Eastern Plains

The profitable toilet
Eco-sanitation, or compost toilets have helped achieve nearly 100% sanitation in Rupauliya, a small village in Bihar.
Chicu Lokgariwar
Posted on 27 Jan, 2014 12:29 PM

When Panchamlal Mahto was a toddler, he would frequently squat and poop as the urge took him irrespective of where he was. His mother would take a handful of ash and sprinkle it over the 'gift'. The ash would absorb the liquid, enabling the whole mess to be easily swept away. Back then, Vinita was still not born.
An Eco-san toilet with a kitchen garden next to it
Rights of adivasis over forest lands diminishes; their consent no longer mandatory for all development projects taken up on forest land - Roundup of the week’s news (February 11-17, 2013)
Adivasis' rights over forest lands diminishes. Government dilutes its stand on requiring consent from tribals before handing over their forest lands for projects.
The Sangai Express
Nitin Sethi
T.R. Shankar Raman & M.D. Madhusudan
Rajaram Panda & Brahma Chellaney
Krishnendu Mukherjee
Atula Gupta
E. M. Manoj
Posted on 18 Feb, 2013 11:18 PM

Adivasis' rights over forest lands diminishes
Provision of safe drinking water in rural Bihar: Paper in the Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development
A practical paper that addresses vital gaps in water quality monitoring and institutional weakness, focuses on the role of access and interventions in severely contaminated areas and calls for a drastic shift in the monitoring and intervention strategy to address safe water provision for rural Bihar
Raghavachari Srikanth
Posted on 10 Feb, 2013 11:21 AM

A practical paper that addresses vital gaps in water quality monitoring and institutional weakness, focuses on the role of access and interventions in severely contaminated areas and calls for a drastic shift in the monitoring and intervention strategy to address safe water provision for rural Bihar
The return of the earthworm: Association for India's Development's (AID-JHU) practicing organic farming in the Sunderbans
All the farmers and gardeners who have been part of AID and its partners Mukti & BTS’ agricultural work in the Sunderbans are practicing organic agriculture of both paddy and vegetables on a part of their land while some are doing it fully. A buzz has been created in the area about it. Many of these farmers have been trained by Saathi Revathy and many more have been trained by the trainer-farmers of the area.
Nishikant
Posted on 08 Apr, 2012 10:51 PM

Article and Video Courtesy : Association for India's Development - Johns Hopkins University

Author : Nishikant
Qualitative and quantitative water scarcity issues in Bihar - A presentation
Nature's abundance vanishes; the once amply resourced Bihar tackles the rapid depletion, the emerging water scarcity and quality.
Ajay Bhatt
Ashok Kumar Ghosh
Manish Kumar
Nupur Bose
Rajeev Kumar
Posted on 21 Nov, 2011 11:49 AM

This presentation  highlights the grave water situation in Bihar in the context of the emerging water quality and quantity issues that the world and especially developing countries will be facing in the near future.

The war over blue gold
The water industry slowly shaping up, writes Tirthankar Nag.
Tirthankar Nag
Posted on 19 Sep, 2011 04:45 PM
Diamonds are expensive as they are rare, yet have very little use for our daily needs. On the other hand, fresh water which is essential to human existence is often thought of as a free or low priced commodity, mostly due to its abundance.
Groundwater quality assessment of Jharia coalfield area in West Bengal - A case study in NISCAIR
The study shows that the water is suitable for domestic purposes with some exceptions.
Abhay Singh
Babita Neogi
B K Tewary
Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (Dhanbad)
Geo Environment Division (Environment Management Group)
Kshitindra Kumar Singh
Posted on 27 Aug, 2011 06:35 PM

This case study in National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR) by the Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CIMFR), Dhanbad and the Geo-Environment Division (Environment Management Group) deals with groundwater quality assessment of Jharia coalfield area of West Bengal. The physiochemical characteristics of groundwater of the upper catchments of the coalfield were studied to evaluate the water quality.

Introducing a new farming technique (SRI) in the Gangetic plains,Bihar
Nagasubramanian works for the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India), a non-denominational, non-government development organization working in Gujarat since 1984. AKRSP (India) works as a catalyst for the betterment of rural communities by providing direct support to local communities to enhance their livelihood and develop models for sustainable natural resource management and human resource development. Its operations in Bihar were started in mid-2008 and in this narration; Nagasubramanian shares his experience of promoting System of Rice Intensification (SRI) among the farmers in Bihar during the initial phase.
Nagasubramanian G
Posted on 28 Jul, 2011 03:19 PM

Article and Image courtesy: BodhiCommons
Summer monsoon transforms northeastern Bangladesh - Updates from NASA Earth Observatory in 2011
This article presents stunning satellite images of rising water levels in Bangladesh in 2011
NASA
Posted on 15 Jul, 2011 02:57 PM

Article and Image courtesy: NASA

Summer monsoon transforms northeastern Bangladesh - Updates from NASA Earth ObservatoryBangladesh typically experiences a mild winter from October to March; a hot, muggy summer from March to June; and a warm, rainy monsoon from June to October. By early July 2011, rains had already transformed northeastern Bangladesh.

Floods and heavy downpour in West Bengal in June 2011 - A rapid assessment report by Oxfam and Save The Children
Severe incessant rain led to a flood situation in several parts of West Bengal affecting 6,71,952 people across 9 districts. This resulted in 2,00,000 homeless in East & West Midnapore districts of West Bengal. This article presents an assessment report by Oxfam and Save The Children
OXFAM
Posted on 12 Jul, 2011 02:23 PM

Article courtesy: Corporate Disaster Resource Network

Assessment team:

Oxfam India – Mr. Pradeep Bharwad (Technical Assistance), Mr. Bhaswar Banerjee, Mr. Amit Sengupta
Save the Children - Mr. Abinash Lahkar, Mr. Piyush Kumar
Kajla Jana Kalyan Samity - Tapas Jana and Dipak Banerjee
Areas assessed: Moyna & Panskura Block of East Midnapore District of West Bengal

Assessment date: 24th June, 2011

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