Political

Scientists intervene to save dry toilets
Dry toilets have long been hailed as a sustainable solution to the sanitation and waste management crisis facing India today, but have been overshadowed by more modern toilet designs. Posted on 11 Dec, 2019 11:16 AM

New Delhi, December 10 (India Science Wire): Even as efforts are underway to replace dry latrines with modern septic toilets, a group of scientists at Council of Scientific and Industrial Research’s Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (CSIR-IHBT) have worked to save one type of traditional dry toilet. 

A traditional dry toilet. Image: India Science Wire
India’s tryst with climate change
Dr. Aradhana Yaduvanshi, a hydro meteorologist at WOTR, talks to us about what current research on global warming shows, and possible adaptation and coping mechanisms. Posted on 06 Dec, 2019 04:23 PM

Global warming has given rise to unprecedented extreme events such as cyclones, floods, heatwaves and droughts in India. Why are these threats increasing?

Flooding in Mumbai during the monsoons (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Holistic approach needed to clean the Ganga
A report by the India Rivers Forum highlights the need to focus further than the main stem of the Ganga river. Posted on 06 Dec, 2019 10:39 AM

The National Mission for Cleaning Ganga was set up in 2014 and the Namami Gange programme was launched the year after, with a budget outlay of Rs. 20,000 crore. The implementation of the flagship programme was followed by the framing of a draft National River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Bill, 2019 to be introduced in the winter session of Parliament.

Distant snow clad mountains, the smaller hills and the Ganga river (Image: Srimoyee Banerjee, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)
In wake of climate change, prioritise and invest in water security and clean drinking water
To adapt well & build resilience, climate change strategies need to factor in efforts towards water security, writes Vanita Suneja, Regional Advocacy Manager (South Asia), WaterAid. Posted on 04 Dec, 2019 05:33 PM

While climate activists and world leaders were gathering in Paris in the first week of December 2015 to discuss the impact of climate change, the metropolis Chennai in the southern corner of India was inundated with floods.

Image credit: WaterAid/Prashanth Vishwanathan
Looking back into history to understand droughts
The 2015­-2018 drought, the longest, but less severe of droughts experienced by India raises alarm on the negative effects of future droughts on water security in the country. Posted on 04 Dec, 2019 02:53 PM

Droughts in India: types, causes and effects

Droughts are greatly feared in India, impacting food production, the economy and the livelihoods of millions of farmers. 60% of India’s population is engaged in agriculture.

India will see more droughts in the future. (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Water stewardship approach to minimizing risks for businesses
Water stewardship is an approach predicated on the concept that water is a shared resource and so water risks are also shared risks that everyone in a catchment will face Posted on 02 Dec, 2019 03:53 PM

Water, its use, availability, and impact on people has been on the public policy debate centerstage for the past several years. In India, a growing water crisis driven by climate change, inefficiency, and water pollution is slowly moving to a near-permanent state that will harm the country’s people, economy and environment.  

Picture credit: Romit Sen
Wind energy development and policy in India
A study highlights the barriers to harnessing India's potential for wind energy. Posted on 02 Dec, 2019 12:55 PM

Wind energy is a renewable, inexhaustible, non-polluting and popular alternative source of clean energy. India stands fourth in the world in wind energy conversion and utilization, with an installed capacity of about 34,605?MW as of September 2018.

Windmills in Karnataka, India. Picture credit: India Water Portal
CGWB signs MoU for participatory groundwater management
Policy matters this week Posted on 27 Nov, 2019 12:06 PM

MoU signed for groundwater management through community intervention

An irrigation well at Randullabad, Maharashtra (Source: India Water Portal on Flickr)
40 percent of rural households in India lack access to drinking water
News this week Posted on 27 Nov, 2019 04:37 AM

NSS finds only 58.2 percent of rural households have drinking water facilities within premises

Women in Bametara district of Chattisgarh line up to collect water. Photo credit: Makarand Purohit for India Water Portal
Shoddy impact assessments, mining and ruin in Goa
A study finds that weak environmental assessment reporting on the adverse impacts of mining has spelled doom for Goa’s environment. Posted on 22 Nov, 2019 03:40 PM

Development and its impact on the environment has long been a contentious issue in India, where lack of adequate monitoring and control mechanisms have led to severe degradation of land, water and forest resources. Mining activities in Goa have not only poisoned its land and water, but also affected livelihoods by negatively impacting agriculture, fisheries and forests.

A mining site in India (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
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