Political

Open water data for integrated water science
Datameet and Centre for Internet and Society have released a prototype web app that allows users to access daily rainfall data from Jan 1981 till Dec 2017 for a watershed of their interest. Posted on 23 Jan, 2018 03:30 PM

Understanding water in all its forms in every part of the water cycle is vital to ensuring its sustainable and equitable management. Whether there is a scarcity of water or an excess of it, knowing precisely the quantum of water, whether underground in aquifers, embedded in the soil as soil moisture or in numerous lakes, reservoirs and rivers is vital.

Image courtesy NASA
The Open Water Data Paper
A paper by Datameet and CIS for information on openly available water data. We hope this will open up a conversation around these datasets and help improve the quality of debate around water data. Posted on 23 Jan, 2018 02:47 PM

The paper seeks to take one step forward in the direction of better water data, by highlighting currently available data relevant to water resources management, generated from remote sensing sources, government, citizens and other relevant global meteorological data.

Open Water Data in India
Profiting from sustainable farming
Sustainable agro-ecological farming is one way to overcome the limitations of conventional farming. Green College shows us how to do it. Posted on 23 Jan, 2018 01:48 PM

Pitidri is a nondescript village that dots the rainshadow area of Purulia district in West Bengal. Droughts are common here even when the area is endowed with above average rainfall of over 1300 mm a year. Until some time ago, Urmila Mahato, a 42-year-old farmer from Pitidri had been struggling to ensure her family’s food security.

Urmila Mahato at her farm.
Swiss Re Foundation launches the International ReSource Award 2019
The award is for resilience in water management, acknowledging social entrepreneurial thinking and leadership in implementing the principles of sustainable water management.
Posted on 22 Jan, 2018 07:00 PM

The International ReSource Award for resilience in water management recognises new approaches for resolving existing issues related to sustainable water management. The prize builds on more than ten years of experience in bestowing the recognised ReSource Award for sustainable watershed management.

Book Release and Discussion on ‘Alternative Futures: India Unshackled’, a book edited by Ashish Kothari and K. J. Joy
The book is a collection of 35 essays containing dreams, visions, and pathways of reaching a just and sustainable India.
Posted on 22 Jan, 2018 10:40 AM

Alternative Futures: India Unshackled is a riveting new book that brings together scenarios of an India that is politically and socially egalitarian, radically democratic, economically sustainable and equitable, and socio-culturally diverse and harmonious.

Alternative Futures: India Unshackled
A remarkable, first-ever collection of 35 essays on India’s future, by a diverse set of authors – activists, researchers, media practitioners. Posted on 22 Jan, 2018 10:39 AM

Alternative Futures: India Unshackled is a book that brings together scenarios of an India that is politically and socially egalitarian, radically democratic, economically sustainable and equitable, and socio-culturally diverse and harmonious.

Alternative Futures: India Unshackled
Coughing out coal
A study from Chhattisgarh finds that coal mining leads to severe health risks and environmental damage and questions the current policy emphasis on the use of coal for energy generation in India. Posted on 22 Jan, 2018 10:08 AM

The coal mining sector is all set to receive a boost in India as the government plans to open up the sector to commercial players by 2018. 

A villager looks at the changing landscape due to coal mines at Kosampalli village in Raigarh (Image source: IWP photo by Makarand Purohit)
Delhi’s e-waste problem
Toxic heavy metals from electronic waste piles in Delhi contaminate groundwater and soil. Posted on 21 Jan, 2018 08:49 AM

Widespread use of digital devices--mobile phones, tablets, computers, smart watches and more--has made electronic waste a new environmental problem. Discarded gadgets result in massive piles of e-waste, which is contaminating soil and groundwater in the national capital, a new study has pointed out. 

Heavy metals from e-waste leach into the ground polluting the groundwater and soil.
Waste away, Ambikapur shows way
A small city in Chattisgarh, Ambikapur implements a cost effective way to get rid of its waste and generates jobs in the process. Posted on 19 Jan, 2018 11:37 AM

Ambikapur has become a role model for all the urban local bodies (ULBs) in Chhattisgarh for its successful solid liquid resource management (SLRM). Thanks to Ritu Sen, former collector of Ambikapur and her team for taking the initiative to clean the city and for bringing the women's self-help groups (SHGs) together for this noble cause. 

A worker carries household waste to the SLRM centres at Ambikapur.
The 3rd National Summit Sustainable Water & Sanitation India kicks off in Bengaluru
Experts from government, NGOs and industry gathered at the Sheraton Grande Hotel for the two day summit. Posted on 19 Jan, 2018 09:52 AM

Sustainable water supply and sanitation has become extremely important due to the increase in water scarcity, the impact of climate change and the need for adaptation, and the increasing demand in water and competition among different usages.

National Summit Sustainable Water and Sanitation kicks off in Bangalore
×