Political

Haryana gets toilets, now to focus on usage
Ranked fourth in toilet coverage, the state starts stressing on behaviour change through incentives. Posted on 30 Jul, 2016 11:43 AM

Ramkaran Sharma built a new house three years back. From one room and kitchen on a terrace, his family graduated to three rooms, a bigger kitchen and a separate toilet and bathroom. Still, Ramkaran prefers to go out in the fields to relieve himself. “I like to take a long walk.

A toilet constructed is no guarantee that it will be put to use.
Manipulating water bodies: A recipe for disaster
The flagship scheme of Maharashtra’s water conservation department, Jalyukt Shivar, is worrying for its myopic vision and faulty implementation, say experts Posted on 26 Jul, 2016 04:22 PM

Deepening work in progress on the Manjara river in Latur (Source: Ravindra Pomane)
Towards mission, clean Ganga
River Ganga remains polluted in spite of numerous attempts by various governments to clean it up. Where are we going wrong? Posted on 25 Jul, 2016 08:50 AM

It is common knowledge that the river Ganga, considered sacred by millions of Hindus, is polluted.  It is so polluted that some stretches of the river are unfit even for bathing, particularly during the lean seasons.

Varanasi 'ghats' on the bank of Ganga river (Source: Wikipedia)
Groundwater revival comes a cropper
An NGO’s effort to recharge the groundwater in an area finds little success with water-guzzling crops that rule the market. Posted on 24 Jul, 2016 09:05 PM

Water crisis is a reality in most of India. After the summer of droughts come the monsoon floods. Take Maharashtra, for instance. If at one time it is desperately searching for drinking water, at another time, its capital, Mumbai is wading through knee-high water. How do we overcome these annual crises?

A villager shows the rainwater harvesting structure in Aravalli hills.
NGT questions UP on potable water to villages
Policy matters this week Posted on 24 Jul, 2016 03:30 PM

Provide potable water to villages: NGT asks UP government 

Polluted Hindon river (Source: Hindi Water Portal)
Kerala's lake islands sinking
News this week Posted on 24 Jul, 2016 03:17 PM

Small islands in southern Kerala lakes sinking

A lake in Kerala (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Rice and shine
How paddy grew in popularity in Punjab and continues to steal the show, thanks to lack of alternatives for farmers. Posted on 22 Jul, 2016 10:08 PM

Take the roads of Punjab during the monsoon and you will find most fields turned into pools of water. It’s mainly the water pulled out from the underground vault to support the kharif crop of paddy.

Whatever be the water situation, it doesn’t look like paddy’s popularity as a crop is going to diminish anytime soon. Source: Akshay Mahajan/Flickr
Effect of environmental policies on reducing water pollution
A study finds the actions undertaken in the 1987 ruling in Mehta vs Union of India resulted in reduced pollution levels and infant mortality. Posted on 22 Jul, 2016 10:07 PM

There is a severe crisis plaguing the rivers in India.

Sunset at Garmukteshwar on the river Ganga (Source: India Water Portal)
App way to track toilet demand
The mDemand mobile application pilot seeks to make tracking sanitation needs in rural India easy for the government. It is expected to take us a step closer to Swachh Bharat. Posted on 22 Jul, 2016 09:22 PM

As part of its efforts to promote rural sanitation, the government, under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), promises a subsidy of Rs 12,000 for the construction of individual household toilets. Households that fall in the below poverty line (BPL) category and select households such as those belonging to SCs/STs and the ones headed by women can avail of this subsidy amount.

Snapshot of the mobile app's dashboard
Rapar ends its long wait for water
How an arid, saline land where migration in search of water and jobs was a way of life, boasts of plenty of water now. Posted on 20 Jul, 2016 09:26 AM

Summer temperatures soar to a gruelling 50ocelsius in Rapar, a little known block in Gujarat’s Kutch district. Land here is dry, saline and arid; the monsoon is erratic. Many a times, the entire year’s rain falls in a short span of two or three days, doing more harm than good.

Rapar has many water structures now. (Source: Samerth Trust)
×