Conservation - Reducing Water Usage

In the present study, two different Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) were developed for Dharoi reservoir, Gujarat, one for flood control operation and another for conservation operation. In recent years, ANNs are increasingly being used to predict water resources variables particularly in the operation of reservoirs, the most important elements of complex water resources systems, constructed for spatial and temporal distribution of water.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests released a draft of the regulatory framework for wetland conservation - Wetlands Conservation and Management Rules (2009) for feedback from all stakeholders. The draft framework was prepared by a multi-disciplinary expert group, and final round of comments were invited till June 21st 2010.

The Wetland Conservation Team of Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) did a detailed analysis of the draft regulation and submitted several pertinent concerns to the Ministry. The most significant observation is that the new framework (as do much of India's policies and laws) continues to propose unjustifiable State control and interventions over the country's wetlands and livelihoods of people dependent on them. The regulation does not make any constructive suggestions or recommendations for the conservation that the country's wetlands demand, and instead brings all wetlands into complete official control by installing Central, State and District-level wetland regulatory authorities, wherein the majority of the members will be senior government officials.

Desilting is becoming a major component of any Lake Conservation Project now a days. The basic reasons given for necessity of desilting are - increasing the storage capacity and checking eutrophic conditions.

As it is not practicable to reverse the slow process of silting in the bed of lakes through which only silt can be removed, there is no word like 'desilting' in any standard English dictionary. What we are doing in the name of 'desilting' is practically 'digging' or 'excavation' of lake bed. By so called desilting, the original lake bed is disturbed which has far reaching adverse effects on the performance of the lake. Most visible effect is the increase in percolation rate resulting in heavy seepage losses through the lake bed as observed after massive desilting at Pushkar lake in 2009.

Natural resources are limited and considering industrialization and global warming we should start focusing on preserving natural resources or need to find out optimum way to utilize these resources.

Earth, tree and water are linked to each other and due to vast industrialization we are breaking the nature rules now the time has come to give back or restore our natural resources.

Small and big dams and big embankments were constructed in this region, without understanding the nature of the rivers which have always changed course or overshot their banks. Assuming however, that the river will not change course, the Government adopted a skewed development program - that of building embankments to contain the river.

Neel Ka Dhabba recounts how Gandhiji washed away the stain of cruel oppression of Champaran's Indigo farmers forcibly made to grow Indigo by processors-traders, using caution, non-violence, courage and humility. The essay is narrated by Gandhiji himself.

In Sansthayen Narayan Parayan Bane, Acharya Vinoba takes a critical look at the work of voluntary development organisations, and details what and how their goals, functioning and funds management should be.

Article Courtesy: Funds for NGOs.org

“The Ramsar Small Grants Fund (SGF) was established in 1990 as a mechanism to assist developing countries and those with economies in transition in implementing the Convention and to support the conservation and wise use of wetland resources, with a strong human and social dimension. From 1991 to 2008 the Fund has provided a total of 7.5 million Swiss Francs to 227 projects from 108 countries, providing up to 40,000 Swiss francs (about US$32,000) per project.”

This presentation deals with the projects implemented by Paharpur Business Centre and Software Technology Incubator Park (PBC-STIP), New Delhi towards reduction in potable water consumption through its projects on water closet replacement, waterless urinal and sensor tap.

The other potable water savings projects of PBC-STIP include dish washer (GE make), soap free water for gardening, use of native plant species, drip irrigation, hydroponics culture for growing plants and use of conductivity meter. Its initiative in water conservation runs across all verticals and it engages with the supply chain to sensitize them on water issues.

The presentation deals with Mahindra and Mahindra’s (M&M) work on optimal utilization of groundwater resources in its vehicle manufacturing plant at Zaheerabad, Andhra Pradesh. M&M had taken help from ICRISAT and Groundwater Department of GoAP to study the hydro-geology and topography of the estate and prepare ground water maps.

A time bound master plan of water augmentation was worked out to undertake activities like rainwater harvesting pits, new locations for borewells/ openwells/ percolation tanks, planting of less water intensive trees, re-usage and re-cycling of wastewater, rainwater channels to recharge the under ground water reservoirs and installation of drip irrigation.

This presentation describes the vision and strategy of PepsiCo, Roha, Maharashtra and its initiatives in the area of water conservation. The plant with three filling lines (bottling and canning) has tried to achieve positive water balance through water savings at plant level, water initiatives at community level and by promoting water conservation measures in agriculture.