News and Articles

Groundwater prospects map of Delhi
The http://rainwaterharvesting.org site has a map of Delhi showing geology, water level, water quality and giving recommendations for rainwater harvesting in different areas. Posted on 07 Aug, 2009 12:51 PM

The http://rainwaterharvesting.org site has a map of Delhi showing geology, water level, water quality and giving recommendations for rainwater harvesting in different areas.

View the map here: http://www.rainwaterharvesting.org/index_files/intro_map.htm

The information may be out of date.

Image source: http://rainwaterharvesting.org

Rainwater Harvesting - Basics
Case studies about families and companies who have successfully harvested rainwater in their premises, proving that rainwater harvesting is both feasible and beneficial.
Posted on 06 Aug, 2009 05:25 PM

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Appeal For Flood Relief : Sitamarhi, Bihar
An appeal for flood relief in North Bihar, where it had been caused by a major breach of 60 meters on the right embankment of Bagmati river in August 2009. Posted on 06 Aug, 2009 04:17 PM

Guest Post by: Deepak Bharti, SSVK

Rapid assessment of the flood situation at Tilak Tajpur Panchayat in Sitamarhi, Bihar
The Rapid Assessment Report of Tilak Tajpur Panchayat prepared by GPSVS is attached herewith Posted on 04 Aug, 2009 09:30 AM

Queries, request for information & additional clarifications can be sought via the comments section.

Download here: Rapid assessment report - Tilak Tajpur Panchayat

Bagmati river embankment breaches causing floods and widespread destruction
A brief on the flooding due to breach in Bagmati's embankment Posted on 03 Aug, 2009 09:09 AM

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

Solution exchange: Water community update - No. 35
Latest events and upcoming trainings from Solution Exchange Posted on 30 Jul, 2009 12:57 PM

Image & Content Courtesy: Solution Exchange image002 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.

ECMSAS: Session on human health in urban & peri-urban south Asia
A write up on the European Conference on Modern South Asian Studies (ECMSAS) Posted on 30 Jul, 2009 11:32 AM

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The 21stEuropean 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.

Transfer of power to rural communities : Initiative by Sambhav Trust
A write up on an experiment taken up by Sambhaav Trust with communities in Barmer (district of Rajasthan) Posted on 29 Jul, 2009 01:29 PM

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.

SAWAS: Changing water governance in India.
A call for papers on water governance and management in India Posted on 27 Jul, 2009 02:41 PM

SAWAS (South Asian Water Studies) calls for papers on longer-term perspectives on water governance and management (reform) in India. The papers should not exceed 5000 words (including references and footnotes). We are inviting original, well argued and accessibly written analyses of water sector reform experiences, assessments of future developments, discussion of dilemmas and contradictions, accounts of policy processes and policy instruments, etc.

Papers are to be submitted to Dr Daphne Gondhalekhar at ZEF, Bonn (daphneg@mit.edu) not later than September 30, 2009. Papers will be peer reviewed. Accepted (and eventually revised) papers will be published in a forthcoming issue of SAWAS (South Asian Water Studies)

For more information on the broad thematic aimed at, please download the Information Click here

"Blue Gold -World Water Wars" : A must see movie for environment and water enthusiasts
A review about the movie "Blue Gold -World Water Wars" for environment and water enthusiasts.
Posted on 23 Jul, 2009 10:53 PM

There is no other word that can aptly describe water - Blue Gold. Blue Gold Movie Poster - Source:http://www.greenmuze.com/ Today I was watching the movie - Blue Gold - World Water Wars. A must see movie for environment and water enthusiasts. The movie starts with a true story of a Californian gold hunter - how his body got transformed into a quasi corpse in seven days because of lack of water. The story then moves on how we humans are using water without discretion. Here are some interesting statistics:

  1. Manufacturing an average automobile requires 350,000 liters
  2. Upto 7 barrels of water is required to extract a barrel of oil - Save oil to save water
  3. One microchip requires 32liters of water
  4. Today there are 50,000 large dams worldwide
  5. Today there are at least 10 publicly traded water indices
  6. 750 pounds of carcass requires 5.2 million liters of water - be a vegetarian and save water.
  7. 30,240 liters of water is required per 50pound bag of wheat! Don't waste food my friends.
  8. 1.8 million liters per bale of cotton - Don't buy too many clothes (don't wear too less either)
  9. 77,500 liters of water is required per 50pound bag of rice. One kilo of rice requires 3,500 litres of water
  10. 99 liters for an apple
  11. 107 liters for a banana
  12. 22,000 liters of water per 50pound bag of corn
  13. 10 litres for a rose
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