'Jammu's Tawi River Front Development Work Raises Concerns Among Locals'

River Front Development is being carried out on the Tawi River in Jammu.

(Photo credit: Anmol Ohri)

In February 2022, the foundation stone of the Tawi River Front development was laid by the Lieutenant Governor of J&K, Manoj Sinha, in the center of Jammu. This marked the beginning of full-scale construction activity, with a deadline set for December 2023.

(Photo credit: Anmol Ohri)

As part of the environmental community of Jammu, which has been constantly conducting Tawi River clean-ups since September 2020, we observed, during one of our morning clean-ups, that the riverbanks were being filled to create new land masses on both sides of the project.

(Photo credit: Anmol Ohri)

The 530-crore project aims to rejuvenate groundwater sources by creating an artificial lake and wayside amenities to boost tourism. The River Front Project's total length would be 7.0 km (on both sides, i.e., 14 km) from Bhagwati Nagar Bridge to upstream of Gujjar Nagar Bridge.

(Photo credit: Anmol Ohri)

The Tawi River, which flows through the city of Jammu, is one of the major tributaries of the Chenab River. The current reach of the riverfront is being developed in two phases. Phase I will cover 2.70 km on both sides (from Bhagwati Nagar barrage to Bikram Chowk Bridge), with a pondage for the riverfront to be created by the construction of a barrage being executed by the Irrigation and Flood Control Department.

(Photo credit: Anmol Ohri)

The city of Jammu has already seen severe floods. Construction on such a huge scale around the river poses a risk to both the environment and the lives of the people living around its banks.

(Photo credit: Anmol Ohri)

The last floods in Jammu occurred in 2014, with the most affected part of the city being the centre of the Tawi River, an island called Mandal. This island is home to 41 villages and a population of about 25,000. The RFD (River Front Development) ends right where this island starts, and barrages are being built on both its streams, keeping this island at the centre.

(Photo credit: Anmol Ohri)

We spoke to Pankaj Kumar, a 23-year-old resident of Phallian Mandal village on this island. He told us how the 2014 floods directly impacted him and his family in class 8. He stated, “There was no road connectivity and electricity for at least one month, even though we are at the heart of the city, the only bridge connecting the island and the power transmission lines were destroyed in the floods. Our food and drinking water supply was also disrupted. I couldn’t study properly for at least the next six months.”

(Photo credit: Anmol Ohri)

When asked about the consequences of the RFD project on his home, he feared that the floods could be much more destructive after shortening the river's width and putting barrages at the beginning of Mandal Island. He said, “It might also increase the frequency of floods, as every time the water level rises before those barrages—which will happen since they are shortening the width of the river—the excess water will be released towards us.”

(Photo credit: Anmol Ohri)

Another resident of the same island, Arti Kumari, a 22-year-old, said, “When I was nine years old, my family and I used to visit the Tawi River almost daily and use its water for various activities like bathing, laundry, cleaning, and even drinking until it became heavily polluted with the city’s sewage. I am afraid that the RFD would divert the sewage lines of the whole city towards the island, further increasing pollution around our home.”

(Photo credit: Anmol Ohri)

Over the years, garbage dumping in the river has increased considerably. Instead of cleaning it up, the government, if it proceeds with concretisation, would further hamper the river.

(Photo credit: Anmol Ohri)

Arti mentions her fear that they may never be able to use the Tawi River’s water, as it is highly polluted, and she doesn’t see it changing in the near future. She said, "Now, even going near Tawi after this project seems impossible. The only people who use this river now are those mining it, and it is dangerous to go near these places as mining occurs day and night, mostly for this project.''

(Photo credit: Anmol Ohri)

The Tawi has witnessed typical urban river problems: a gradual flow decline, a continual rise in solid and liquid waste pollution, encroachments, and riverbed mining. As with most urban rivers, instead of taking effective measures to address these existing threats, the government has been pumping crores of rupees into an artificial lake and RFD project for over the past decade and a half in a non-transparent and questionable manner. 

(Photo credit: Anmol Ohri)

The project has uprooted many trees and is also threatening the ecology of the Tawi Bio-Diversity Park, which houses 600 trees of more than 200 species.

(Photo credit: Anmol Ohri)

In the Kota conference on River Front Development, by civil society groups of almost seven states, organised by People’s Resource Centre, Delhi, it came out how this dividing of Riverfront development projects in various cities into phases was actually being done to bypass Environment Impact Assessment clearance of the projects, through using the subclause 8(b) of EIA notification, under Townships and Area Development projects, covering an area of > 50 ha and or built-up area > 1,50,000 sq. meters. To decrease the built-up area, to fall under this category of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), which doesn’t require clearance, the RFD projects have been divided into different phases to bypass the regulations. 

(Photo credit: Anmol Ohri)

Bhushan Parimoo, a geologist and environmentalist in Jammu, expresses his concerns while speaking to SANDRP (South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People), an Environmental website: "Tawi is a potable water source for the city and a lifeline for areas all along its 177 km course. However, the river has been facing a decline in flow due to catchment degradation and shrinkage in glacier areas feeding the river. The river needs watershed protection and revival instead of being turned into a lake, which goes against the very nature of how a river functions."

On RFD, Parimoo says, “The RFD work has even removed boulders from the riverbed, which worked as a natural flood defence mechanism. Sewage drains are still polluting the river, and green banks are being concretised for commercial and real estate activities. If there is flood destruction, it’s not the fault of the river but the humans."

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