Bhaduri

The tenth public lecture of the Delhi Heritage City Campaign by the INTACH Delhi Chapter was delivered by Sohail Hashmi, an author, film-maker, one of the founders of the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) and a true Dilliwala on 5 December 2011 at the India Habitat Center. The presentation woven around photographs of the city's step wells, reservoirs, natural water bodies and canals built during the thirteenth to the eighteenth century located the traditional water bodies within the socio-cultural milieu of the several Delhis.

Agrasen ki baoli

Photo courtesy: The Hindu

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Category: Urban Water, River Watch, Photos and movies on current water topics in India, Guest Posts, "As It Flows"

Water quality hot-spots in rivers of India – Comments by South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers & People, New Delhi

The Central Water Commission (CWC) has recently prepared a report on water quality scenario of our rivers and has evolved a methodology for identifying hot spots in Indian rivers. The water quality data is based on the average values observed during the last ten years (2001-2011) at 371 monitoring stations of CWC on almost all major, medium and minor rivers in India. Please find below a letter (dated November 5, 2011) from South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers & People, New Delhi to the Chairman, Central Water Commission stating its concerns regarding the report.

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Category: Urban Water, "As It Flows"

Agencies monitoring groundwater level in various parts of India – A list by the Central Ground Water Board

Central Ground Water Board

The Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) has recently come up with a list of agencies monitoring groundwater level in various parts of the country. The CGWB has been monitoring groundwater levels on a quarterly basis during January, April/ May, August and November through a network of about 15000 observation wells located all over the country. This data is used for assessment of groundwater resources and changes in the regime consequent to various development and management activities.

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