Sustainable Reservoir Sediment Management in Indian River Basins

Dams have always been envisaged as the lifelines of modern development and it is now felt that these are encountered with the major problem of Siltation. Siltation poses a big question on the sustainability of Basin Management. The paper describes the importance of basin sedimentology and for the first time try to compare sedimentation of the reservoirs for different Basins in India. The basin wise data for India is being compiled for around 370 reservoirs which make up for around 8% of the total reservoirs in India. The data predicts the state of affairs in various basins in India and provide comparative position of the sedimentation of reservoirs in the Basin. An analysis is being done to link urbanization of the basins with the sedimentation of the reservoirs. The results are important for making policy level decisions for sustainable Basin management practices.