Political

Photograph of flooding due to breach in Bagmati's embankment, taken by NGO: Ghoghardiha Prakhand Swarajya Vikas Sangh, Madhubani"

Image and Content Courtesy: United Nations

On behalf of the Organizing and Scientific Committee,the United Nations is pleased to invite you to participate at the 3rd World Climate Conference (WCC-3 2009). The conference is scheduled from 31 August - 4 September 2009 at the International Conference Center London, United Kingdom. Conference Theme is: "Climate prediction and information for decision-making: focusing on scientific advances in seasonal to interannual timescales, taking into account multi-decadal prediction". The WCC-3 2009 steering Committee welcomes Scientists, climate service providers, High-level policy-makers, Global business leaders,Decision-makers from the public and private sectors, Green visionaries, Academia, IO's and NGO's, Professionals in relevant fields, Women and Youth Organizations, Development Groups, Governmental Agencies, Civil Society Organizations, Community Development Organizations, Donor Agencies and Individuals working in the related field to participate and submit papers and proposals for presentation at the interactive sessions and workshops. Papers should broadly explore the conference theme. The presentations may be completed research, research in-progress or case studies, especially those reflecting innovative Green building practice. Generally the presentations will consist of a panel of three or four presenters with similar topics. Each presenter will speak for ten minutes and after all presentations are completed the floor will be opened for questions and discussions.

Image and Content Courtesy: Forum for Policy Dialogue on Water Conflicts in India Guest Post by: K J Joy, Forum for Policy Dialogue on Water Conflicts in India The Forum for Policy Dialogue on Water Conflicts in India (Forum to be brief) is happy to invite you to the “The Mullaperiyar conflict: Meeting to understand issues and explore a common ground” to be held on 4th August 2009 between 4 to 8 pm at Constitutional Club, New Delhi. The Forum for Policy Dialogue on Water Conflicts in India is a collaborative effort of many organisations and individuals in the country working on water and especially on water conflicts. The Forum’s work is guided by a Steering Committee and Advisory Committee consisting of some of the important names in the water sector in the country. The Forum began its work in 2004-05 and in the initial couple of years the main focus was to understand different types of conflicts in the country and took up extensive documentation of conflicts across the country. The cases have now been published as a book by Routledge, “Water Conflicts in India: A Million Revolts in the Making”. Presently the Forum is engaged more in activities that can help in resolving conflicts or making them more tractable through scientific studies and dialogue amongst the conflicting parties. The Forum has also taken the initiative to set up two groups of experts to work on two important issues related to water conflicts in the country, namely, 1) water allocations for livelihood needs and ecosystem needs; and 2) the legal-institutional framework for conflict resolution. The Forum aims to take up these issues for wider discussion and debate so that certain degree of social consensus can be built around these two critical issues. Some of the Forum partners are also engaged in active conflict resolution in their respective states. The Forum does believe that with scientific inputs and a spirit of cooperation and dialogue amongst the conflicting parties most of the conflicts around water can be resolved. It is in this spirit that the Forum has taken the initiative to organize this meeting on the Mullaperiyar conflict.

This presentation deals with the water conservation efforts of Sterlite Industries India Ltd in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu. Apart from certain measures for reuse of process water, conversion to air cooling systems from water cooling ones and so on, what is interesting here is more the management structure for water conservation.

Image & Content Courtesy: Solution Exchange Solution Exchange for the Water Community in India is a group of professionals from a wide range of organizations and perspectives who are dedicated to addressing water and environmental sanitation challenges in rural and urban areas in India - including access, quality, management and service delivery. Regular Community Updates from the Solution Exchange for Water Community helps provide a consolidated outlook on the current water scenario coupled with updates regarding trainings, vacancies, funding agencies & much more! Water Community Update - No. 35 is the latest from Solution Exchange, some highlights from the same are: Upcoming Events include: Gender, Water and Equity Training Workshop, 18th World Congress of Environmental Journalists & much more. Upcoming Trainings: Application of Earth Observation - GIS in Integrated Water Resource Management, Water Leadership.

Forwarded to the Portal by: WES-Net India Desk Image & Content Courtesy: CSE

CSE needs programme coordinators/senior researchers. To research, write, advocate and coordinate activities for environmental change

The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), an established policy research institution based in New Delhi, is expanding its work on aspects of industrial pollution, domestic sewage, water management, green urbanization. We need colleagues with knowledge of environmental issues or pollution science or engineering or journalism combined with passion and commitment. Our teams are small but focused on the need to bring policy and practice change. So you will have to work in a collegiate environment and under pressure of deadlines.

The 21^stEuropean Conference on Modern South Asian Studies (ECMSAS) is scheduled for July 26-29 2010 at the University of Bonn (Germany). As part of the conference a Coordinated Session focusing on Human Health in Urban & Peri-Urban South Asia is being organized to highlight the examination of human health to provide a powerful lens into the social, economic, political, cultural and ecological transformations of rapidly urbanizing societies in South Asia. The coordinated session proposes two sessions. With the first session focused on urban health patterns and urban health systems in South Asia. The second session explores the relation of peri-urban dynamics and health. Shifting environmental burdens in the name of cleaning cities, changing land use practices, poor regulatory authorities, industrialization, market forces and demographic pressures have placed enormous stress on water resources in peri-urban societies of Asia. The Session is inviting papers reflecting the current situation, focused on identifying the linkage between several underlying conditions & their contribution to water transmitted diseases in peri-urban areas.

Forwarded to the Portal by: WinrockWater Yahoo Group Image and Content Courtesy: IWA Congress The IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition is a high-profile international event attracting thousands of water professionals and organizations from across the globe. It is a biennial event organised by the International Water Association and previously hosted by Vienna, Beijing, Marrakech, Melbourne, Berlin and Paris. Montreal will be hosting the upcoming session from the 19^th to 24^th of September 2010. The IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition, the Associations main biennial event, is a valuable and unique opportunity for the community of world-leading water professionals to meet, exchange ideas, explore the state of the art and debate the key issues underlying the science and practice of water. It is also where the entire water community congregates and in particular IWA specialist groups showcase their work and plan for future activities.

This article is about an experiment taken up by Sambhaav Trust with communities in Barmer (district of Rajasthan), which tells us about the development of the rural area and how to bring about self sustainability to rural society. Readers may kindly write in with their feedback in the comments or to portal@arghyam.org. Comments & emails will be forwarded to Sambhaav Trust by the India Water Portal.

Introduction

The word rural is synonymous with backwardness in the eyes of the upper urban community. A general impression that has been created is that people living in rural areas are economically poor, uneducated, do not have any sense of business, are not hardworking and hence they are much below those who live in urban areas who are monetarily rich. This perception is a biased one. We have never asked ourselves - what are the indicators that make a man backward or advanced? We have measured everything in terms of monetary advancement. In our experience there are a number of indicators one can associate with development like social, political, value system etc. It is therefore important that we check our perception before we talk of rural development. We are not debating on the urban-rural divide. However, from our experience in the rural field we believe that if we are interested in national development and not just sectoral development, then it is essential to assess the potentiality of the rural sector to move forward. Our contention is that this potentiality has not been probed into. On the contrary, a policy to downgrade this sector continues year after year. We have to broaden our perception if we truly want a just state.

The conference was held in Bangalore on 30th June 2009 at the ITC Windsor. With cities expanding, the need for drinking water is exponentially increasing. The municipal systems are stressed to breaking limits and more and more people are turning to bottled water. And this is the case not only in urban but in rural areas as well. Today, the bottled water industry is at 1000 crores and is visualised to expand more! In this context the Confederation of Indian Industries organised a seminar on the Packaged Water Industry on 30th June, 2009 to discuss the scope of the market, the standards of quality and the methods of disposing the waste produced due to the industry. The source for most of the drinking water in our country remains ground water. This contributes to 80% of drinking water in rural areas and 50% in urban areas. However, claimed Mr. T.M. Hunse, Regional Director of the Central Ground Water Board, the excessive usage of Groundwater is the direct cause of dry wells and the depleting levels of groundwater in the country. However, the need for bottled water cannot be denied. Despite conflicts between communities and bottled water plants, many of the country’s poor are at the mercy of the municipal supplies which are erratic and unreliable, he said. Bottled water provides an alternative way to access clean and healthy water. At the same time, it absolves the government of its duty and ends up leaving farmers high and dry. He placed full responsibility on the bottled water plants to ensure people safe water (especially when the groundwater is polluted) and work towards conscientiously using the existing groundwater supply in an egalitarian manner.