Citizens' Rights and Duties

Featured Articles
July 7, 2022 PMAY needs policy commitment to rehabilitate slums in small and medium cities of Gujarat
Need for legal framework for land rights in small and medium cities of Gujarat under PMAY (Image: Homes in the City)
December 6, 2019 A report by the India Rivers Forum highlights the need to focus further than the main stem of the Ganga river.
Distant snow clad mountains, the smaller hills and the Ganga river (Image: Srimoyee Banerjee, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)
November 21, 2019 A report by NIUA brings to light the chinks in Jaipur's sewage system and suggests some solutions.
Routine check done by the sewage treatment plant staff in Delawas, Jaipur. The plant is part of the ADB best practices projects list. (Image: Asian Development Bank, Flickr Commons)
November 18, 2019 Bangalore's water utility is understaffed, under financed and unable to service the city's water needs.
Image credit: Citizen Matters
November 15, 2019 On World Toilet Day, we bring to light the labour of India’s sewer workers - those who do the unclean work that a Clean India relies on.
Photo credit: Sharada Prasad
What happens when you throw away pencil cells?
Study reveals how tossing of dry cell batteries in our dustbins poisons the environment. Posted on 14 May, 2019 05:33 PM

A recent study by Toxics Link, an environmental research and advocacy organisation on batteries titled Dead and buried: A situational analysis of battery waste management in India estimates that 2.7 billion pieces of dry cell batteries are being consumed annually in India.

The evolving framework of end-of-life battery management could be inclusive of the informal chain of collectors and segregators. (Image: Toxics Link)
Evacuation measures during cyclones in Odisha
Study indicates need for institutional capacity-building programmes in order to have high compliance with evacuation orders during cyclones. Posted on 10 May, 2019 02:55 PM

Life is getting back to normal after an ‘extremely severe’ cyclonic storm Fani hit India’s eastern coastline. It ripped through several districts of Odisha and West Bengal and brought in torrential rains and winds of up to 200 km/hr.

The trail of destruction after cyclone Phailin in Odisha on October 15, 2013 (Image: EU/ECHO, Samuel Marie Fanon; Flickr Commons, CC BY-ND 2.0)
Cyclone Fani hits Odisha, 35 dead
News this week Posted on 07 May, 2019 03:36 PM

Cyclone Fani, strongest to hit India in 20 years, causes widespread destruction in Odisha

A cyclonic storm that hit India in 2016. (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Mapping pollution hotspots in Yamuna
A sensor network system is being used for mapping and monitoring the water quality of river Yamuna. Posted on 01 May, 2019 10:38 AM

The Yamuna was considered a nurturing and life-enhancing goddess in the past. Legend has it that bathing in the sacred waters of the Yamuna, the sister of Yama, the god of death, frees one from the ordeal of death. The 1376-km river is a tributary of the Ganga and originates in the Yamunotri glacier in the lower Himalayas.

A project, conceptualised by a team of researchers from the University of Chicago, US helps demonstrate that scalable water quality mapping systems can detect and predict water contamination (Image:India Water Portal)
Making water available for all
Civil society activists champion alternatives to conventional water management solutions implemented by the government. Posted on 23 Apr, 2019 06:48 PM

India, the second largest population in the world, is facing a water crisis with over 600 million people facing acute water shortage, as per a report by Niti Aayog, the government think-tank. India’s water crisis is expected to worsen, threatening the country’s food security as over 80 percent of our water is used in agriculture.

The pollution rates of the river Hindon are alarming. Despite work by conservation groups, the efforts on the part of the government to fix the problem remain uncertain. (Image: Hindi Water Portal)
Water management solutions where users have a say
Private provision of water services is most successful where the operation and maintenance contracts are offered by the local water users. Posted on 17 Apr, 2019 10:10 PM

India has, over the last 50 years, spent approximately $50 billion on developing water resources and another estimated $7.5 billion on drinking water, with little to show for the money (Devraj 2002).

Canal irrigation has led to altered crop choice, organisation and techniques of production. (Image: India Water Portal)
Flourishing water markets in Darjeeling
Better governance and equitable as well as sustainable use of water resources are essential to solving the deepening water crisis in Darjeeling. Posted on 15 Apr, 2019 02:36 PM

"Darjeeling today has a thriving water business, with a fleet of 105 trucks plying three or four trips a day from April to June, carrying 5500 to 6500 litres of water on each run"

Private water tankers, a common sight in urban areas. (Source: India Water Portal)
Kerala failed to use dams for flood control: Amicus curiae
Policy matters this week Posted on 09 Apr, 2019 09:32 PM

Kerala government failed to use dams for flood control: Amicus curiae informs high court

The floods in Kerala took 400 lives and displaced around 1.2 million people. (Image: Ranjith Siji, Wikimedia Commons: CC BY-SA 4.0)
Water storage depletes in major river basins: CWC
News this week Posted on 09 Apr, 2019 09:08 PM

CWC data shows water storage in major river basins depleting

Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Safai karmacharis release manifesto
Manual scavengers release manifesto to ensure right to a dignified life. Posted on 08 Apr, 2019 10:36 AM

Hundreds gathered to release the Safai Karmachari Manifesto ahead of Lok Sabha elections 2019 at the Indian Social Institute, Delhi on April 4, 2019.

The toilet cleaners of Lucknow (Image source: CS Sharada Prasad)
×