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)
Water worried no more
The residents of Yavatmal come together to solve their drinking water problem. With crowdfunding to aid their effort, the result is inspiring. Posted on 10 Mar, 2017 01:44 PM

Located 10 km from the Yavatmal city in Maharashtra, the Nilona reservoir has been the primary drinking water source for its residents since 1972. As in many other parts of the country, the 1990s saw the city growing and the population increasing. The Yavatmal residents, who had not experienced water shortage till then, started facing acute drinking water shortage.

Nilona dam, Yavatmal
Maharashtra goes Doha for water
How the Doha model of groundwater recharge saved the livelihoods of farmers in Maharashtra. Posted on 22 Feb, 2017 12:02 PM

There was a time when the farmers of Yavatmal district depended completely on rainfed agriculture. That was before the introduction of Doha, a water harvesting structure by NGO Dilasa Sansthan in 2014. Farming changed drastically after that, something which Sitaram Kove, a 40-year-old farmer of Rajini village in the district, will vouch for.

A Doha canal at Rajini village. (Source:Dilasa)
A watered-down scheme
The new urban water supply scheme in Madhya Pradesh that encourages private sector participation is replete with lacunae, according to an NGO that studied the scheme. Posted on 16 Feb, 2017 12:25 PM

In November 2011, the government of Madhya Pradesh sanctioned Rs 493 crore to 37 Urban Local Bodies (ULB) for drinking water supply projects under the Chief Minister’s Urban Drinking Water Supply Scheme (CMUWSS) along the lines of the Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT).

Source:India Water Portal
Beyond drought: Tamil Nadu's chain of misfortunes
Tamil Nadu continues to witness cycles of flood and drought annually. Mismanagement of traditional water management systems is one of the main reasons. Posted on 07 Feb, 2017 10:40 AM

That Tamil Nadu qualifies to be dubbed as a land of climate paradoxes is beyond debate. The massive flood of 2015 was quickly followed by a punishing drought in 2016. Though the state benefited marginally from the south-west monsoon, as is usually the case, the biggest let down was the manner in which the more dominant north-east monsoon had panned out.

Parched land (Image courtesy: Ink Freezer)
Maharashtra gears up for irrigation projects
Policy matters this week Posted on 09 Jan, 2017 10:14 AM

Maharashtra approves cost overrun in irrigation projects, set to complete Gosikhurd project

Irrigation canal from the Bhima dam, Maharashtra (Source: Nvvchar on Wikipedia)
The sea mouths crisis
The opening of sea mouths in the Chilika is increasing the salinity of the lake, affecting the fish population and the livelihood of the fishing communities. Posted on 06 Jan, 2017 11:21 PM

Lingaraj Jena is a worried man. At 86, he is one of the older fishermen in Berhampura village, an island on the Chilika lake in Odisha. Though he no longer goes for fishing due to old age, he is worried about the opening of new sea mouths; he knows it is not good news for the fishing communities he is a part of that depend on the Chilika for their livelihood.

A view of the Chilika in the evening.
Saving the Ganga, one step at a time
A walk along the Ganga is all it takes to get a better perspective on the river and its deteriorating ecosystem. Here’s an attempt at it. Posted on 21 Dec, 2016 09:11 AM

An aerospace engineer from IIT, Kharagpur, Siddharth Agarwal could have been drawing a fancy salary like any other 25-year-old if he hadn’t followed his passion.

Siddharth Agarwal (Photo credit-Siddharth Agarwal)
Soon a single tribunal for all inter-state river disputes
Policy matters this week Posted on 19 Dec, 2016 12:45 PM

Government decides to create a permanent tribunal for all inter-state river disputes

Cauvery river in Karnataka (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Twin lakes of Bhoj
The lakes of Bhoj wetland that are home to many bird species and provide water to the local residents are now polluted and need urgent attention from the government. Posted on 21 Nov, 2016 10:10 PM

The Bhoj wetland is situated in the heart of Bhopal district in Madhya Pradesh. The wetland consists of two man-made lakes--the upper lake and the lower lake.

Raja Bhoj statue at the upper lake.
WASH away Ujjain woes
The holy city of Ujjain is dealing with severe water and sanitation issues. A study reveals serious anomalies in the WASH situation in the city. Posted on 07 Nov, 2016 10:31 PM

Despite all the hype around Swachh Bharat Mission, the situation on the ground remains dismal. The city of Ujjain is located on the western part of Madhya Pradesh on the Malwa Plateau and is primarily a religious tourism centre due to the Mahakal temple.

Open well in Hira mill ki chaal slum situated next to an open drain resulting in its water getting polluted.
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