Research Papers

How do income levels affect water-borne diseases?
There is lack of crucial information on how urban water infrastructure influences and transforms the flow of water leading to the emergence of diseases in the process. Posted on 25 Jan, 2015 05:18 PM

Urban water infrastructure has an important role to play in public health, and includes built networks that facilitate the flow and exchange of water over space.

An illegal settlement (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
State Action Plans for climate change analysed
5 states, which submitted Action Plans on how to tackle climate change in a decentralised manner, have made limited progress due to many reasons including a lack of clarity in recommendations made. Posted on 21 Jan, 2015 06:20 PM

Recent years have shown a growing awareness on the relevance of climate change for India within the government as well as civil society, business and media. India has prepared its National Action Plan on Climate Change amidst growing international pressure to devise domestic climate adaptation strategies.

Mountains in the catchment area of Khadakwasla dam
Swacch Bharat Mission: An opportunity to rethink public toilet governance
Althought the SBM rightly promises to secure the right to sanitation infrastructure and the right to a clean environment, it must take into consideration the sociopolitical realities of Indian cities. Posted on 21 Jan, 2015 06:15 PM

Evidence from India shows that open defecation continues to be common, and that a vast majority of the population from both urban and rural areas continue to have poor access to toilets.

Rural toilet (Source: Sourabh Phadke)
Can GIS rescue South India's deteriorating tank systems?
Eris or tanks in Tamil Nadu, which once provided water for drinking and irrigation, are in disrepair today. Can technology help restore them? Posted on 21 Jan, 2015 10:28 AM

Several lakhs of farming communities in Tamil Nadu depend on the 39,202 tanks spread around the state. These tanks capture the runoff water from the monsoon rainfall that occurs in a short span of time, and also provide water for irrigation and other uses for the community.

However, these water bodies have been degenerating in the recent past due to reasons such as:

Eris/Tanks of Tamil Nadu
Social regulation as a key to sustainable groundwater use
While a knowledge-based approach to groundwater management improves awareness, it does not address issues of equity. Posted on 19 Jan, 2015 11:02 AM

Sustainable management of groundwater continues to be ignored in India although its hydrogeological and socieconomic aspects continue to be studied extensively. Despite recognition of its importance at the policy level, no clear plan of action exists for groundwater management in India. 

A well in Odoor farms, Mangalore
Water wars: Not what you think!
India has a role to play in trans-boundary water interactions in the South Asian region. Cooperation, not war, could be resulting outcomes. Posted on 09 Jan, 2015 09:31 AM

Since the 1990s, it has often been predicted that all the conflicts over this century will be over water and that they will be fought in the South Asian region, which is undergoing a rapid growth in population coupled with a gradual decrease in water resources.

The Brahmaputra river (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Science-based changes to cope with water crisis
A business-as-usual approach isn't enough to bridge the gap between water supply and demand. So what must water management policies focus on to cope with the water crisis in India? Posted on 09 Jan, 2015 08:35 AM

India has almost 17% of the world's population and 4% of the global water resources – a situation that threatens to push it towards a water crisis in the coming years. To add to this, are other reasons such as:

Girls carrying water (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Traditional fishing technologies: Will they survive the onslaught of development and mechanisation?
Age-old skills and techniques used by fisherfolk are under threat, and at the risk of being replaced by modern unsustainable technologies. Posted on 16 Dec, 2014 11:37 PM

Fisheries are an important sector providing employment to millions of people in India and contributing to the food security of the country. Marine, inland fisheries and aquaculture are the main components of the fisheries sector.

Fishing technologies used by the fisherfolk
Can we reverse the outcomes of climate change for India?
Heat extremes and groundwater scarcity are but two of the impacts of climate change affecting India. Technology, political will, and international cooperation are needed to reverse these impacts. Posted on 16 Dec, 2014 02:13 PM

The report title 'Turn down the heat: Climate extremes, regional impacts and the case for resilience' published by the World Bank, highlights the risks posed by climate

Droughts and climate change (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Are we heading towards ecological and social suicide?
Development at the cost of the environment and ecosystem-dependent communities can be an easy recipe for ecological and social disaster. Posted on 10 Dec, 2014 10:17 AM

In the article titled 'A hundred days closer to ecological and social suicide' published in the Economic and Political Weekly, the author argues that the recent changes in the government do not seem to have helped in changing the environmental policies of the country. Rather, they reflect regressive actions that could lead to a large-scale assault on rules, laws

The revived lake in Valni village, Nagpur
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