India

In partnership with the Columbia Water Center, researchers from Punjab Agricultural University have initiated a multi-year project to implement and field-test diverse water-saving technologies, practices and policies aimed at reducing agricultural water use in the state of Punjab, particularly among rice farmers. In last year’s trial, the most successful project involved the installation of inexpensive tensiometers in the fields of over 500 farmers, yielding water savings of 30-35 percent.

Concurrently with the tensiometer trials, the team also recruited a smaller number of farmers to adopt a different way of cultivating rice altogether: Direct seeding of rice.

In traditional rice cultivation, rice is sprouted in a nursery; sprouted seedlings are then transplanted into standing water. With direct seeding, rice seed is sown and sprouted directly into the field, eliminating the laborious process of planting seedlings by hand and greatly reducing the crop’s water requirements.

Conventional rice production requires standing water

In recent years, scientists have detected very high levels of aerosol pollution in the air over India. Some of it is the result of industrial and agricultural activity, and some of it is nature at work.

Sanitation/Wastewater

• India tops the list of nations lacking toilets
• India hunts for a Rural Toilet Design, 1000 Euros up for grabs
• 82% of rural India deprived of three basic necessities of life — tapped drinking water, electricity connection and sanitation
• There are 700 million cell phone connections in India, but only half this number of Indians have access to private toilets, says a UN study

This country-level report on the assessment of drinking water supply and sanitation in India is the result of a collaborative exercise between the Planning Commission of India, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the

Article and Image Courtesy: Water supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council

We are pleased to announce the new and improved, your entry point into the online world of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council.

Water Governance in Motion: Towards Socially and Environmentally Sustainable Water Laws focuses on the work undertaken by International Environmental Law Research Centre IELRC on water law reforms in India. It seeks to provide a broader understanding of the conceptual framework informing existing water law and ongoing reforms.

Climate Change

• India to release climate change report on Tuesday

 Environment

• India proposes a new emission check system
• Call for declaring soil as national resource: Soil Conservation Society of India

Dr. Brij Gopal, Vice President, National Institute of Ecology and former Member, Working Group on Minimum Flows, constituted by the Water Quality Assessment Authority, talks to Parineeta Dandekar, India Water Portal about the urgent need of freshwater flows in Indian rivers, and the legal and institutional set ups required to ensure this.

Content and Image Courtesy: World Water Council

The World Water Council is an international organisation that promotes sustainable water management throughout the world. It has more than 400 member organisations including governments, non-governmental organisations, businesses, professional networks and research institutions, based in over 50 countries. The World Water Council brings sound information and knowledge on water-related issues into the public domain to raise awareness and create political will to improve access to water and sanitation and manage water wisely. Every three years, the World Water Council organizes the World Water Forum with over 20,000 participants from around the world.

Article Courtesy: Earth Observatory

Image Courtesy: NASA

Cyclone Jal brought heavy rains to the Bay of Bengal and the southeastern coast of India in early November 2010. This color-coded map shows total rainfall over the region from November 1–7. The heaviest rainfall—more than 600 millimeters or nearly 24 inches—appears in dark blue. The lightest rainfall—less than 75 millimeters or 3 inches—appears in light green. Superimposed on the map is the storm track, with darker shades of orange corresponding with greater storm intensity.

A band of heavy rainfall ran parallel to the November 5–7 storm track. Especially heavy rain occurred south and west of where Jal made landfall on India’s southeastern coast. The Press Trust of India attributed 11 deaths in Andhra Pradesh state to heavy rains from Jal.