Political

Towards data-driven district rural drinking water planning framework
Current rural water planning approach in India lacks important data considerations. Data is not mapped and prioritization is not transparent. Posted on 26 Sep, 2020 08:28 PM

Only about 29% of the 189 million rural households, in India, have potable water supply through household tap connections (Jal Jeevan Mission, September 2020).

A new planning framework focused on democratizing village water data collection is needed (Image: Snappy Goat from Pixabay)
Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan a low impact, high expenditure scheme: CAG
Policy matters this week Posted on 23 Sep, 2020 01:29 PM

Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan had a low impact in making Maharashtra drought free: CAG

Deepening work in progress under the Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan (Source: Ravindra Pomane)
Overexploitation of groundwater highest in Punjab: Government
News this week Posted on 23 Sep, 2020 01:23 PM

Punjab no.1 in overexploitation of groundwater 

Overexploitation of groundwater highest in Punjab (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Who is the thirstiest of them all?
A study evaluating the water use efficiency of sugarcane, curry banana and paddy among borewell irrigating farmers finds paddy to be the most inefficient and thirstiest of the three. Posted on 23 Sep, 2020 12:34 PM

Agriculture uses as high as 85 percent of the available water in India of which the irrigated area accounts for nearly 48.8 percent of the 140 million hectare (mha) of agricultural land, while the remaining 51.2 percent is rainfed.

Paddy, a thirsty crop (Image Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Gendered impacts of COVID-19
The pandemic affects rural women disproportionately with damaging impacts on their employment, health and security. Posted on 20 Sep, 2020 09:15 PM

COVID-19 has unleashed one of the greatest human tragedies of the contemporary era demonstrating our fragility and has laid bare severe and systemic inequalities at all levels. It provides several lessons in the conduct of all aspects of human personality, professional, societal, and institutional lives globally.

The time-use survey indicates that women are now spending more time on unpaid domestic and care work (Image: Sunita, Pixabay)
MNREGA helps a village in Bihar become flood proof
United action of locals, wisdom of the village head and MNREGA help to deal with waterlogging in a village in Bihar. Posted on 20 Sep, 2020 07:08 AM

Harpur Bochha is a village in Vidyapatinagar block of Samastipur district of Bihar. The village, which has a population of about 11.5 thousand people and  2349 houses, remained inundated with rain and floodwater throughout the year followed by waterlogging.

MNREGA comes to the rescue of Harpur Bochha (Source: Umesh Kumar Ray)
Decision Support Space: A concept
Are we wired to make bad decisions and how can a Decision Support Space (DSSpace) facilitate better decision-making about water systems in India? Posted on 19 Sep, 2020 05:47 PM

Friedrich Nietzsche famously wrote that he who has a ‘why’ to live can bear almost any ‘how'. A strong reason, motivation (why) and curiosity lead to actions that pave the path (how) to achieve any desired goal.

Decision-making on water is a multifaceted and cognitively overwhelming process (Image: Lolame, Pixabay)
Farm ponds need pondering
While farm ponds have often been depicted as magic wands to deal with water scarcity, experiences in Maharashtra show otherwise. Posted on 18 Sep, 2020 09:31 AM

Agriculture and inefficient water use in India

Farm ponds, often touted as magic wands to tackle water scarcity, have raised a number of concerns (Image Source: Ninad Sargar)
Improving city-wide sanitation service delivery in small towns of Odisha
Project Nirmal demonstrates appropriate, low-cost, decentralized, inclusive and sustainable sanitation service delivery solutions for two small towns (Angul and Dhenkanal) in Odisha. Posted on 16 Sep, 2020 06:32 PM

Tucked away in the slums of Dhenkanal, a small community offers a glimpse of how sanitation solutions have changed hundreds of lives for the better. Till recently, post rains in the absence of proper drainage, the clogged lanes were causing a lot of inconvenience to the residents of Parhatiya Sahi slum.

Community meetings in the slums of Dhenkanal under Project Nirmal (Image: SCI-FI, CPR)
Webinar on 'Ecological disruptions in Kosi Basin: Political economy and community perspective'
An experience and knowledge sharing webinar on 'Ecological disruptions in Kosi Basin: Political economy and community perspective'
Posted on 15 Sep, 2020 10:55 AM

18th September 2020 11am – 1pm

Australia Aid, The Asia Foundation, GEAG

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