People and Organisations

Want to build a toilet?
Learn about the importance of sanitation and follow the step-by-step instructions in this easy-to-use, hands-on manual issued by the Government of Jharkhand to help build toilets. Posted on 24 Feb, 2014 04:23 PM

The Government of Jharkhand has published a technical document in order to encourage the construction and usage of toilets in the state of Jharkhand. The manual begins with an introduction to Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA), a government programme to tackle open defecation in rural India.

The need for toilets (Source: Sourabh Phadke)
An alternative perspective: Sabarmati Riverfront Development
A critical review of the Sabarmati Riverfront Development project, Ahmedabad, from an environmental perspective. Posted on 20 Feb, 2014 01:09 PM

The Sabarmati Riverfront Development has been hailed as a project towards urban regeneration & environmental improvement, which will transform the river to a focal point of leisure and recreation.

Sabarmati Riverfront Development
My experience with e-learning courses
Online courses have opened up a world of possibilities for learning while working from virtually anywhere. Explore some of these courses. Posted on 20 Feb, 2014 12:55 PM

The Internet and mobile revolutions have combined to give birth to whole new generations of tools that put skills that were squarely in the domain of specialists a decade ago, in the hands of laypersons and amateurs.

Massive Open Online Courses
If you don't clean our shit, then who will?
Manual scavenging continues to exist in India even 67 years after Independence. Is it due to the lack of laws, lack of alternatives or lack of will? Posted on 16 Feb, 2014 10:53 PM

"Swaraj is a meaningless term, if we desire to keep a fifth of India under perpetual subjection, and deliberately deny to them the fruits of national culture". - Mahatma Gandhi

A manual scavenger at work (Source:Flickr Commons)
Red Hills reservoir leaks Chennai's water supply!
News this week: Chennai's Red Hills reservoir is leaking water; quantum of uranium in 'Thummalapalle' groundwater poses no threat to people; Kerala has the cleanest Anganwadi toilets. Posted on 10 Feb, 2014 04:49 PM

Chennai's drinking water seeps down the drain

A reservoir in Tamil Nadu (Source: Wikipedia)
Farm like the rishis!
Raju and Shalini Titus have been engaged in no-till farming for over 23 years. Contrary to pop wisdom, their net income has gone up because of increased yields and a reduction in input costs. Posted on 09 Feb, 2014 08:20 PM

It all started in the eighties when Friends Rural Centre, a group of Gandhian Quakers in Rasuliya village, near Hoshanagabad, Madhya Pradesh came in contact with Masanobu Fukuoka.

Results of no till farming; Image: Titus
When natural forests prevailed in Himachal
Veteran activist Kulbhushan Upmanyu talks about how the people of Chamba in Himachal Pradesh campaigned to protect the region's natural forests as well as their own rights. Posted on 09 Feb, 2014 07:51 PM

The mountain states are at a loss when it comes to a defined livelihood option for its inhabitants. Himachal Pradesh is no different. While the upper reaches of the state have excelled in growing niche products like apple and chilgoza (a variety of pine nut), areas like Chamba that are below 4000 metres, have to depend on farming.

Himachal's forests help conserve springs
Pooling borewells and opportunities
Groundwater use is synonymous with individual rights. Malkaipeta Thanda, a village in Andhra Pradesh, has shown the opposite-that a community can share and benefit from it too. Posted on 03 Feb, 2014 12:48 PM

Gamalibai is a farmer in Malkaipeta Thanda, a small tribal hamlet of the Lambadi community in Ibrahimpur village, Ranga Reddy district in Andhra Pradesh. She does not have much in common with the image of the hearty, prosperous farmer that beams at us from posters selling agricultural machinery.

Gamalibai on her farm
Do we need so much energy?
"Understanding the legitimate demand for electricity is key in reducing the burden on water resources in India", says Shankar Sharma, a power policy analyst. Posted on 03 Feb, 2014 08:11 AM

The power sector has a large impact on the amount of water consumed. Certain processes in coal power plants require large amounts of water. In India, most of these power plants are installed in coastal areas. These plants draw ocean water, desalinate it and bring it to the required quality of water for the turbines and then re-use it.

Effluents greatly affect marine life
Painting Mumbai blue!
Drop Dead', a foundation started by Aabid Surti that offers free plumbing services to residents of Mumbai, saves water one drop at a time. Posted on 02 Feb, 2014 10:12 PM

Aabid Surti who lives in Mira Road, a Mumbai suburb, was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from Hindi Sahitya Sanstha by the Uttar Pradesh Government in 2007. He has multiple creative talents. He is a painter, cartoonist, author, playwright and water warrior.

Water warrior?!

Drop Dead Foundation Volunteers
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