People and Organisations

No toilet, no job
Panchayat presidents of Namakkal district get people to build toilets at home by banning them from work until they do so. Posted on 28 Nov, 2014 03:04 PM

Thipramahadevi Pudhur is a village in Erumapatti Block, Namakkal District with 115 households. In July this year, this village was declared as ‘open-defecation free’ (ODF), something that was aided by Leaf Society, an organization based in Namakkal and their effective strategy of awareness generation, and leveraging of government loans to communities via convergence. 

Billboard declaring Thipramahadevi Pudhur ODF
Poachers turned protectors fight for their survival
Locals who protect the migratory birds that come to Chilka lake in Odisha struggle to make a living as the lake has shrunk, thereby shrinking their revenues from fishing. Posted on 23 Nov, 2014 01:46 PM

Nature and wildlife can be better conserved if local communities are duly educated and motivated. Nearly 70 km south of Bhubaneswar, the Mangalajodi village on the edge of Chilka lake, Asia’s largest brackish water lagoon, is a testimony to that argument.

Chilka lake, Odisha
An oasis of hope in the land of suicides
Since the implementation of Phad irrigation, a low cost and eco-friendly system that works without electricity, agricultural production has increased improving the situation of farmers in Yavatmal. Posted on 07 Sep, 2014 10:05 AM

Yavatmal, a district in Maharashtra, has gained popularity more for the number of farmer suicides than anything else in recent years. Since 2001, more than 2700 cases of suicide have been registered in this district alone. Poor water availability, low agriculture production and increasing debts are the major causes for suicide. 

A check dam constructed by Dilasa in Dhangarwadi
Sparkle in the mountains: The indigenous 'Hydroger'
Villages of Nagaland that aren't connected to the electricity grid have been given hope by a new source of power. Posted on 04 Sep, 2014 10:50 PM

It is a labour of love. For 10 years, the team at Nagaland Empowerment of People through Economic Development (NEPeD) held this experiment close to their hearts- a daunting task that is lighting up lives in far-off villages in the mountains of Nagaland today. The hydroger has made way for many to diversify their income through new activities and reduced women’s day-to-day drudgery.

Hydroger machine at Logwesunyu village, Nagaland
Zabo: The art of impounding water
Kikruma in Nagaland has its own system of water harvesting. Watch a farmer explain this unique method called Zabo, which helps manage water while nurturing the soil and optimizing agriculture. Posted on 06 Aug, 2014 01:37 PM

Located at an altitude of 1270 metres , Kikruma, a quaint village nestled in a rainshadowed area of Phek district of Nagaland is a wonder. Centuries ago, the village evolved a self-organizing system to take care of its water, forest and farm management. ‘Zabo’, which means 'impounding water', is an ingenious method of catching rainwater from running off the mountains.

Ponds as reservoirs for paddy fields located below
House of solutions
Rahul Banerjee, a scientist and researcher, has created sustainable and environmentally friendly home-based solutions to manage his own water supply and sanitation issues in Indore. Posted on 25 Jul, 2014 06:30 PM

Many scientists and researchers have been trying to find solutions to problems related to urban water supply, wastewater management and reduction of energy use in urban areas but very few have succeeded. Rahul Banerjee is one who has.

Rahul Banerjee's sustainable house at Indore
Clean water: Courtesy sand and microbes
A biosand household water filter is cheap, convenient and easy to build. Find out about its benefits and how you can make one at your home. Posted on 07 Jul, 2014 10:11 PM

Every year, nearly 600,000 children in India die of illnesses associated with unclean drinking water [1]. Inspite of this, 2 out of every 3 households still do not treat their drinking water [2] and half of the rural water supply, where 70 percent of India’s population lives, is routinely contaminated with toxic bacteria.

Biosand filter (Source: CAWST)
Teachings of the East Calcutta Wetlands
A self-organising sewage management system where fish and vegetables are grown, the wetlands earlier known as the Salt Lakes, teach how to live creatively with nature. Posted on 07 Jul, 2014 04:06 PM

The East Calcutta Wetlands are an unappealing mixture of poverty, sunshine and wastewater. The people here have patiently and wisely transformed this ecosystem into an oportunity for food, employment and purified water- for free!

Ecology & Traditional Wetland Practice
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
Goa University shows state how to harvest rainwater
What started as an effort to showcase rainwater harvesting methods and their benefits at Goa University, has now become an effort worth emulating by the entire state. Posted on 29 Jun, 2014 09:18 AM

As a faculty of the Earth Sciences Department at Goa University, Dr. A.G Chachadi wanted to develop a facility to harvest rainwater and recharge groundwater at the campus at Taleigao Plateau. He wanted to showcase rainwater harvesting within the campus and also spread awareness on the benefits of doing it.

Aquifer recharge and RWH project at Goa University
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