melt, the primary source of upstream
rivers are fed by the Tibetan Plateau and
freshwater for many of South Asia’s river
adjacent mountain ranges.
basins. Climate change impacts on the
Over 50% of the world’s population lives
Himalayan and the Hindu Kush glaciers,
downstream of the Greater Himalaya region.
thereby directly affect the people and
Snowmelt providing over 40% of monsoon
economies of the countries of Afghanistan,
discharge
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and
catchments. An increasing occurrence of
Pakistan. These “water towers of Asia” play
extremely low snow years and a shift
a dominant role in feeding and regulating
towards extremely high winter/spring runoff
the flow of the major river systems of the
and extremely low summer runoff would
region: the Indus, the Ganges, and the
therefore increase the flood risk during the
Brahmaputra. Reductions in the glacial mass
winter/spring, and decrease the availability
and snow cover of the Hindu Kush and the
of water during the summer.
Himalayas can have a profound effect on the
RIVERS OF INDIA
long-term water availability in the sub-
in
the
Greater
Himalaya
Narmada the daughter of Lord Shiva
continent. Changes in the characteristics of
Part-10
precipitation over the mountains, leading to
3. The Maheshwar Dam
increasingly
contribute
The Maheshwar Dam is one of the planned
along with other factors to much higher
large dams and was targeted to provide 400
flood risks far downstream and interact
Megawatts in energy. The project has been
adversely with rising sea levels on the coast.
planned
The
intense
Indus,
rainfall,
since
1978.
In
1989
the
the
Ganges,
and
the
responsibility for Maheshwar was conferred
basins
provide
water
to
on the Madhya Pradesh Electricity Board.
approximately 750 million people. The
Subsequently in 1993, the concession for the
Ganges basin on the east of the subcontinent
Maheshwar Project was awarded to the
has the largest population size and density of
S. Kumars, a textile magnate. In 1994, the
the three basins. Both the Indus and the
project received a conditional environmental
Ganges supply large areas with water for
clearance from the Central Ministry of
irrigation, while the 2,880-kilometer Indus
Environment
River
longest
Maheshwar is the first privately financed
irrigation systems in the world. All three
hydroelectric dam in India. In 1998 and then
Brahmaputra
constitutes
one
of
the
and
Forests
(MoEF).
1999, first, the US power utility Pacgen and
7
Integrated River Basin Management Society