News and Articles

Breathing life into the dying rivers of Pune!
Jeevitnadi continues with its mission to breathe life into Pune’s rivers and has been awarded the prestigious Bhagirath Prayas Samman 2020 this year! Posted on 25 Jan, 2021 10:45 PM

In this year’s India Rivers Week (IRW), Jeevitnadi, an organisation working on rivers in Pune city received the prestigious Bhagirath Prayaas Samman for its exemplary work on spreading awareness and undertaking steps to change the situation of rivers in the city!

Mutha, the lifeline of Pune city (Image Source: India Water Portal)
Ganga's cure lies in people's will for a change
Healing the Ganga can start in your kitchen, says Bidisha Banerjee, whose new book explores the faith and the science that define the river, and what it will take to save it. Posted on 25 Jan, 2021 12:51 PM

It was Bhagirath who chose to leave his kingdom and commit to austere tapasya, for a thousand years, in order to bring Ganga down from the heavens.

Ganga river at Bithoor (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Budget 2021: Policy measures in the nutrition sector
Nutrition interventions need to be strengthened to protect people already at the margin of subsistence. Posted on 25 Jan, 2021 11:34 AM

India's food security policy framework includes many proven nutrition interventions. In 2015, India committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of zero hunger.

Children eating their mid-day meal at a worksite school in Andhra Pradesh (Image: ILO Asia Pacific, Flickr Commons, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Natural resource management through a gender lens
Need to recognise women, the cogs in the feminisation of Indian agriculture Posted on 21 Jan, 2021 05:16 PM

Building upon decades of international diplomatic relations and scientific research, the United Nations adopted the ‘2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ in 2015.

In incorporating female participation, some programmes only added (futile) burden on these women without challenging the current division of labour. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
Cereals drain India dry
A study on virtual water flows in interstate trade of cereals in India shows that cereals are rapidly draining the states that have the most critical levels of groundwater. Posted on 20 Jan, 2021 11:14 AM

Agricultural stagnation and inefficient irrigation systems

Agriculture continues to be an important sector for the Indian economy and for food security with more than half of the workforce being employed in agricultural activities. Greater use of improved crop varieties, irrigation and fertilisers have contributed to major improvements in crop yields in India.

Cereals and millets at a bazaar in Nizampet, Hyderabad (Image Source: Aditya Madhav, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons)
Ecosystem-based approach: The case of Meghalaya
Multilateral action needed for a green post-COVID-19 recovery. Posted on 18 Jan, 2021 01:55 PM

Communities have been adapting to climate variability for centuries

A living root bridge, a type of simple suspension bridge formed of living plant roots by tree shaping in village Nongriat, Meghalaya (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
India faced with the onslaught of rising temperature
Climate change induced disasters can cause disruption to human well being and the ecosystem. Posted on 18 Jan, 2021 11:14 AM

On January 4, 2021, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) released a report titled

2020 was one of the warmest years in India despite La Nina which typically has a cooling effect on global temperatures.(Image: Tumisu, Pixabay)
Unsafe drinking water burdens urban poor
While urban poor in Delhi are forced to access water from informal sources, this water is highly contaminated posing multiple risks to health. Posted on 17 Jan, 2021 07:25 PM

Water in India continues to be extremely polluted and unsafe.

Safe drinking water, a valuable resource  (Image Source: IWP Flickr photos)
75% districts and half of India’s population vulnerable to extreme climate events: CEEW study
The study found a shift in the pattern of extreme events in over 40% of Indian districts. Posted on 17 Jan, 2021 06:08 PM

Over 75% of Indian districts, which are home to over 638 million people, are hotspots of extreme climate events such as cyclones, floods, droughts, heat, and cold waves, according to a first-of-its-kind independent study released by the Council on Energy, Environme

India is already the fifth most vulnerable country globally in terms of extreme climate events and it is all set to become the world’s flood capital (Image: Geralt, Pixabay license)
2020: Crammed in disasters, yet filled with hope
Last year was shrouded with a myriad of disasters but all was not bad. There were many success stories and great efforts in the water sector that maintained our hopes for a better tomorrow. Posted on 17 Jan, 2021 04:30 PM

The year 2020 came with numerous disasters, not just COVID-19, a pandemic that brought the planet to a standstill, but many other natural calamities. During the year, the country suffered from cyclones, extreme rainfall, floods and locust attacks.

All was not negative for 2020 in the water sector as many states and districts gained credit for themselves (Image Source: IWP Flickr Album)
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