Political

One in every two individuals will be living in water-stressed regions by 2050: Report
News this week Posted on 23 Mar, 2020 12:27 PM

World Water Development Report 2020: Tropical countries to be worst hit by water stress

Banks of the Ramganga river (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
A national action plan to ensure sustainable and responsible business on the anvil
Policy matters this week Posted on 23 Mar, 2020 12:19 PM

Centre to finalise National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights

An industrial area in Chhattisgarh (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Virtual water and water footprint
How much water do we consume directly and indirectly? Posted on 22 Mar, 2020 10:32 PM

Climate change and water scarcity in India

Food wastage also implies wastage of water (Image Source: WOTR)
In deep water
Will the World Bank honor its commitments to the poor in an Indian water project? Posted on 22 Mar, 2020 08:05 PM

In the wake of a scandal revealing that the World Bank may have suppressed knowledge of money for the poor being siphoned off by elites, all eyes are on the Bank to see whether its commitments to the poor hold water.

A water scheme violates Adivasi rights, threatens community water access and sacred spaces (Image: Anirudha Nagar, Accountability Counsel)
Water, the first line of defence against climate change
A report by WaterAid calls for a tenfold increase in current levels of climate finance that goes to WASH services. Posted on 22 Mar, 2020 09:50 AM

Water insufficiency is a challenging problem globally with 1 in 10 people lacking a basic water pump or covered well close to home.

Shantilata uses a cloth to filter out the high iron content in the salty water, filled from a hand pump, in the village Sitapur on the outskirts of Bhadrak, Bhuvaneshwar, Odisha (Image: WaterAid/ Anindito Mukherjee)
Remembering Mahad Satyagraha: Untouchability and water
Connection to basic infrastructure and access to essential services such as water are often used as a tool for social discrimination and exercise of power. Posted on 21 Mar, 2020 10:28 PM

The worst and most inhumane form of discrimination and untouchability is seen when it comes to water. Even today, many villages have a different source of water allotted for Dalits. Many a times, upper caste men and women forbid Dalit women from touching the public source of water fearing the source will be “polluted".

Can the simple act of drinking water be revolutionary? (Illustration by Chetan Toliya)
Clean water, a crucial weapon to combat COVID -19
The recent COVID -19 pandemic highlights the important role that access to clean water can play in dealing with such diseases in the future. Posted on 21 Mar, 2020 04:32 PM

This month has been seeing a different kind of a scare world over, that of the deadly corona virus pandemic that has been spreading rapidly, infecting people and leading to a rising number of deaths in numerous countries.

Is our tap water really safe? (Image Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Tap water to all
What can be learnt from past experiences on scaling up coverage of piped water supply? Posted on 20 Mar, 2020 01:47 PM

Efforts are underway by both state and central governments to improve access to safe and adequate drinking water to people, and nationally, as on 31 December 2018, 79% of rural habitations had been covered at 40 litres per capita per day (lpcd) but only 47% at 55 lpcd.

Child drinks water from a tap (Image: Imal Hashemi/Taimani Films/World Bank, Flickr Commons, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Outreach of current disaster-related apps in India poor
Technology and crowdsourced data need to play a greater role in disaster management in India. Posted on 17 Mar, 2020 11:17 AM

With the rise in frequency and intensity of unexpected disasters, the need for effective communication technologies such as the use of social and mobile tools seems to be growing for responding to disaster situations in emergency, rescue and relief efforts.

Floods in Uttarakhand in 2013 severely damaged hundreds of villages across Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Tehri regions (Image: Oxfam International, Flickr Commons, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Poisonous encounters: Nitrates in drinking water
A study finds that long term exposure to high levels of nitrates in drinking water can lead to health effects such as shorter height or stunting. Posted on 16 Mar, 2020 10:07 AM

Nitrogen pollution of water can lead to severe consequences not only for the environment, but also to human health. Current evidence shows that nitrogen pollution of water is on the rise not only in developing, but also in developed countries.

Polluted drinking water, a grave health hazard (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
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