Political

Water and sanitation sector needs a budget push
Better regulation and transparency is needed in the WASH sector to ensure that India meets its Swachh Bharat Mission targets, as well as the Sustainable Development Goals. Posted on 30 Jan, 2016 12:56 PM

While the WatSan sector has been prioritised in the country’s policy agenda through the launch of the Swachh Bharat Mission, last year’s budgetary outlay was way below desired levels.

Handwashing at a Karnataka school
The paradox of poor sanitation in India
Scholars of development are puzzled that other regions where people are poorer, literacy rates lower, and drinking water more scarce, are better off that India when it comes to open defecation. Posted on 28 Jan, 2016 09:17 PM

Despite India's rapid economic growth in recent decades, open defecation rates continue to be very high. This presents a unique puzzle for scholars of development because other regions where people are poorer, literacy rates lower, and drinking water more scarce, are better off that India when it comes to open defecation.

The open defecation puzzle in India (Source: Sourabh Phadke)
Pumping up hopes the solar way
What will it take for the Haryana government to switch 7 lakh groundwater pumps to solar powered options so it can lower its energy footprint and contain losses in the energy sector? Posted on 28 Jan, 2016 03:29 PM

Haryana's agriculture sector uses seven lakh tubewells, most of which are connected to the grid as the state has a policy of providing highly subsidised electricity to farmers costing Rs. 6200 crore a year. As a result, groundwater exploitation is rampant.

Better incentives needs to be provided to farmers to use solar pumps for tubewells in Haryana
Government sets ambitious targets for MGNREGS
Policy matters this week Posted on 26 Jan, 2016 02:09 PM

Aiming for an outcome-oriented programme, Government sets ambitious targets for MGNREGS

Labourers building check dams under MGNREGS (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
UP Coca Cola plant in trouble again
News this week Posted on 26 Jan, 2016 02:03 PM

CPCB finds Coca Cola plant in Hapur pumping toxic water into a pond

Coca Cola bottling plant (Source: S. Subramanium via Hindu)
Alarm bells ring for Delhi’s groundwater
The city's old wells and baodis are running dry, and the Yamuna is getting more polluted by the day. Where is Delhi's water going to come from when groundwater levels are also dropping? Posted on 25 Jan, 2016 01:19 PM

Delhi, home to 16.75 million people, is in the grip of a major water crisis. Statistics by the Delhi Jal Board for the year 2011 suggest that the water deficit stands at about 250 million gallons per day with the supply being 830 million gallons per day.

Residents say they are forced to flout the groundwater extraction norms with illegal groundwater pumps in Narela in North-west Delhi due to insufficient and poor quality of water supplied.
Applications invited for SuSanA - ISC Coordinator
The India Sanitation Coalition (ISC) together with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für international Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), are looking for a SuSanA India chapter coordinator.
Posted on 20 Jan, 2016 03:20 PM

Background:

Can recurring droughts in Maharashtra be offset by participatory groundwater management (PGWM)?
Three different methods using PGWM that resulted in better water management demonstrate that hydrogeology can become a catalyst for villages to come together to plan and achieve water security. Posted on 20 Jan, 2016 09:02 AM

Maharashtra is the fourth state following Karnataka, Chattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh to seek out relief from the Union government thanks to more than 15,000 of its villages across Marathwada and parts of Western Maharashtra reeling under drought in 2015 [1].

The role of PGWM to deal with droughts in Maharashtra (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Press release: National Sustainable Water & Sanitation Summit 2016
The focus of the summit was to create awareness about the existing water & sanitation issues in India, Governments’ future plan for Swachh Bharat Mission, national reforms on water & sanitation. Posted on 20 Jan, 2016 12:52 AM

Day 1:

National Summit on Sustainable Water & Sanitation
Development Management Programme on ''Fresh Water Resources Conservation with a special focus on Supply and Demand management in Southern Peninsular India”
The Water Knowledge Centre at Tata-Dhan Academy is organising the Development Management Programme (DMP) on fresh water resources conservation in Hyderabad
Posted on 19 Jan, 2016 08:05 PM

Objectives of the DMP: 

  1. The DMP builds the knowledge of the participants on surface water bodies conservation and managemetn by various stakeholders. 
  2. It widens the participants perspectives on blue and green water concept and management of the same. 

For registration, contact: 

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