Water hardly an agenda for politicians
Two of the three main political parties in fray for the Parliamentary elections, the Congress and the BJP, have just paid lip service to water conservation, while the AAP is atleast talking about Gram Sabhas holding decision making powers for water projects
Piped water for all, 'open-defecation free India' on BJP's manifesto
The Bharatiya Janata Party's manifesto before the general elections talks about piped water for all households and sanitation ratings for cities whereby the cleanest cities will be rewarded
Shrimp farming brings in money and barren land
Even as shrimp farmers in East Midnapore district of West Bengal make a quick buck, the agricultural land is turning infertile, thanks to the saline water ponds needed to breed shrimp
Gujarat 'water stressed' thanks to indiscriminate groundwater usage
Free groundwater and subsidized electricity to pump it for agriculture in the state contributed to water table falling in many parts of the state, says the UN World Water Development Report 2014
Threat of water supply disconnection to 80,000 Bangalore buildings
The buildings in newly developed areas risk losing water supply by June as the owners have not paid the charges to regularize their connections and are yet to install water meters
After electricity, now smart water grid
The government is mulling a proposal to interconnect waterways for navigation and hydropower generation. 60,000 MW of hydropower can be generated by this grid besides saving $100 billion annually, says A C Kamaraj of central government's Interconnecting Waterways
Godavari scheme gets money
The Andhra Government has agreed to provide the required financial support to the Godavari Drinking Water Project for Hyderabad so that it can get an additional loan of Rs 1,000 crore from the Housing and Urban Development Corporation
Micro irrigation: a solution to farmers' water crisis
Flood irrigation a wasteful practise, says a Harvard Business School paper. Government subsidy of 80% on micro irrigation systems like drip and sprinkler irrigation can save substantially on subsidy for fertilizers, electricity and diesel
This is the news roundup of April 7 and 8, 2014.