Success Stories and Case Studies

Ingenious system to manage sewage in Kolkata
Fisher folk of the East Kolkata Wetlands use sewage from the city’s lakes to rear fish. Watch an interview of the person who popularized this system that the locals invented years ago. Posted on 11 Sep, 2013 08:48 PM

They take your pain and give you what you need. They will absorb the excess showers that our cities can’t handle and replenish water underground when our taps run dry. Often underestimated, these shallow water bodies are also home to countless life forms and serve as winter destinations for distant migratory birds. Blame me for being philosophical but I equate wetlands to mothers.

Fishermen use wastewater of Kolkata to rear fish
200-crore penalty for Adani's Mundra port
News this week: 200-crore penalty on Mundra port, Parliament passes Land Acquisition Bill and dengue spreads in Mumbai. Posted on 08 Sep, 2013 07:32 PM

POLICY MATTERS

200-crore penalty for Adani's Mundra port

Land reclaimation from the sea at the Mundra Port
Food Security Bill sees light of the day
News this week - Lok Sabha passes the Food Security Bill, floods engulf Gujarat and India bans shark finning. Posted on 01 Sep, 2013 10:28 PM

POLICY MATTERS

Food security bill passed

Affordable food for all (Source: Google Images)
Unbalanced - Bangalore's water supply and demand
Averaging out demand per person isn't good enough to determine supply. Other variables such as growth of a city, difference in groundwater conditions by area and sewerage are equally important. Posted on 01 Sep, 2013 09:02 PM

Water consumption varies based on many factors – how much water is available, where one lives, one’s personal habits, the weather, the seasons and so on and so forth. Each of these contributes to varying usage patterns.

Integrated water resource management
Go organic and triple your profits
Twenty years of hard work and devotion has made Kalaivani from Vellitiruppur, Tamil Nadu a celebrity of sorts in the organic farming circles in Erode district and beyond. Posted on 20 Aug, 2013 07:15 PM

Kalaivani, a single mother of three, took to farming after the loss of her husband almost two decades ago. Since then, she has grown all the crops on her farm without using chemical or synthetic pesticides or fertilisers. Over the last few years, she has focused her time and energy in growing organic cotton. 

Cotton picking in progress at Kalaivani's farm (Source: Seetha Gopalakrishnan, IWP)
Angioplasty for groundwater or a heart attack waiting to happen?
The Maharashtra Govt plans to invest Rs. 800 crore to extend the 'Shirpur Model' of groundwater recharge across the state. Is it recharge or withdrawal that this model promotes? Posted on 16 Aug, 2013 10:38 AM

“What is in a name? That which we call a rose, would smell as sweet by any other”, goes the line from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. There is quite a lot in a name, Juliet, especially if attaching the wrong terminology to a process is used to appropriate public funds - Rs. 800 crores, in fact.

Shirpur, Maharashtra of the 'Shirpur Model' fame
Sowing the seeds of change
Self-sufficient farming gives women in rural Alipurduar in West Bengal food, health and confidence! Posted on 07 Aug, 2013 07:53 PM

Till a few decades ago, most people in India grew vegetables and fruits in their own gardens. Then something changed. We shifted from 'farming for food' to 'farming for money'. The start of the ‘green revolution’ meant that production increased but so did the farmer's dependency on chemicals, fertilizers and pesticides.

Garden irrigated by a single pot of water
Forest panel rejects highly opposed dam projects in the Northeast
Forest panel rejects dams in the Northeast, government releases new poverty statistics and citizens' refuse the '24x7' water supply scheme are the highlights of this week's news. Posted on 28 Jul, 2013 04:22 PM

Forest Advisory Committee rejects the controversial Tipaimukh and Dibang hydro-electric projects

The idyllic Barak river (source: Wikimedia)
The Dongria Kondhs' tribals bring the judiciary down on its knees
Niyamgiri tribals' decision to veto mining, environment degradation's effect on the country's GDP and Maharashtra's carbon trading scheme are the highlights of this week's news. Posted on 22 Jul, 2013 01:40 AM

Dongria Kondh tribals stand firm against mining of Niyamgiri

Celebration Dance (Source: Wikimedia)
Sacchidanand Bharti - in his own words
The environmental conservation efforts in Ufrenkhal have been written about for nearly three decades but always by others. Here is the story in the protagonist's own words. Posted on 15 Jul, 2013 07:12 PM

Reams have been written about Sacchidanand Bharti, of Ufrenkhal fame and his work on afforestation and water conservation. However, very rarely does he speak about his own efforts and experiences.

Sacchidanand Bharti in the Ufrenkhal forest
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