India

The theme for the Conclave this year is “Water Use Efficiency: An Imperative for India” to highlight the imperative of water use efficiency in the industry, agriculture and urban contexts. 

Chennai, which, of late has been experiencing urban flooding often, is all set to get a comprehensive flood warning system being developed by several national agencies and institutions.

Disaster management authorities are all set to get a new tool to handle tsunamis. They will be able to know how far the waves will move into the land at different places along the Indian coast.

In December of 2015, when Chennai was flooded and people were marooned, a team of scientists from Anna University was collecting groundwater samples along the Adyar river to investigate if the groundwater in this region was fit for human consumption. 

“Earlier, I'd wait till sunset to answer nature's call. In the morning, I'd wait for others to return from the fields so I could go. Quite often, I had to miss school for this very reason. And I'm grown up now; so having a toilet in the house has become a must," says class IX student Jyoti Gaud, a resident of Tiktha Mussallepur village in Jagatpur.

Pearl farmer Sanjay Gandate (33) was waiting for my arrival at his house in Pardi Kupi in the Naxal-affected Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra. I had missed my early morning bus to Pardi Kupi and took an autorickshaw instead to reach the village. Sanjay greeted me and took me to Wainganga river.

About the Organisation: 

Norms relaxed to allow thermal power plants to use more water

Elephants enjoy a special place in India. They play a significant role not only in the Indian ecological system but also in its cultural and religious landscape. 

In India, most families depend on borewell or well water. Most cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, etc get well or borewell water for drinking. Borewell water is usually safe to drink but it is not 100 percent pure because of its hardness and contamination level.