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AE401A
Technical Communication
MAJOR RIVER ISSUES IN INDIA
Instructor- Dr. CS Upadhyay
















By
Mukesh Kumar Singh
Roll 11442
Dated: 31/8/2014

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INTRODUCTION

Being the perennial source of water, rivers have been the lifelines of mankind from
centuries and will continue to be so. Human beings will do well to preserve them for
their own sake.
The nature of a river can be changed owing to two factors natural and manmade. This
report will confine itself to understand the way man has exploited rivers and the
consequences hence produced.
Historically, the world population remained more or less stagnant till eighteenth
century. But after the industrial revolution, population shoot up to around seven billion
today from a stagnant one billion. The population growth was driven by increased
productivity. Both continuously raising production and population growth ultimately
results in ever increasing demand of water. To meet these growing demand, rivers are
channelized to ensure water reaches to water deficient areas.
Everybody is aware of the dire water crisis. Then why this dont care approach?
Francis Bacon, a corrupt judge and an unscrupulous politician, is considered to be the
first philosopher of modern science. To Bacon nature was an enemy which needed to be
defeated and tortured - the expression was his - so that its secrets or powers could be
extracted for the benefit of the human race. With this attitude men progressed with and
after industrial revolution. A pathetic notion of growth came to define human
development, that is, if you consume what you produce then you dont produce. So all
the beautiful nature cycles were excluded from the purview of development. They were
taken for granted and exploited ruthlessly. In the long run, we reached a state where we
are. All the major disputes are related with river water sharing. Science has been
reduced to the level of mere technological sophistications. This is revealed by the fact
that by the mid-1980s the proportion of pure scientists to all scientists in the world had
fallen to less than five per cent, and the proportion is reportedly falling at a faster rate
now. The blurring line between science and technology is very dangerous. Production of
technology requires investment and hence has no moral character as long as investor is
making profit.
The invocation of the 'temper' almost invariably goes with a negative reading of
India's traditional cultures and ways of life, seen as impediments to a modern
technological order, and with the search for uncritical legitimacy for all forms of
technology - seen as an undifferentiated mass of knowledge, institutions and persons.
Thus traditional modes of conserving water were ruined. Ponds were encroached upon.
Wells were filled with modern technologies available to extract groundwater. Local
management of water was nowhere on the agenda. These scarcities of water burdened
rivers hugely. Pursuit of ever increasing industrial production has made the river basins
fragile. To ensure fresh water availability to our future generation, multi-pronged
initiatives are required to be taken urgently.

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DAMAGING RIVERS AND CONSEQUENCES

Human actions and their consequences on river systems are described below.
The use of water bodies as sink for industrial effluents: - Industrial effluents are
main sources of direct and often continuous input of pollutants to rivers. These
pollutants include heavy metals, pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins,
poly-aromatic hydrocarbons, petrochemicals, phenolic compounds and
microorganisms. Major sources of these effluents are pharmaceuticals and
personal care products industries (PPCPs), soap and detergent industries, paper
mill industries, textile mill industries, brewery industries, tannery industries, soft
drink industries, chemical industries, organic wastes, palm oil mill industries.
Some heavy metals contained in these effluents are found to be carcinogenic.
Some of the wastes are oxygen consuming which can impact the marine
ecosystem in a big way. Apart from this, the wastewaters contain suspended
solids, both degradable and non-bio degradable organics, oils and greases, heavy
metal ions, dissolved inorganics, acids, bases and coloring compounds.
Large dams temples of modern India? : - The environmental and other
impacts are project-specific and vary from case to case. But generalized features
are described below:
1. The very processes of construction involves violent disturbance of nature
and a tremendous upheaval in the lives of local inhabitants.
2. Creation of large reservoirs causes submergence of land (agricultural or
forest or rural or urban settlements), displacement of people and their live
stocks, the loss of occupations and so on.
3. Stilling of flowing water brings about drastic changes in its morphology
and quality like temperature stratification, variation in nutrient contents
and dissolved oxygen to name a few. These have grave consequences on
marine life and riparian life. Decay of organic matters can also lead to
emissions of greenhouse gases.
4. Fish population is doomed to decline rapidly because movement is
impeded and spawning hindered.
5. Wildlife habitats and routes of movement are disrupted. Food chain can
be broken. Some species could disappear and in turn other species could
be affected.
6. Flora too could be affected through construction processes, submergence
and other factors.
7. Reservoirs and canals could facilitate the spread of disease vectors and
lead to an increased incidence of malaria, filariasis etc.
8. Creation can bring large climatological changes.
9. Project in seismically active areas such as Himalayan region are subjected
to the risk of earthquakes. Highly debatable reservoir induced seismicity
is an issue.

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10. The damming of a river affects the whole river regime. Flows downstream
carry reduced amount of silt and nutrients. Flows are reduced themselves.
Riparian economy might be affected.
11. There is a certain and unavoidable risk involved in the damming of rivers.
Under normal circumstances, dams acts as flood avoiding agents but
under exceptional circumstances, they can be utterly devastating like in
case of dam breaking, or water discharge to save the structure.
12. Damming of river for interlinking will cut down sediment supply and
erode fertile deltas and coasts destroying coastal ecosystems. It can also
impact seasonal monsoon in a significant way. Freshwater from rivers are
less dense than saline water and float over sea water. This intensifies the
temperature gradient required for monsoon to occur.
Over-extraction of Water: - Traditionally, large dam projects have been main
agents of irrigation. A World Bank study has though pointed out that their roles
are limited. Reservoirs have reached their capacities. There are cases where rivers
have reached their partial or full closure, that is, water fails to reach the sea in
seasons of less annual rainfall. This excessive capture of water in the basin has
led to more evaporation of water hence more humidity and changing temperature
regime. This has altered regional climate aggravating saline ground water
intrusion, and putting at risk the delicate wetland and estuarine ecology which is
important not only for aquatic habitats and fisheries, but also for preventing
shore erosion. With river flow cut to a large extent, many urban, domestic and
industrial, wastes which could have been diluted otherwise, have aggravated the
problem of pollution.
Socio-cultural and Religious Causes: - Though one of the major causes of river
water pollution is industrial wastes, but socio-cultural and religious practices,
especially in India, aggravate the problem. Statues of Hindu gods, flowers, pots
and ashes are thrown into Indian rivers daily without a thought. Several Hindu
rituals make it mandatory for people to use rivers as a vital component. "Earlier,
if a body was floated in the river, it was consumed by crocodiles, but these days
there are no crocodiles left in rivers because of the pollution. So these dead
bodies only add to the filth and pollution in the river," Rajender Singh says. Singh
has been campaigning for the cleaning of several small and big rivers in the
country for more than 30 years.
Bad Planning and Management: - Rivers do not merely provide water but support
various economic activities and hence attract proper planning and management.
Many tourism spots, religious and cultural cities, sanctuaries etc. are situated on
the banks of rivers. They are needed to properly planned and monitored.




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CASE STUDY OF TROBLED RIVERS
1. GANGA
How grave the situation is: -
Pollution: - The River runs for some 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles),
with more than two dozen major urban centers located on its banks.
With many factories and business dumping toxic chemicals into the
river, human sewage compounds the situation. An estimated 3
billion liters (800,000 gallons) of sewage is released into the
Ganges each day, of which only a third - according official figures -
is processed by treatment plants. Agricultural businesses are also
draining the river basin and adding toxic pesticides and fertilizers
into the river system. Ganga was ranked among top 5 most polluted
rivers of the world in 2007 with fecal coliform levels found 100
times more than official Indian Government limit in Varanasi.
Pollution threatens not only humans but also more than 140 fish
species, 90 amphibian species and endangered Ganga river
dolphins
Amount of water: - Volume flow rate till 1846, without canals and
several water extraction, would not have been less than 500m
3
/s at
Prayag while measured in 2011, it was just 38m
3
/s. It means 90% of
water has been diverted according to Prof. GD Agarwal, who once
was Head of Department of Civil and Environmental Department at
IIT Kanpur.
Ganga Damned: - The Ganga is in serious danger from 600
dams that are either operational, under construction or
proposed. These dams will not only obstruct the river s
natural flow and divert water into tunnels to power
turbines, but will also have cascading effect on the
livelihood of communities and the biodiversity and stability
of the surrounding natural ecosystems. Downstream
communities also face the danger of flash floods when
water is released from the dams.
Consequences : -
Riparian people suffer from diseases like diarrhea, viral hepatitis,
dysentery, typhoid, cholera and gastroenteritis.
Fresh drinking water crisis is ever aggravating.
Pollutants are replacing nutrients and natural sediments to be
deposited in her plain.
Ancient Ghats of Varanasi are vulnerable owed to bad planning. A
turtle sanctuary has been established downstream of Varanasi. This
sanctuary has led to deposition of excessive silt on bank of river
which happens to be one opposite to Ghats. Flow turn abruptly in
Varanasi almost at 90
0
. Flow resisted by excessive siltation on one

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bank forces its way into other side and erode the foundation of
Ghats. This endangers very existence of Ghats.

2. YAMUNA : -
The river is dead! As simple as that. With no fresh water flows, almost
negligible ecology, contaminants and pollutants mixed with its waters, the
grand old river has been reduced to a dead waterway. The river being dirty
and dead is not the only worry anymore. This unclean, unfit Yamuna that
comes to Delhi from Haryana has contaminated the city's other source of
water, the groundwater aquifers. Pollutants, including much harsher
heavy metals, like lead and arsenic, known to cause severe health
conditions have contaminated the groundwater in the city, leaving it unfit
for consumption. The Yamuna waters are not the only source of
groundwater contamination, experts clarify, aquifers are also fed by rains,
but the river is considered a major source of recharge. Use of pesticides,
untreated sewage, effluents from factories, residue from power plants are
all contributing to make the city's ground water unfit for consumption,
experts point out. Yet another recent study conducted by the Department
of Geology at Delhi University has pointed to the presence of arsenic in
ground water from around the Yamuna floodplains.

3. RIVERS FROM WESTERN GHATS : -
Almost 400 million people depend on peninsular rivers all emanating
from Western Ghats water tower of south India. The important rivers of
Kerala include Periyar, Bharathapuzha, Pamba, Chaliyar and Chalakudy.
The major interventions contributing to dying rivers are catchment
deforestation and habitat fragmentation in the Western Ghats, dams and
diversions, sand mining, incorrect land use, pollution and encroachments
into rivers. Most rivers hover between living and dying and there is no
untouched pristine river in Kerala. According to A Latha, Chalakudy is on
the brink, Periyar is dying while Bharathapuzha is a dead river. There has
been a flow fragmentation in the Chalakudy basin and the direct modifiers
of daily and seasonal flows (time, duration, frequency) have led to
modification in the river channel and flood plain habitats. The seventeen
dams of Periyar have led to disconnected flows. The 38 km river stretch
between Mullaperiyar to Idukki dries up during summer. Below Idukki
group of dams, the river dries up in the 30 km stretch. 1440 MCM of water
is annually diverted to Muvattupuzha. In case of Bharathapuzha the rivers
have got disconnected from flood plains and the sediment flow changes
have impacted downstream aquatic life. River after power generation.
Nirar tributary is diverted to Tamil Nadu through Parambikulam dams
part of PAP treaty.
The Western Ghats form one of the three important watersheds of India,
from which many South Indian rivers originate, such as Godavari, Bhima,

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Koyna and Krishna. Maharashtra has more than eleven important west
flowing rivers including Damanganga, Surya, Vaitarna, Ulhas, Savitri,
Kundalika, Patalganga, Vashisti, Shastri, Karli, and Terekhol. There are
numerous smaller rivers joining the creeks. West flowing rivers cover just
10 per cent of the states area but contribute to 44.54 per cent of the 75 per
cent dependable yield. Dams under construction and proposed for
Mumbai metropolitan region are set to displace more than 25000 tribals
and submerge more than 14000 hectares of primarily tribal land,
including 5685 hectares forest land in global biodiversity hotspot of
Western Ghats.

4. SHASTRI: FROM LIVING TO DYING RIVER
Shastri, the undammed, free flowing river of the Ghats which originates
near Prachitgad, on the crest line of the Western Ghats and meets the sea
at Jaigad. Concessional agreement for the next 50 years has been signed,
with Maharashtra Maritime Board and these ports will be operated on a
Build, Own, Operate, Share and Transfer (BOOST) basis. All these projects
have received clearances from the State Environment Departments,
Maharashtra State Coastal Zone Management Authority and the MoEF.
The EIAs did not deal with the impact of the infrastructure on the
estuarine zone or mangroves. Dredging is being done for the ports nearly
10-12 kms inside the mouth of the river to a depth of 14 m (which is not
monitored). This sort of dredging destroys the nutrients wholly, releases
pollutants in the water, destroys mangroves and larvae, eggs and young of
fish and crustaceans. The huge mechanized boats obstruct
smaller dibkos and tear the fish nets. Crustaceans, which are filters feeders
are hugely affected by turbidity and disturbance through dredging. It is no
wonder that shrimp catches in the estuary and also open sea near Jaigad
has fallen most sharply.

5. RIVERS OF EASTERN INDIA : -
The rivers of the North East being hidden in the Himalayas are
insufficiently studied and the value of the massive river systems emerging
from the Tibetan plateau, the water tower of Asia is yet to be fully
understood. The region with just five per cent of the countrys area has
thirty per cent of the national water resource potential and its per capita
water availability is 18,400 cubic meters as compared to the national
figure of 2,208 cubic meters.
There are around 3500 wetlands along the Brahmaputra just in the Assam
plains. Adjoining wetlands provide important nursery grounds for fish and
export organic matter and organisms into the main channels. It is high
time that we recognize that rivers are not merely moving masses of water
but are in fact habitat to complex geomorphic, chemical and biological
processes in motion. These habitat mosaics support a wide variety of

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aquatic and riparian species (including microbial parts, which are hardly
recognized). A rivers ecological health and viability is its natural flow-
regime. Natural variable flows create and maintain dynamics between the
channel, floodplain, wetland and estuary. Variability is critical to
ecosystem functioning and native biodiversity. Rivers with highly altered
and regulated flows lose their ability to support natural processes.
Dammed rivers are in fact described by many as dead rivers.
Water quality issues deserve particular attention because arsenic
contamination of groundwater has been identified in the paleochannels of
Brahmaputra up till the foothills of Himalayas posing serious health
threats.
The impact of global climate change would appear earlier in this geo-
environmentally vulnerable region with massive water and sediment load.
Studies indicate that a rise in surface temperatures in the high Himalayas
will lead to increased snow melt, resulting in greater incidence of flooding
in rivers flowing from the Himalayan catchments.

RIVER RESTORATION
River restoration projects require a thorough knowledge of watershed processes and
their interactions, including hydrology, hydraulics, water quality, fluvial morphology,
plus the biological sciences. In addition, developed areas must focus on community-
sensitive designs that that addresses land use, demographics, aesthetics, recreational
opportunities, public access, historic sites, and linkages to cultural features.
Specific project types include de-channelization, removal of old dams, creation of linear
greenways and trails, in-stream habitats day lighting enclose channels, and the clean-up
of abandoned industrial properties.
Watershed Management: - Watershed management is essential part of
maintaining healthy productive rivers. The influence of topography, soils,
vegetation, land uses, run-off, need to be considered. Stream corridors, including
natural resources such as flood plains, wet lands, most aquifers, and riparian
buffer zones are essential transition between upland areas and water bodies.
Riparian corridors have been disturbed by urban and rural land uses, plus linear
features such as highways, railroads, and dikes that tend to follow rivers and thus
isolate riverfront areas. Important elements of urban river corridor planning
include their relationship with adjacent neighborhoods, active recreation needs,
environmental education, and habitat linkages. The final planning level focuses
on the actual streams and river channels, plus ponds and lakes. It addresses
aquatic habitats, channel capacity and stability, fish passage, and water quality.
Dam Removal: - Old obsolete dams are needed to be removed. Some have to be
removed due to physical deterioration of ageing structures. The impact of dams
on fish movements and populations is a major issue in coastal areas with
anadromous species, as well as in inland waters. Passage facilities, including fish

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ladders, elevators, and trap and haul operations have had limited success. After
dams are breached or removed, the un-vegetated soils in their former
impoundments may need to be reshaped or landscaped to minimize erosion. The
reclaimed land may be used for wetland habitat or parks.
De-channelization:- De-channelization refers to efforts that reverse previous
channelization processes. It may include removing deteriorated walls or linings,
replanting the river banks, reshaping the channel, providing low-flood channels
etc.
Channel Day-lighting:- In extreme cases, communities have totally enclosed
watercourses and placed them underground , typically to regain floodplain land
for developments of roads and to control flooding. Among the benefits to opening
of previously enclosed rivers are enlarged habitat, water quality, hydraulic
capacity, recreation, fish passage, boat passage, and reduction of expansive
underground maintenance of structures.
River Front Access: - River front access are generally restricted by water-
dependent industrial uses or highways and railroads built along river corridors.
Communities are, then, left with little or no access to rivers that stimulated the
communitys early growth. Poor access limits aesthetic opportunities, recreation
and reduces a community interest in environmental conditions.
Habitat Improvements:- Rivers that have been channelized or simply subjected
to increased flooding due to watershed changes often have degraded aquatic
habitat. Specific adverse conditions include reduced diversity, wide, shallow
channels, loss of vegetation, limited shelter, poor water quality, rapid flow
variations, high sediment loads, and excessive velocities. Many of these channels
can be addressed by physical alteration of channels shape and form.
Flow Management:- There must be sufficient flow rates to preserve the ecological
integrity of riverine systems and water quality. Flow rates must be sufficient to
transport fine sediments, avoid excessive deposition and periodically scour
coarse substrates. This can be achieved by reducing water demand, which in turn
can be accomplished by proper planning. Micro level water harvesting, massive
awareness programs, groundwater replenishment are some of the ways forward.

CONCLUSION
According to a UN report, balance between demand and supply of water would be
disturbed after 20 years in as usual scenario. It is established that water crisis is
grave and calls for immediate measures. Modern days notion of growth and
development needs interrogation. One has to realize there is limit to growth and
happiness associated with it. All the human innovations and ever increasing
standard of living are important only if human race survive.

SOURCES
1. http://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/living-rivers-dying-rivers-rivers-
north-east-india-lecture-iic-new-delhi-dr-chandan-mahanta

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2. http://khabar.ndtv.com/video/show/prime-time/bhu-318414
3. http://www.dw.de/indias-polluted-ganges-river-threatens-peoples-
livelihoods/a-17237276
4. Handbook of Water sensitive planning and design by Robert L. France
5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8REVjjT5F4
6. Water Issues and perspective by V. Iyer
7. 12
th
five year plan , volume 1 - GOI