DRP 220626: Bodhghat Dam Faces Strong Tribal Resistance

June 22, 2026June 22, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Dainik Bhaskar June 22, 2026 coverage on tribals protest against Bodhghat dam)

The Bodhghat dam on the Indravati River in Bastar, Chhattisgarh has reportedly been revived after more than 45 years. The project was first planned in 1979 but remained stalled due to multiple concerns. Recently, govt has restarted the process of land survey for the project. It is now estimated to cost about ₹49,000 crore. The project aims to generate hydropower and irrigate 3.5 lakh hectares. It also promises drinking water and other benefits. However, it will submerge at least 13,783 hectares of forest and farmland including rich biodiversity areas.

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One More Monsoon: Governance, Accountability and the Collapse of Madhopur Barrage

June 21, 2026June 22, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

“Ye paani samne aa gaya. Gate khul nahi rahe to grenade dalo, blast kardo. Ye pura beh jaayega.”

“The water is right in front of us. If the gates are not opening, blast them with a grenade. Everything will be washed off.”

– Ex-Minister Lal Singh Chaudhary (Basholi, J&K) at Madhopur Barrage, on the eve of Madhopur gate collapse.[1]

On the 27^th of August, after facing several days of floods from a swollen, angry Ravi River, three gates of Madhopur Barrage at Pathankot crashed into the brown, swirling waters. Around this time, a team of engineers and helpers were on the barrage, making dangerous but futile attempts at opening the jammed gates. Three people fell in the flood, two were rescued but one body was later recovered underwater, from the wrecked gates they were trying to open. Earlier that morning, 22 CRPF jawans were airlifted from a building next to the barrage, moments before it collapsed into the raging river. The flood unleashed a wave of destruction in the downstream.

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Sand Mining

June 2026: Mining Destabilizing Himalayan Rivers, Infrastructures in HP, UKD

June 21, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Damaged bridge on Malan river in Kotdwar, Uttarakhand in July 2023. Source: Amar Ujala)

Unscientific mining of riverbed minerals has emerged as a major geomorphic and disaster risk driver in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh as per reports from past few years. Recent studies sharing examples of Ganga and Gaula rivers reveal broader pattern of how excessive riverbed extraction have been changing the very shape and behaviour of Himalayan rivers. The studies find that such mining is resulting in deepening of riverbeds, narrowing down of water channel thus disturbing the natural balance of riverbed minerals.

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Sand Mining

June 2026: Impact of Mining on River Infrastructures in Punjab, Haryana

June 19, 2026June 19, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: The flood protection work around the pillars of already mining threatened Agampur bridge over the Sutlej river in Ropar district was damaged following discharges from Bhakra dam on June 15, 2026 night. Source: The Tribune)

This report attempts to document the impact of excessive mining activities on river infrastructure in Punjab and Haryana between 2023 and 2026. Our previous nationwide analysis on the subject can be seen here for 2023 and 2022.

Based on the available reports, at least three bridges have been impacted by riverbed mining operations in Punjab during past three years. This includes the Algran bridge on Swan river, which suffered severe damage during the 2023 floods. The bridge has remained shut since Dec. 2023 affecting connectivity for scores of villages.

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Dams, Rivers & People

DRP 150626: BBMB at cross roads: More outflow pushed in Super El Nino year

June 15, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: The Tribune’s file photo of Pandoh dam)

The Bhakra Beas Management Board seems to be at cross roads in several senses this year. In a Super El Nino year, when deficit rainfall prospects loom large, one would expect BBMB advocating lower outflows to ensure reservoir has higher storages if rainfall is indeed lower than normal. Particularly when there is also news of lower (2.2 BCM against normal of 4 BCM) snow fall and snow reserve in the catchment and just about half the expected inflows currently. Another report says BBMB has cancelled the tendering process for pilot desilting project in Bhakra reservoir in Bilaspur district in Himachal Pradesh. No one is of course asking for investigation as to how so much silt has entered the reservoir in last couple of decades with the increasing upstream construction activities in terms of hydropower projects, highways and urbanization, all leading to illegal dumping of muck into the upstream rivers.

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Yamuna River

Yamuna Manthan June 2026: Any Hope from Apex Court’s 3rd River Cleanup Attempt?

June 13, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Confluence of Yamuna (left) and Aglar river (left) in Dehradun in April 2025. BS Rawat/SANDRP)

In a significant development, the ongoing proceedings before the Hon’ble Supreme Court on May 27, 2026, in the Kondli drain pollution matter appear to have expanded into a broader Yamuna rejuvenation case. Notably, this marks the third such intervention by the apex court, with the previous two not resulting in any substantial change in river governance or pollution control or state of the river.

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Book Review · Rivers

Book Review: Is a River Alive?

June 12, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

Guest blog by Dr. Ruchi Shree

Is a River Alive? (By Robert Macfarlane, 2025, Hamish Hamilton, an imprint of Penguin, London) is a narrative of hope in despair. The author, a nature writer and Professor of Literature and the Environmental Humanities has written numerous bestselling books. Some of them are Underland, Landmarks, The Old Ways, The Wild Places and Mountains of the Mind which have been translated into many languages and won numerous prizes around the world. His writings have been widely adopted for different modes of creative expressions namely music, theatre, film, radio, and dance. Macfarlane’s this book, a detailed account his journey of three rivers across three different continents (South America, North America and Asia) is equally personal and political. This book on rivers is equally about mountains, seas, birds and all other living beings.

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CWC - Central Water Commission

CWC Flood Forecast Website Failure at Start of 2026 Monsoon Season

June 11, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Screen shot of CWC’s FF website taken on June 11, 2026)

Fundamental problems continue to plague Central Water Commission’s (CWC) flood monitoring work. In the latest such incident, its main Flood Forecast (FF) website remained inaccessible for over a week, right at the beginning of the forecast season.

As per a CWC presentation at the annual flood preparedness conference on May 2, 2026, it has a network of 1543 hydrological observation stations & 360 flood forecasting stations including 201 level forecast & 159 inflow forecast stations covering 20 river basins in 27 states & UTs.

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Dams, Rivers & People · Godavari · Irrigation

2025: Sand Miners Suspected for Blasting Check Dams in Telangana

June 10, 2026June 10, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Check dam on Manair river at Adavisomanpalli in damaged condition on Dec. 18, 2025. Source: DC)

Collapse of two check dams, Tanugula and Adavisomanpally, on Manair river during Nov-Dec 2025 under suspicious circumstances has raised serious concerns about the structural safety of the irrigation infrastructures in Telangana. The locals and officials suspect the role of illegal sand mining and possible use of explosives by sand miners as likely cause.

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Sand Mining

2025: Riverbed Mining, Encroachment Damages Four Bridges in J&K

June 9, 2026June 9, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Portion of Logate Morh bridge on the Jammu-Pathankot NH gets damaged in Aug 2025 due to overflowing of Sahar Khad following heavy rainfall in Kathua. Source: The Tribune/ Credit: PTI)

At least 4 bridges across Jammu & Kashmir have suffered partial damages or complete collapse during 2025 underlining the growing threat of excessive riverbed mining & encroachment to bridges & river infrastructure. 3 of these incidents including washing out of part of approach road near the 4^th Tawi bridge in Jammu, Keerian Gadiyal bridge on Ravi river and Logate Morh Bridge on Sahar Khad both in Kathua district occurred during severe deluge in Aug 2025. The Chandura bridge on Doodh Ganga river in Budgam was declared unsafe in Dec 2025.

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