Karnataka

Comics for entertainment, mythology, science, values etc. are common, However comics for a cause is something that was unheard until now. On 14 August,  a Bangalore based NGO CDL along with WaterAid India launched their comics for a cause called the WaSH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) series.

As they say a picture is worth a thousand words, some one also said a comic is worth a thousand pictures. Cartoons have proved to be the best method to penetrate into young minds and make them realize even complex problems, often these young minds revert back with never thought before solutions. This was the ideology behind the WaSH series. WaSH is something that has been created for the young minds and have come out of similar young minds. Yes, WaSH characters and stories are ideas of children from rural and urban poor areas.

The paper by the Institute for Social and Economic Change documents the case of Ward No. 39 situated at the outskirts of the Bangalore city to understand the emerging groundwater crisis due to overdraft in urban areas. Bangalore has no perennial river, which resulted in the growth of many lakes, acting as a source of groundwater recharge earlier.

This paper by the Institute of Social and Economic Change (ISEC) examines the extent of groundwater dependency and quality status in four South Indian cities viz., Hubli, Dharwad, Belgaum and Kolar cities. Widespread water shortage problems have resulted in increased dependency on groundwater with tapping the resources to unsustainable levels. In Karnataka, out of 208 urban local bodies that come under Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board, 41 depend on groundwater.

This study by the National Institute of Hydrology deals with simulation of soil moisture movement and determination of groundwater recharge from rainfall in Barchi watershed in the hard rock region of Karnataka using the numerical model, Soil Water Infiltration and Movement (SWIM).

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Organizer: North East Centre for Environmental Education and Research, Imphal

Venue: Jaaga, Rhenius Street, Office Richmond Road, Opposite the Hockey Association Stadium main gate, Shanthinagar, Bangalore

Description:

The campaign is two year long awareness programme initiated by NECEER, Imphal for the conservation of Loktak Lake. More than 600 volunteers, 32 city Coordinators, Publicity Coordinator and 1 Worldwide Coordinator are involved in organizing this campaign. The campaign is to create awareness about the conservation of Loktak Lake, the largest fr...esh water lake in Northeast India. The lake was recognised as Ramsar site in 1990. Keibul Lamjao, the only floating national park in the world is situated at the south west part of the lake. It is home to the endangered Manipur brow antlered deer ‘Sangai’ - Cervus eldi eldi and many endangered species.

The field research study conducted by Carewater INREM Foundation attempts to establish the impacts of groundwater contamination with fluoride and arsenic in India. It maps the affliction severity, the medical cost and wage loss through a multi-location study in some villages in the States of Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and West Bengal.

The discussion paper by Carewater INREM Foundation on possibility of revival of dug wells in hard rock India through recharge is based on a field study across ten districts of the country. The study seeks to understand how localized governance of groundwater in hard rock areas is to be pursued through pricing (water, energy), legal regulation and community institutions. Water supply augmentation and demand management are both to be taken care of, directly through regulation or through indirect instruments such as pricing.

The workshop was organised in response to the implementation of two water supply projects in Bangalore and Mysore as a part of the Water Sector Reforms under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and the increasing trend of privatisation under the water sector reforms in cities like Bangalore and Mysore.

It was felt that there was a need to raise awareness among citizens and groups in Bangalore and Mysore regarding the implications of privatisation and the mechanisms through which privatisation was being introduced in the cities in India.