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
Polavaram fraud - The Polavaram dam on the Godavari could displace 400,000 people and submerge nearly 4,000 hectares of forest land - Article from Down To Earth
The Polavaram dam on the Godavari could displace 400,000 people and submerge nearly 4,000 hectares of forestland. Posted on 06 May, 2011 08:33 PM

 Most of the people threatened to be displaced cannot be relocated until their rights over forestland are recognized under the Forest Rights Act. How did the Andhra Pradesh government meet this immense challenge? It quietly told the Union environment and forests ministry that all claims have been settled.

The ministry gave forest clearance to the project last year. Now over 50 villages have written to the ministry, saying their forest rights have not been settled. Richard Mahapatra visited the villages and found the state had indeed lied.

Following similar complaints, the ministry had scrapped Vedanta’s proposal to mine Niyamgiri hills and withheld forest clearance to the POSCO steel plant in Odisha. Will it apply the same yardstick to Polavaram?

Residents of Teladibbalu did not know they had forest rights. The village is in the dam’s submergence zone and accessible only by boat (Photo: G Srinivas).Residents of Teladibbalu did not know they had forest rights. The village is in the dam’s submergence zone and accessible only by boat. (Photo: G Srinivas).

A demo on the use of hydrosheds (hydrological data & maps based on shuttle elevation derivatives) at multiple scales for Orissa
If you don’t have what you need, the only solution is to build it. The United States of America has its own National Hydrographic dataset for the complete nation. Posted on 27 Apr, 2011 02:21 PM

The national hydrographic dataset can be used to delineate watersheds and mark all streams and channels that contribute to the flow at the outlets of these watersheds. Even though I was able to find out pdfs created by the National Information Center, I felt we need something better than the pdfs.

Role of indigenous knowledge system in conservation of forest resources – A case study of the Aka tribes of Arunachal Pradesh – A paper in the Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge
This paper in the Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge presents a case study on the role of indigenous knowledge system in conservation of forest resources by the Aka tribes of Arunachal Pradesh. Posted on 23 Apr, 2011 09:01 PM

AkaIndigenous knowledge is the basis for local level decision making in agriculture, healthcare, food preparation, education, natural resource management, and a host of other activities in rural communities.

Inviting endorsements on a submission to the WGEEP for declaring the rivers in the Western Ghats as Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESAs)
Help save some of the last rivers in India! Posted on 22 Apr, 2011 12:58 PM


Dear friends,

We are all aware of the immense ecological, cultural and social significance of rivers originating and flowing through the Western Ghats. This includes source regions of East flowing rivers like Krishna, Godavari and Cauvery and the source, riparian and estuarine region of all West flowing rivers.

We are lucky to still have some of the very few and very rare 'free flowing rivers' in the country. Most of the rivers in our country have been dammed and diverted. This has changed the ecological and physical characteristics of these rivers completely. Today, it is difficult for us to visualise the amazing range of ecological goods and services that an undammed, free flowing river can provide. Some such rivers in the Western Ghats are Shastri, Aghanashini, Gargai and Seetha Nadi.

Eradication of inhuman practice of manual scavenging and comprehensive rehabilitation of manual scavengers in India – A report by Rashtriya Garima Abhiyan
This report deals with the eradication of the inhuman practice of manual scavenging and comprehensive rehabilitation of manual scavengers in India. Posted on 21 Apr, 2011 09:15 PM

Manual ScavengingThe practice continues in the country in spite of efforts of several people, implementation of government schemes such as the National Scheme for Liberation and Rehabilitation of Scavengers since 1992 and Self Employment Scheme

Development of training module for water safety plan in urban areas - A document by ESCI
A new Risk Management tool to improve Water Safety Plan
Posted on 20 Apr, 2011 03:48 AM

A Water Safety Plan (WSP) is an improved risk management tool designed to ensure the delivery of safe drinking water. It identifies hazards, means to control them, means and actions to identify loss of control and its restoration. It comprises system assessment and design, operational monitoring and management plans (including documentation and communication). Water quality guidelines have been issued by the WHO.

Lives wasted in gutters - A film from Video Volunteers
Two manual scavengers were killed while working without any safety masks or gloves which necessarily have to be provided by the government. Posted on 18 Apr, 2011 12:26 PM


 

Transparent & participatory governance in functioning of the decision-making committees on water resources
This article presents the text of an open letter to Ministry of Water Resources from a group of civil society representatives, 13 April 2011 Posted on 16 Apr, 2011 03:46 PM

To
Shri Salman Khurshid,
Union Minister of Water Resources,
Shramshakti Bhawan,
Rafi Marg,
New Delhi - 110001

2. Secretary, Union Ministry of Water Resources
3. Chairman, Central Water Commission
4. Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission
5. Member (Water), Planning Commission
6. Ms Aruna Roy, Chairperson, Working Group on Transparency, Accountability, Governance at National Advisory Council

"I want my father back" - A 50-min film by Suma Josson on farmers' suicides in Vidarbha
I Want My Father Back' is a 50 minutes film on the suicide of farmers in Vidarbha. Vidarbha is in the eastern region of Maharastra State in India. Posted on 15 Apr, 2011 05:23 PM

 

 

The 'arrogant neighbour' - Newly launched Udupi Power Corporation Limited commits gross environmental violations - A two-part report from The Manipal Journal
Ash produced after burning the ‘world’s dirtiest fuel’ found place in an erstwhile fresh-water lake. Low lying fields were water-logged under the hot summer sun. Posted on 14 Apr, 2011 10:47 AM