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
The Chalakudy river system wins
Latha Anantha was awarded the Bhagirath Prayas Samman for spearheading the campaign to save the Chalakudy river in Kerala, at the recently concluded India Rivers Week. Posted on 15 Dec, 2014 06:32 PM

Latha Anantha of the Chalakudy Puzha Samrakshana Samiti (Chalakudy River Protection Forum) was awarded the Bhagirath Prayas Samman at the recently concluded India Rivers Week for her commendable work on safeguarding the integrity of the Chalakudy river in Kerala.

Latha Anantha (Source: Latha)
To link or not to link: A debate
An open debate on interlinking of rivers moderated by Ramaswamy Iyer with Himanshu Thakkar and Brij Gopal as panelists was held as a part of the India Rivers Week at New Delhi. Posted on 15 Dec, 2014 02:48 PM

The essence of a river is its ebb and flow but won't taming of the fresh free-flowing rivers by building massive dams pose a threat to our rivers and the communities that live by them? 

Simen - a 'surplus' river in Brahmaputra basin
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
Poisonous encounters in Maharashtra
The water in Jamwadi village, Yavatmal has been severely contaminated by the Raymond Company but quality tests only confirm this when the villagers changed the name of the village on the test sample. Posted on 23 Nov, 2014 03:32 PM

A decade ago, Jamwadi village in Yavatmal, Maharashtra, was a famous tourist attraction due to its beautiful lake. Now, there is no lake to speak of thanks to the Raymond factory in Yavatmal. Wastewaster from the factory flows untreated into the lake, which is located 15 kms away.

Contaminated water from the Raymond factory
Coca Cola scraps plan to expand bottling plant at Varanasi
News this week Posted on 25 Aug, 2014 10:43 PM

Coca Cola to look for other options within state for plant

Coca Cola bottling plant (Source: S. Subramanium)
Centre allocates Rs.133 crore to conserve 115 wetlands
Policy matters this week Posted on 05 Aug, 2014 12:41 PM

Centre identifies 115 wetlands for conservation and management

Maguri Beel (wetland) in Assam
Solutions to Indore's water problems don't have to be so expensive!
The use of decentralized systems puts the onus on individuals more than the government or central bodies to provide Indore proper water and sanitation according to Rahul Banerjee. Posted on 02 Aug, 2014 01:46 PM

In the last five decades, Indore, in Madhya Pradesh, has witnessed a substantial increase in urbanisation and industrialisation. Its population has also increased from 5,60,936 in 1971 to 2,167,447 in 2011 (Census 2011).

Waiting for water tankers in Indore
People of a semi-arid Rajasthan village battle Coca Cola
The story isn't new. It is about Coca Cola exploiting groundwater resources at its bottling plant in Kaladera. What will hopefully be new is how the story finally ends. Posted on 27 Jul, 2014 10:23 PM

Kaladera, a small village about 40 km from Jaipur has always been known for its chaubandi (mud resist printing) and natural dyeing but it has been getting a lot of attention since 1999. No, it's not because of the handicraft but because of Coca Cola, which set up a bottling plant there.

Borewells go deep in Kaladera, Rajasthan
Ganga rejuvenation priority for new Water Ministry
Policy matters this week Posted on 02 Jun, 2014 02:21 PM

New Water Ministry headed by Uma Bharti prioritizes Ganga rejuvenation

Ganga at Haridwar (Source: Barry Silver)
Access to clean water and sanitation: the rural-urban gap closes
News this week Posted on 27 May, 2014 12:21 PM

The rural-urban divide in access to sanitation reduces: UN

Many rural areas have free toilets
×