Political

Pest fest on paddy fields
Paddy in Assam saw severe pest attack this year causing large-scale crop damage. Coming soon after repeated floods, this has resulted in huge economic loss to the farmers and the exchequer. Posted on 02 Nov, 2016 12:01 PM

It is that time of the year when the empty granaries wait for the maturing paddy to fill them. Kati Bihu or Kongali Bihu (Kongal means poor while Kati is the Assamese seventh month where farmers await their harvest) is the most placid of the three Bihus (Assamese agriculture festival) celebrated without much pomp or splendour.

Rice occupies 95 percent of the total food grain production in Assam. The state has about 2.5 million hectares area under rice cultivation with the crop occupying about two-third of the total cropped area in the state.
Photo Competition: Integrity in wastewater management
How does corruption and malpractice affect water and wastewater management? What does integrity in wastewater management mean? How can we visualize it?
Posted on 01 Nov, 2016 04:42 PM

Share your vision for the Water Integrity Network's (WIN) annual photo competition!

Yettinahole project clearance hits a roadblock
Policy matters this week Posted on 31 Oct, 2016 10:46 PM

Forest clearance to Yettinahole project gets challenged

River Nethravathi (Source: Parineeta Dandekar via SANDRP)
Rajasthan gets chilled water kiosk
News this week Posted on 31 Oct, 2016 10:09 PM

Country's first mobile chilled water kiosk in Rajasthan

Mobile water kiosk.
Get your facts right, get them to act right
Compliance with environmental laws has been a matter between the company and the government. It is changing with a group of people urging communities to participate in the process. Posted on 31 Oct, 2016 05:37 PM

Hasdeo Arand illustrates all that is wrong with the coal mining industry today. This ancient and dense forest in Chattisgarh, inhabited by several tribes, was once famous for being an elephant corridor. Since 2013, the area has worn a different face.

People attend public hearing late into the night at New Anaya, Arunachal Pradesh.
Those invisible farm hands
Farm women are often overworked and have several health issues. With no claim on their land or decision-making power, this gender-based discrimination needs redressal at the policy level. Posted on 28 Oct, 2016 09:43 PM

Parvati, aged 40, is an agricultural labourer working on the outskirts of Pune. The sole breadwinner of her family, she has not been going for work for three days because of severe pain in the lower back. She asks me for some pills or ointments that could relieve her of her backache.

Women at work on a farm. (Source: India Water Portal)
40th WEDC International Conference, UK
Water, Engineering and Development Centre (WEDC) calls for paper and other contributions for its 40th WEDC International Conference.
Posted on 28 Oct, 2016 04:01 PM

Title: Local Action with international cooperation to improve and sustain water, sanitation & hygiene (WASH) services

When: 24th – 28th July 2017

Where: Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK

Smoking is injurious for oceans
Not many smokers realise that their discarded cigarette butts are not just a litter problem. It is a huge toxic waste for the environment, especially the water bodies. Posted on 25 Oct, 2016 07:04 PM

Senthil takes a long puff of the cigarette before flicking it on the road nonchalantly. “I started smoking on the sly when I was in school,” he reminisces. “Sixty years later, I still do the same, only more smokes per day.”

Discarded cigarette butts on a beach. (Source:Wikimedia Commons)
Doing good, well
The inspiring story of Gazala Paul, founder of Samerth, a non profit organisation that works towards accelerating a humane, sustainable and equitable society. Posted on 25 Oct, 2016 03:10 PM

Gazala Paul spent her 50th birthday among the Baiga people of Chhattisgarh. On the eve of her 25th wedding anniversary, she was in Rapar, a block near the Little Rann of Kutch, in a celebratory mood. The MLA of the region had come to a meeting organised with villagers from his constituency and promised to deliver them safe water based on sound scientific principles.

Gazala Paul, founder of Samerth with a Baiga tribal woman - at Machamoha village, Mungeli district
When neighbours fight for water
As conflict over sharing of river Brahmaputra threatens to raise its ugly head again, cooperation, not competition between China, India and Bangladesh alone can solve the issue Posted on 25 Oct, 2016 02:12 PM

With recent reports of China blocking a tributary of the Brahmaputra in Tibet to construct its most expensive hydro project, the Assam government has been worried.

The river Brahmaputra (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
×