News and Articles

A workshop on groundwater was organised by ACWADAM and Arghyam Trust in Pune in May 2009, that brought together several experts in the field, and explored diverse topics such as the importance of scale in groundwater resource planning and management, importance of aquifer typologies, participatory processes of groundwater management, groundwater regulation and groundwater linkages with watershed development, markets and policy matters.

The attempt of the workshop and research papers presented, was to highlight contemporary issues in groundwater management, and to look at it through the multiple lenses of hydrogeology, sociology, economics, livelihoods, environment, disasters and so on.

A one-day “Action plan workshop for the rejuvenation and sustenance of Arkavathi river basin”, was organised on 25th July 2009, by the Global Academy of Technology and Geological Society of India at Bangalore, to discuss the future of the dying Arkavathi river and Bangalore's precarious water situation, and to develop concurrent implementable action plans to address the problem. The Arkavathi is a tributary of the river Kaveri, originating in Nandi Hills in Chikkaballapur district, that provides about 20% of the total water requirements of Bangalore, with Kaveri providing the remaining 80%.

The satellite township of Navi Mumbai, with a total area of 344 km², was developed in 1972 by CIDCO (City and Industrial Development Corporation) to de-congest the city of Mumbai. Initially a marshy land interspersed with villages, Navi Mumbai has been developed into a planned township, with much of its marshes and freshwater wetlands being converted into urban infrastructure.

Navi Mumbai is a rapidly developing twin city. In the course of development, it was realized that more emphasis needs to be given towards the preservation and sustainable management of the freshwater wetlands it harbours. Given the vulnerability of these wetlands and their resource potential, there is an urgent need to develop a framework for sustainable use of freshwater wetlands. This requires efficient management systems and development of sustainable models, which would help maintain the natural characteristics of wetlands while also exploiting its potential to meet the socio-economic and recreational needs of communities. To tackle this important aspect, TERI conceptualized a pilot project with active support of CIDCO in October 2008. The Khandeshwar Lake was chosen as a model to demonstrate the feasibility as a ‘sustainable wetland’.

The attached presentation is an update on the work taken up and impact achieved since the start of the project, and includes details from the World Wetlands Day celebration organised on 2 February 2010. Details of TERI's wetland management program are here.

In the context of the guidelines of the revised National Water Policy (2002) which require the states to prepare a comprehensive state-level water policy, and also the need to pay special attention towards the construction of new irrigation projects, along with water management, land management, food management, floods management, ecological balance etc, in the context of the various new developments and problems being faced by the state of Bihar over the last decade or so, the Water Resources Department of the State Government of Bihar has prepared a draft State Water Policy (2009) and is inviting comments from the general public.