Eight rivers. 1,620 kilometres. One walk at a time.
Since 2019, Meer Foundation researchers have walked the eight major river systems of Chhattisgarh — from the green Indravati in Bastar to the industrial Shivnath in Bhilai. Every river has its own open-access report. Every report begins on foot.
A river is not a line on a map. It is a conversation.
The Rivers of Chhattisgarh programme is Meer Foundation's longest-running field research line. Since 2019, our team has walked the eight major river systems of the state — Sakri, Mahanadi, Shivnath, Hasdeo, Indravati, Arpa, Jonk, and Pairi — to document what is happening to them, who is being heard, and who is being ignored.
The walking method
Each river is walked end-to-end by a 3–5 person team over 6–14 weeks. The team camps in riparian villages, conducts household surveys, takes water samples at every confluence, and records oral histories with elder fishers and farmers. The walk produces a primary dataset; the report is its interpretation. The walk is the research; the report is its artefact.
From Sakri to Pairi — eight stories, eight reports
Each river is its own document. Below: the eight rivers, their lengths, the districts they flow through, and the headline finding from each walk.
Sakri River
The smallest river we have walked end-to-end — and the one whose riparian forest is the most intact. Sakri taught us that small rivers carry outsized ecological weight.
Mahanadi River
Chhattisgarh's mother river. We walked the Chhattisgarh stretch from its source at Sihawa to the Odisha border, documenting floodplain encroachment and industrial discharge.
Shivnath River
The principal tributary of Mahanadi — and the most polluted. We documented dissolved oxygen crashes downstream of Bhilai and worked with villages on restoration plans.
Hasdeo River
The river at the centre of the Hasdeo Arand forest controversy. We walked the river to map coal-mining impacts on water quality, fish populations, and Adivasi villages.
Indravati River
The 'greenest' river in our study — flowing through some of India's densest forests and most militarised terrain. Fieldwork here is slow, careful, and trust-based.
Arpa River
A river being slowly killed by Bilaspur city. We documented dry-season zero-flow stretches and worked with the municipal corporation on a recharge master plan.
Jonk River
The river most altered by irrigation infrastructure. We walked Jonk to understand the cumulative impact of check dams, anicuts, and lift-irrigation schemes on flow.
Pairi River
Our 'reference' river — the one we use to compare against more degraded systems. Pairi still has its monsoon flood pulse and its mahseer run. We want to keep it that way.
What the rivers told us, in their own language
Six headline findings from the eight river walks. Each finding is backed by primary data — water samples, household surveys, and oral histories — published in the relevant river report.
Dissolved oxygen crashes
Shivnath downstream of Bhilai: DO dropped to 1.8 mg/L in May 2024 — below the 5 mg/L threshold for most fish species.
Mahseer run still intact
Pairi river's monsoon mahseer run continues — 14 villages reported active spawning in 2024. The reference is holding.
Riparian forest loss
Sakri lost 11% of riparian canopy in 5 years. Hasdeo lost 23% in the same period. Both are reversible if acted on now.
Floodplain encroachment
Mahanadi floodplain between Raipur and Mahasamund: 38% of the 100-year floodplain is now built-on. Flood risk is structural.
Adivasi voice missing
In Hasdeo, of 12 villages surveyed, 9 reported never having been consulted by the mining company that operates upstream of their water source.
Sand mining pressure
Sakri and Pairi both face mechanised sand mining. Manual sand mining by riparian villages is sustainable; mechanised extraction is not.
“I have fished this river for forty years. The mahseer used to come in Bhado (August–September). Now it comes in Asoj (October) — sometimes not at all. The river is waiting longer for the rain that no longer comes on time.”
— Pairi river elder, recorded during the 2023 walk. Quoted with permission.
Download the open-access reports
Two flagship artefacts from the Rivers of Chhattisgarh programme. Both are real PDFs, both are open-access under CC-BY 4.0, and both are written to be read — not just cited.
Awareness Brief — River Conservation
A 2-page public brief on river conservation, written for riparian communities, gram sabhas, and journalists. Available in Hindi and English.
Course — River Health Monitoring
A field manual for citizen-science river health monitoring. Covers DO, pH, turbidity, riparian assessment, and fish-population surveys. Used by Bolti Nadi volunteers.
Five numbers from the river walks
A carousel of the most-cited statistics from the Rivers of Chhattisgarh programme — useful for journalists, sarpanches, and anyone preparing a gram sabha presentation.
Of the 1,620 km covered by our team, 1,427 km was on foot. Boats, motorcycles, and bullock-carts covered the rest.
How well do you know Chhattisgarh's rivers?
Five questions drawn from the river reports. If you can answer all five correctly, you know more than most state-level policy briefs do. Pass at 60%.
Rivers of Chhattisgarh Quiz
5 questions · passing score 60%
Starter library for river research
A filterable list of river-related PDFs and links. Start here if you are a journalist, a student, or a citizen-scientist looking to dig deeper into the data behind the reports.
Resource library
4 of 4Questions about the river research
From the walking method to community review to the next phase of the programme — the questions we are asked most often by researchers, journalists, and partners.
Frequently asked questions
Because desk research tells you what a river is; walking it tells you what a river means. On foot you see the sand-mining ramp, the broken borewell, the village that no longer fishes. You also meet the people whose names will appear in your report. Walking is method, ethics, and accountability in one motion.
Walk with us. Cite us. Fund the next river.
The next phase of the Rivers of Chhattisgarh programme will add the Mand, Kelo, and Tel rivers, plus a re-walk of the Shivnath. Each kilometre costs roughly ₹850 in field expenses — every contribution is acknowledged in the next report's annexure.
8 rivers · 1,620 km walked · 12+ villages surveyed · 5 open-access reports · CC-BY 4.0