Gujarat

Not only money, villagers need knowledge too!
Surekha Sule

"We have been drinking brackish water not knowing that it is not water but poison that we have been consuming all these years till Utthan's PLC visited us and made us aware of our drinking water problem. Till then we took it in our stride all the water related problems – our children fell sick, most of us suffered from joint pain (due to high fluoride content in water)"
- Bhagwanbhai from village Boda (Bhavnagar district)

Sujala Scheme: The Byyraju Foundation's manual for setting up a locally managed, rural drinking water plant. The Foundation's drinking water initiative covers 154 villages across five districts of Andhra Pradesh via 31 village-level treatment plants.
Read More (Size: 2.1 MB)
Byrraju Foundation website

This set of maps, give a picture of the groundwater situation in Abdasa taluka of Kutch District, Gujarat

This paper presented at the International Symposium on Artificial Recharge (ISAR-4) Adelaide, Australia describes the attempts made by VIKSAT at experimentation with artificial recharge technique in a peri-urban area called Sargasan in Gandhinagar taluka, Gujarat.

Ground water as a dependable source and its increasing extraction for various uses in India is reflected in the drastic lowering of water levels leading to “local” draw downs. The efficacy of surface water bodies such as tanks, lakes and canals as a means of natural recharge to the ground water has drastically reduced simply because the local water levels are too deep. The need of the hour therefore is for artificial recharge systems that convey the fresh rainwater to the “aquifer”.

This paper by VIKSAT presented at the Regional Workshop on Sustainable Livelihoods and Drought Management in South Asia: Issues, Alternatives and Futures at Islamabad, Pakistan from October 27-30, 2002 gives a detailed account of the approach adopted by VIKSAT in drought in Gujarat. This case study attempted to provide a set of guidelines that would be useful not only for implementationn during drought relief activities alone, but also towards drought proofing. The study found that working with people’s institutions both at village and at a regional/taluka level goes a long way in planning, implementation and tackling drought on a long term.

The document informs that traditionally Indians worshipped both water and rain as “Jala” and “Varuna”. Even rivers were worshipped. Till 3000 B.C., RWH happened without human effort as rain got collected in rivers and natural depressions. Civilizations flourished on river banks all over the world Indus valley civilization in India.

Image & Content Courtesy: Confederation of Indian Industries.

CII Gujarat is organizing Seminar on “Emerging Green Business Opportunities" on 27 August 2009 at Hotel Pride, Ahmedabad, With the objective of advancement in development, commercialization and global adoption of clean technologies and sustainable industry practices.

CEOs, Senior and Middle level Managers, Department Heads, Environment Specialists, Consultants, Maintenance Engineers, Operation/Production Managers, Architects, Civil & Structural Engineers, Institutes involved in designing and constructions, Students / Academia are all invited to attend this seminar.

Registration fee: CII Member:Rs 1,650.00 Non- Member:Rs 2,250.00 Students: Rs 1,100.00

For Asia, this map indicates the probability of occurrence of excessive concentrations of fluoride in groundwater, on a scale of high-medium-low.

The map shows that Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat are high salinity zones, and Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal are moderate salinity zones.

Click here to view the map - IRFC