News and Articles

Himalayan solutions for cooperation and security in river basins : A report by Strategic Foresight Group
This report by the Strategic Foresight Group provides ideas for cooperative solutions to enhance water security in Asia. Posted on 29 Jun, 2011 07:03 PM

coverThis report by the Strategic Foresight Group is a follow-up to its earlier report The Himalayan Challenge: Water Security in Emerging Asia, 2010 . The growing water stress, plans for dams on shared rivers, and uncertainties about the precise impact of climate change have brought water to the forefront of the political agenda of countries in the Himalayan River Basins.

The report recommends policy options for national governments as well as strategies which can be implemented by local authorities and community groups in a politically viable manner. Some of the ideas may on the surface appear to be addressing micro-level issues. However, such micro-level issues do have an important bearing on security at the macro-level in a large continent such as Asia. This is the experience of many other regions as well, as illustrated in several of the chapters in this report.

The objective of this report is to explore how river basins in the Himalayan region, and particularly shared water resources, can foster cooperation and security between Bangladesh, China, India and Nepal. The conventional view is that depleting water resources, growing problem of pollution, uncertain risks posed by climate change together may lead to competition for resources, migration, social instability, internal conflicts and diplomatic tensions between countries. This view is realistic and was discussed in detail in a previous report of Strategic Foresight Group. It has contributed to spreading the awareness of security risks associated with water crisis in the Himalayan region.

Hi-tech vs low-tech in the water sector in the village of Dandiganahalli near Bangalore - Article by S. Vishwanath
Dandiganahalli, very close to Bangalore, has a problem of high TDS in its water, meaning the water is too salty and brackish. Worse still it has Fluoride in it. The video explores appropriate means of dealing with this issue. Posted on 28 Jun, 2011 05:40 PM

Ever since Schumacher wrote his now very, very famous book small is there has in my mind been a question of the appropriateness of the solutions we urban educated types posit for rural ‘problems’.

Centrally sponsored schemes ARWSP and TSC have not done enough to ensure right to water and basic sanitation : Article from Combat Law
Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP) and the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) are charged with ensuring water and sanitation to all. This article discusses whether they have fulfilled their mandate Posted on 28 Jun, 2011 04:59 PM


The human right to drinking water and sanitation - Centrally sponsored schemes ARWSP and TSC have just not done enough to ensure safe water and basic sanitation for the common man - Article from Combat LawThe Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) recognises the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all human beings. There are certain basic needs that are essential for a dignified life. Water and sanitation are two of these essential human needs and a clean environment is also increasingly recognised as a fundamental human right.

The water wheels of time: Micro hydro power in the Western Ghats of India
“My son insisted on light at home and I experimented based on a picture of a water wheel in his text book”, Krishna Rao, a farmer in the famous Coorg coffee estate district, in the Western Ghats of Karnataka told me. He was speaking of a micro-hydro system he had built himself – a locally made turbine connected to a second-hand electricity generator, which he pulled out of his vehicle. Posted on 28 Jun, 2011 09:50 AM


Mining havoc: Impact of mining on water resources in Goa - Article from Dams, Rivers and People
Goa's valiant fighter against illegal mines, Ramesh Gauns shares the horrifying impacts of mines on rivers, groundwater and streams in Goa. Posted on 25 Jun, 2011 02:02 PM

 

Pumping of water from Cavrem Sheikh Salim mine, severely lowering groundwater table in the village. Image courtesy: Sebastian Rodriguez, Mand GoaPumping of water from Cavrem Sheikh Salim mine, severely lowering groundwater table in the village
Image courtesy: Sebastian Rodriguez, Mand Goa

Gravity based spring water supply systems in Vishakhapatnam: A sustainable solution to an age-old problem
The tribal inhabitants in water-rich Eastern Ghats mostly rely on the water reserves of natural springs and hill streams for their drinking water and other daily domestic needs. Posted on 23 Jun, 2011 05:42 PM

Gravity based spring water supply systems – A sustainable solution to an age-old problem With an annual rainfall of more than 1200 mm, this region has truly pristine and under-developed ground water resources. The water related issues are more complex in the hilly areas. Some of the most concerning issues that affect the current water scenario in the Eastern Ghats are pollution of water sources (springs & streams) leading to poor health, illiteracy and ignorance resulting in improper hygiene and sanitation practices. The burden on women and children is also high since they have to walk a long distance to the springs/streams for fetching water.

Water crisis and water chaos in Punjab - An article by Umendra Dutt, Kheti Virasat Mission
This article talks of the water crisis in Punjab, which is leading to protests and conflicts among villages Posted on 23 Jun, 2011 02:08 PM

Water crisis and water chaos in Punjab - An article by Umendra Dutt, Kheti Virasat MissionLast month Punjab has been declared as the over all best state in the country by India Today news magazine for the third conjunctive year. It is good to have a prize for Punjab and state government has immediately taken this as an opportunity to have publicity campaign for its achievement. But there is another side of the picture also which shows doom, distress and destruction is fast engulfing this land of five waters. It is a Water-Chaos in the Punjab.

Threat of toxic residue leaks in Orissa, India in 2011 - Urgent action requested by Amnesty International
Help protect 4000 families from Vedanta's pollution. Posted on 23 Jun, 2011 11:32 AM

Over 4,000 families in India face serious risk from threats of leaks from Vedanta's red mud pond as the rainy season begins in June. Levels within the pond have already risen, amidst reports of two leaks in the last two months, threatening the communities' safety, health and livelihoods.

On 5 April and 16 May 2011, following heavy rain, local communities in Orissa state reported leakages from the 28-hectare red mud pond, owned and operated by Vedanta Aluminium, through its walls, polluting local streams and creating anxiety among the communities at the downstream villages of Lanjigarh, Bundel and Basantpada.

Forget Prometheus and remember Bhagiratha: Wrong and right thinking about rivers ' - Shri Ramaswamy Iyer s lecture at School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University (June 2011)
One of the foremost experts on water management in India Shri. Ramaswamy R. Iyer shares his view on Wrong and Right Thinking about our Rivers. Posted on 22 Jun, 2011 09:55 AM

“Current economic philosophy exalts consumption and growth. If we are hypnotised by visions of 8% or 10% growth, we are bound to ‘demand’ more and more and still more water; and either government engineers or private companies and their engineers will come up with supply-side answers in the form of large projects which will cause even greater distress to the rivers”. 

Tehri Dam across Ganga . Source: haridwar.nic.in/ gangaji.htmTehri Dam across Ganga
Source: haridwar.nic.in/ gangaji.htm

I am very grateful to Prof. Sudha Bhattacharya for having invited me to this Seminar. I was not sure whether what I have to say would fit in well with the theme of this Seminar, but she persuaded me to say yes, and so here I am.

Public Private Partnerships in the water sector: Partnerships or privatisation - A report and video by Manthan Adhyayan Kendra
A report and video detailing Public Private Partnerships in the water sector, their current status and investment requirements. Posted on 21 Jun, 2011 05:29 PM

PPP Book Cover

This report and video by Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, looks at various aspects of PPPs, beginning from why PPPs have come to be regarded as the major approach for infrastructure development in the country, the circumstances that lead to the change in approach from direct privatisation to public-private partnerships, the current status of the PPP projects that are being executed in India, especially in the water sector, to the current estimates and projections of investment requirements for infrastructure development in India by governments and International Financial Institutions (IFIs).