Demand and Consumption

Featured Articles
November 8, 2020 The National Hydrology Project has created a national platform for water data and is working to enhance the technical capacities of agencies dealing with water resources management.
Breakthrough cloud computing facilities and remote sensing applications have helped showthe filling pattern of a water body (tank or reservoir) through freely available satellite imagery at an interval of five days.  (Image: Maithan dam, Wikimedia Commons)
December 13, 2019 A study highlights the need to scale down the export of rice, maize, buffalo meat and other items to conserve groundwater in India.
A farmer uses a hosepipe to irrigate crops at her farm in Nilgiris mountains, Tamil Nadu (Image: Hamish John Appleby for IWMI, Flickr Commons, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
December 2, 2019 Water stewardship is an approach predicated on the concept that water is a shared resource and so water risks are also shared risks that everyone in a catchment will face
Picture credit: Romit Sen
November 18, 2019 Bangalore's water utility is understaffed, under financed and unable to service the city's water needs.
Image credit: Citizen Matters
October 25, 2019 Groundwater use has doubled in Pune. Comprehensive mapping of groundwater resources and better management and governance is the need of the hour.
Groundwater, an exploited resource (Image Source: India Water Portal)
October 24, 2019 While ice stupas have been hailed as sustainable solutions to the water problems of Ladakh’s villages, the locals think otherwise.
Ice Stupas near Phyang monastery (Image Courtsey: Sumita Roy Dutta, Wikimedia Commons)
Understanding Atal Bhujal Yojana through the program guidelines
The program envisages promoting panchayat led groundwater management and behavioural change with a primary focus on demand-side management. Posted on 10 Aug, 2020 03:59 PM

Groundwater fulfills the drinking water requirements of nearly 85% and 50% of the rural and urban Indian population, respectively. 65% of the total irrigated area utilizes groundwater. It also caters to the water needs of the industrial sector in India.

Community participation is expected to facilitate bottom-up groundwater planning process to improve the effectiveness of public financing and align implementation of various government programs on groundwater in the participating states (Image: Water Alternatives, Flickr Commons)
Repurposing microirrigation to deal with water woes
Microirrigation does not often bring about a change in cropping patterns, with farmers continuing with water-intensive crops. Posted on 30 Jun, 2020 01:39 PM

India is likely to face stark water scarcity in the coming decades as a result of excessive use, according to the World Resources Institute (WRI)’s Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas - a tool to visualise and assess water stress and drought and flood risk covering

Irrigation pump supplying water for drip irrigation (Image: IWMI Flickr, (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0))
Digital tools to tackle water scarcity
FRANK Water and Arup launch the WASH Connect mobile app and WASH Basins Toolkit to empower local government and communities to jointly manage water resources. Posted on 30 Jun, 2020 08:57 AM

India has the highest population of any country in the world without access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation. According to WaterAid and the World Health Organisation (WHO), 163 million people still lack access to safe water and millions still defecate in the open.

About 200,000 people die each year in India from diseases related to unclean water (Image: FRANK Water)
Groundwater depletion in Punjab: Time for a major policy overhaul
The time for quick fixes is over; a comprehensive policy overhaul is urgently needed to impede the juggernaut of Punjab's groundwater depletion. Posted on 17 Jun, 2020 10:08 AM

Punjab, a small state in northwest India, derives its name from the Persian words panj (five) and ?b (water), meaning the "land of five rivers". Ironically, this state is now regularly in the news for its rapidly depleting groundwater levels.

Pumping groundwater with the energy generated from solar panels (Image: Prashanth Vishwanathan/IWMI; CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Villagers in Rajasthan show resilience during national lockdown
Continuing to prepare rural communities for the most unprecedented events in Alwar. Posted on 16 Jun, 2020 09:40 AM

India’s national lockdown to curb the fast-expanding community transmission of coronavirus led to life coming to a standstill across the country. The long pause of over three months is starting to ease, and the new shift towards “normal” gives health and hygiene ultimate attention.

Repairing the school infrastructures before students return to their classrooms (Image: Sehgal Foundation)
Need to protect the unique geological features in the Upper Ken basin
An attempt to document the geological features, water potential, and traditional wisdom around them in the Upper Ken basin. Posted on 07 Jun, 2020 12:52 PM

Kathayi, a scheduled tribe (ST) dominated village in the midst of the forested stretches of Shahnagar block in Panna district faces acute water scarcity during the 3-4 summer months. Through the government schemes, three wells and two hand pumps were installed in this 75 household village in the last 10-15 years, but most of them are dysfunctional now.

Panghata Kund in village Aloni, Panna (June 2014, after initial monsoon) (Image: Seema Ravandale)
Agricultural crop substitution can bridge rural and urban water needs
Rural and urban water crisis in India can be addressed through adaptive changes in current agricultural practices, as per a study in Maharashtra by the Indian School of Business. Posted on 01 Jun, 2020 02:51 PM

With 85 percent of water being utilized for agriculture in India, a gradual shift in agriculture towards water-intensive crops have exposed the country to an increased threat of water crisis. The erratic nature of monsoons adds to this exposure and calls for judicious use of water resources, especially in the dry regions.

Cropping pattern in Maharashtra over the past 40 years has shifted towards water-intensive crops like sugarcane (Image: Terry Sunderland/CIFOR)
Flushing away Covid-19, the Mumbai way!
While Mumbai slums have emerged as Covid-19 hotspots, Triratna Prerna Mandal (TPM) is moving ahead with conviction, to tackle the sanitation situation and ‘flush the virus’! Posted on 23 May, 2020 11:55 AM

Slums, fast growing Covid-19 hotspots!

Training safai and cremation workers on safe practices during the corona pandemic (Image Source: Triratna Prerna Mandal)
Horticulture pile-up, yet farmers stare at losses in Kachchh
Robust arid region horticulture in the water-scarce arid region of Kachchh, but without improved value-addition for increased shelf-life, farmers faced with a crisis. Posted on 10 May, 2020 04:05 PM

Kachchh: A desert oasis under peril

Date palm plantation in Kachchh (Image: Prayaas: The Movement of Grassroot Changes)
IMD revises the onset and withdrawal dates for monsoon
News this week Posted on 04 May, 2020 02:51 PM

IMD revises monsoon calendar for the country

Image used for representational purposes only (Image Source: India Water Portal on Flickr)
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