Uttarakhand

Uttarakhandi women 1, Ultra Tech Cement 0
Four Gram Panchayats in Uttarakhand joined forces to oppose a cement plant. They won this battle, but will India's villagers win the war? Posted on 15 Aug, 2014 12:42 PM

When Basanti Devi entered the village of Bachwadi in Uttarakhand's Takula block on one of her routine visits, she knew that something was wrong. Instead of the normal hustle, groups of men stood about talking quietly.

Uttarakhandi women are a force to be reckoned with
Centre allocates Rs.133 crore to conserve 115 wetlands
Policy matters this week Posted on 05 Aug, 2014 12:41 PM

Centre identifies 115 wetlands for conservation and management

Maguri Beel (wetland) in Assam
Sanitation and trees' are rural employment guarantee scheme's top priorities
Policy matters this week Posted on 30 Jul, 2014 10:40 AM

Centre allocates 50% MGNREGA funds to sanitation and green cover

Proper sanitation in India: A poster
India loses 2 million tonnes of food grains annually due to waterlogging
News this week Posted on 30 Jul, 2014 10:15 AM

2 million tonnes of food grains lost annually in India

Waterlogging in Punjab
Indian monsoon under recovery mode
News this week Posted on 22 Jul, 2014 02:01 PM

Monsoon covers entire nation, raises hopes of recovery

Heavy rainfall in Muzaffarpur, Bihar
A water supply system that even Delhi would envy
Indwalgaon in Uttarakhand harnessed available government resources to move from a water-deficit to a water-adequate state, thanks to its Pradhan Madanlal. Posted on 06 Jul, 2014 08:28 PM

 Visitors and the Uttarakhand Tourism Department liken the mountain to 'devbhoomi' or the heavens but it isn't often that a villager of the area echoes those sentiments. Most of them are weary of the unending struggle to live in harmony with those steep slopes that make all manner of infrastructure difficult.

Madan Lal gazes at a water supply scheme
Poor sanitation brings down enrollment of girls in schools
News this week Posted on 30 Jun, 2014 01:10 PM

Dip in enrollment of female students due to poor sanitation in schools

Girls toilet in a school
Dam' safety and management!
A recent accident that killed 24 students in Himachal Pradesh has pointed fingers yet again to the much neglected area of dam safety. More than assigning blame, it's time we assigned responsibility. Posted on 24 Jun, 2014 09:10 PM

Twenty four students were washed away in the Beas river in Himachal Pradesh earlier this month. The students, all from an engineering college in Hyderabad, were picknicking in the river on their way back from the tourist town of Manali. While cooling their heels in the knee deep water and clicking photographs, they missed the rising wall of water that engulfed them in minutes.

Dam induced terror (Source: Matu Jan Sangathan)
In-house experts: the barefoot hydrogeologists of the Himalayan regions
A nation-wide effort to create a cadre of people with a sound understanding of their local geology and groundwater is resulting in people who know the rocks beneath as well as they know their fields! Posted on 05 Jun, 2014 03:46 PM

The fourteen women and three men were rapt as Pan-'da' explained the intricacies of Himalayan geology. Every now and then, a question would be asked. Pan-'da' would then create an impromptu geological model using a notebook or a whiteboard eraser to explain the concepts. This was essential because the audience had no prior background in geology. Only some of them were even literate.

Pan Singh explains the use of a clinometer
Women water managers of Chopriali
Galvanised by the formation of a Mahila Mangal Dal and by some training, these women in a small village in Uttarakhand design, construct and manage their own water sources and structures. Posted on 04 Jun, 2014 01:21 PM

"We did everything ourselves", said the ebuillent Bhuvaneshwari Devi. "We took the cement up, carried the sand, everything! And we even told them where to place the tank"! She went on to narrate how the women's group of which she is a member, taught the men of the village that siting a tank in the stream will place it in danger of being washed away.

The tanks and canals that form the supply system
×