DRP 20 July 2026: Wither Dam Safety Compliance in India?

July 20, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Featue Image: A CDO team in May 2025 inspects the Srisailam Dam to assess its structural safety. Souce: TNIE)

It’s been five years since the Parliament passed the Dam Safety Act and the institutions including National and State Dam Safety committees and authorities were set up. However, how safe are our dams and how far have we achieved the Dam Safety Compliance norms? The answer to that question is unlikely to be confidence inspiring. This feeling is reinforced with a number of reports in recent weeks.

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July 2026: Two Landslide Incidents at Lakhwar Dam in Three Days

July 16, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Trapped and damaged vehicles at Lakhwar dam site following a landslide on July 11, 2026. Source: Amar Ujala)

The under-construction Lakhwar dam site on the Yamuna river in Dehradun district of Uttarakhand witnessed two landslide incidents within three days in July 2026. Although there was no loss of life, both incidents damaged construction machinery, exposed the risks faced by workers, and revived concerns about slope stability, construction practices and the suitability of building such a large dam in the fragile Himalayan region.

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Climate Change · Dams · Maharashtra · River Front Development · Urban Rivers

Riparian Forest 22 degrees Celsius cooler than the Riverfront Project!

July 16, 2026July 17, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

Pune saw some of the warmest summer days and nights this summer. So did several Indian cities. With the recent monsoon, the thoughts of this heat might have washed away but it is important that one does not forget the summer heat. Why? Read More:

*Riparian Forest Photo Credit: Tara Tanmayi S.*

Why run and hurry? Here’s dictionary: Microclimate: Microclimate generally refers to the specific climatic conditions within a small area (such as street, park, riverside, etc.). With rise in extreme events like heat and global warming, microclimate is what make cities/ spaces livable. The temperature difference you experience while driving on a road with no tree cover vs with a tree cover is what microclimate is.

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Yamuna River

Yamuna Manthan July 2026: River without Flows Even During Monsoon

July 15, 2026July 15, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: HKB July 06, 2026 hydrograph showing only 9.97 cusecs flow being released in Yamuna despite substantial rise in inflows. Source: CWC)

It is well known that excessive diversion of Yamuna waters at the Hathnikund Barrage (HKB) in Yamuna Nagar, Haryana over the past two-and-a-half decades has turned the perennial river into a seasonal stream in its upper reaches during the lean season. However, an analysis of the Central Water Commission’s (CWC) hourly discharge figures and hydrographs since July 1, 2026 reveals that the river is now being deprived of its essential flows even during the monsoon.

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Dams, Rivers & People

DRP 130726: Urge to set up Statutory River Authority

July 13, 2026July 15, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: River Ravi at Makora Pattan. Photo: Abhay Kanvinde)

Rivers are the most important eco-systems, providing numerous economic, environmental social and cultural benefits. And in answer to the question, who governs India’s Rivers, we are generally likely to get response blank stares. Same is the likely response about the state of India’s rivers, who monitors our Rivers and so on.

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Chenab · Climate Change · Floods · Himalayas

Flooding Under the Scorching Sun: The Unstudied Crisis of Himalayan Nallahs

July 10, 2026July 21, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

Collapsed Bridge: Bride and Groom wait on the banks of flooded Jahlma even as farmers carry their harvests on their backs Photo: Govind Phurpa

“The sun was so hot, we knew the floods would be coming.” Says Jagdish ji, resident of Lindur village in the Lahaul Himalayas.

His home and fields are adjacent to a glacial stream called Jahlma Nallah which shoots from the Pir Panjal range to meet the Chenab River below. And just as he predicted, on the afternoon of 29th June 2026, like the past five years[1], Jahlma Nallah flooded and roared. In a matter of minutes, the thin flow transformed into a terrifying, brown debris-laden force. The sludge raced towards Chenab and nearly blocked the river by the brute force of water and debris it collected on its way. It cut off the connectivity of hundreds of villages.[2]

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Chenab · Climate Change · Hydro Disaster

July 2026: Flash Flood Disaster at Kwar HEP Site in Chenab Valley, J&K

July 8, 2026July 8, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Screenshots from Akashvani News Jammu video showing flash flood imapct at Kwar HEP site on July 06, 2026.)

A major flash flood and landslide on July 06, 2026 affected the Kwar Hydroelectric Project (HEP) near Padhyarna in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir. The disaster occurred in the early morning hours following intense overnight rainfall.

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Rainfall

June 2026: District wise rainfall in India’s SW Monsoon

July 7, 2026July 7, 2026 SANDRP2 Comments

In the just concluded month of June 2026, the first month of India’s South West 2026 monsoon, India received 99.5 mm rainfall, 40% below the normal June rainfall of 165.3 mm as per India Meteorological department. In June 2025, the rainfall was 180 mm, 8.89% above normal, June 2024 the rainfall was 147.2 mm, 11% below normal, June 2023 rainfall was 148.6 mm (10% below normal), in June 2022 the rainfall was 152.3 mm (8% below normal), in June 2021, the rainfall was 182.9 mm (about 11% above normal) and in June 2020, the rainfall was 196.9 mm (about 18% above normal) and in June 2019 it was 33% below normal. So in last seven years from 2019 to 2025, India had below normal rainfall in 4 years in June, and above normal in three years (2020, 2021, 2025). Nine times since 2008 June rainfall was below normal. The June 2026 rainfall is the fifth lowest since 1901, since when the records are available.

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Dams, Rivers & People

DRP 060726: India needs to improve Rainfall Monitoring?

July 6, 2026July 6, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: A manual rain guage in Syunsal village of Pauri district, Uttarakhand. Bhim Singh Rawat/SANDRP)

Two reports from Karnataka this week highlight that over half of the 6605 rain gauges in Karnataka are non-functional. Earlier we saw that IMD does not even report rainfall for at least 11 districts in Arunachal Pradesh alone, possibly since it does not have adequate number of rain gauges in those newly formed districts of Arunachal Pradesh. IMD’s Annual Report for 2025 says P 59): “IMD operates 1,008 Automatic Weather Stations (AWS), 1,382 Automatic Rain Gauge (ARG) stations, 200 Agro-AWS, 5 Automatic Snow Gauge (ASG) stations”. That comes to 2395 locations where rain or snow is measured by IMD, going by the Annual Report. IMD apparently uses rainfall data from other agencies, but their number is not given in the report. IMD also has a large number of manual rain gauges, but the IMD Annual Report does not provide those numbers.

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Sand Mining

Impact of Sand Mining, Transportation on River Infrastructures across India

July 4, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Sand boats stuck in Prakasam barrage during Sept. 2024 floods. Source: Hans India)

This overview tracks the incidents of damage and threats to bridges and other river infrastructure across India between March 2023 and June 2026. The compilation shows that at least six bridge collapse incidents were reported where riverbed sand mining, sand transportation or excessive riverbed disturbance either directly contributed to the collapse or emerged as a significant risk factor alongside floods, poor construction and overloading.

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