Water management in 2025 was a discipline of high stakes engineering, aiming to secure resources for agriculture while navigating the perils of climate change and structural failures.
Polavaram
The Polavaram Irrigation Project on the Godavari River, often termed the “lifeline of Andhra Pradesh,” saw a resurgence in 2025. Following the catastrophic damage to its diaphragm wall during the 2020 floods, the project had stalled. However, 2025 was the year of rectification. A high-level central team led by the Polavaram Project Authority (PPA) CEO inspected the site in December 2025 and expressed satisfaction with the rock-filling works at Gap-I and the remedial grouting of the diaphragm wall at Gap-II.
Significance: The diaphragm wall is the project’s foundation, preventing water seepage under the main dam. Its successful repair is a prerequisite for the Earth and Rockfill (ECRF) dam construction. The timeline has now been reset for completion by June 2027, with 2025 marking the critical “turnaround” year where the project moved from paralysis to execution.
Deep Ocean Mission: Breaking Depth Barriers
On August 5-6, 2025, India achieved a historic milestone in deep-sea exploration. Two Indian aquanauts, Raju Ramesh and Cdr. Jatinder Pal Singh (Retd), descended to depths of 4,025 meters and 5,002 meters respectively in the Atlantic Ocean.34 Conducted aboard the French submersible Nautile as part of a collaboration with IFREMER, this mission provided critical operational experience for India’s own deep-sea ambitions.
This feat serves as the final validation phase for the indigenous Samudrayaan project. India’s own submersible, Matsya-6000, successfully completed wet tests in Chennai harbor in October 2025 and is scheduled for shallow water trials (up to 500m) in 2026. This capability is vital for India’s plans to mine polymetallic nodules in the Central Indian Ocean Basin, a resource crucial for energy security.
Green Hydrogen
The interface of water and energy saw a technological breakthrough at NTPC Simhadri in Visakhapatnam. In November 2025, NTPC commissioned a 1 TPD (Tonnes Per Day) Green Hydrogen plant.
The Innovation: Crucially, this plant utilizes seawater processed through a low-carbon desalination unit powered by waste heat from the thermal power plant. This effectively decouples hydrogen production from freshwater resources—a vital innovation for a water-stressed nation like India. Producing 1 kg of hydrogen typically requires 12-13 liters of water; using seawater makes the “Green Hydrogen” economy sustainable in the long run.
April 2025
🔹 India
- April 14-15: Record-breaking pre-monsoon heatwave – New Delhi experienced multi-day highs >40°C (≈5°C above average), Balochistan reached ~49°C
December 2025
🔹 Andhra Pradesh
- December 2025: Polavaram Project Authority CEO-led team inspected progress – rock-filling at Gap-I and remedial grouting at Gap-II satisfactory. Timeline reset for June 2027 completion after 2020 flood damage, marking 2025 as “turnaround year”
🔹 Global
- December 2025: Devastating climate disasters:
- Tropical Cyclone Senyar: catastrophic Sumatra/Indonesia flooding (860+ dead, 1.5 million displaced)
Cyclone Ditwah: record Sri Lanka floods (~1 million affected, 212 dead)
– Raghunath
