Drinking and other Domestic Uses

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December 21, 2022 While drinking water coverage in rural India has improved, has it also improved reliability and safety of drinking water? This CEEW brief explores and analyses the available data to find out.
Adequate and safe drinking water, a valuable resource in rural India (Image Source: McKay Savage via Wikimedia Commons)
December 16, 2022 In this article, we will understand how the WQM course is continuing to influence the needs of learners that come from diverse backgrounds. The course model also offers core insights to many others who would like to engage in a virtual training program.
During a WQM course, a field team member from INREM facilitating a demonstration
December 13, 2022 WaterAid India’s partnership with USAID and Gap Inc. benefits 2400 villages across 7 districts of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra

WaterAid has focused on establishing community-led water quality monitoring & surveillance (Image: Anil Gulati/India Water Portal Flickr)
August 19, 2022 Better access to clean water coupled with health education to bring about changes in behaviour are critical to prevent exposure to dangerous cholera bacteria that lurk in untreated waters.
The hidden threat of cholera in India (Image Source: IWP Flickr photos)
July 20, 2022 This study found a high concentration of trihalomethanes (THMs) in water treatment plants in Delhi that were associated with increased risk of cancer.
What's in your tap water (Image Source: India Water Portal)
May 25, 2022 Enabling a culture of data sharing between programs and reuse of data
Participatory programs such as JJM require a large amount of village-level information on water (Image: Arpit Deomurar, FES)
Slow poisoning of the Harike wetland
Considered a Ramsar site since 1990, the Harike wetland in Punjab is on the verge of a serious crisis, as contamination of its waters from effluents has reached critical levels. Posted on 09 Mar, 2015 09:58 PM

Known as "Hari-ke-Pattan", this wetland is the largest in the Tarn Taran Sahib district of the Punjab in northern India and has the Harike Lake in its deeper part [1]. Its rich biodiversity plays an important role in maintaining the hydrological balance in the catchment area. It also supports a vast range of migratory birds including a number of globally threatened species [1].

Harike wetland (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Unseasonal rains damage crops worth Rs 10,000 crore
News this week Posted on 09 Mar, 2015 08:47 PM

Rabi crop damaged in north and central India

Rainy clouds hovering over Manipur's farmland
Are there solutions to epidemics from water-borne diseases?
The recent jaundice outbreak in Sambalpur, Odisha has again unfolded several questions related to rise of water-borne diseases in urban areas in India. This film explores these problems. Posted on 02 Mar, 2015 10:06 PM

Between May and December 2014, 17 deaths were registered in Sambalpur due to jaundice but residents say that the death toll due to water-borne diseases is much more than that. In January 2015, the Odisha High Court issued a notice to the state government asking it to furnish details on the steps taken to check the Jaundice outbreak in Sambalpur. 

What is Jaundice?

Polluted water in Sambalpur, Odisha
Coliform contamination and cholera: Deciphering the connection
Cholera, a possibly life threatening infection, spreads through water and food contaminated with feces. So, how hard is it to contain or prevent the infection? Posted on 02 Mar, 2015 05:34 PM

Vibrio cholerae is responsible for 100,000 -120,000 deaths annually, worldwide. [1] Commonly found in ponds, rivers and brackish areas, the bacterium finds its way into humans through contaminated food and water. And the result?

Water contaminated with plastics and more
Water Untouched: A film on Dalits' lack of access
Forming 17% of India's popultion, Dalits still have to depend on the goodwill of dominant castes for many things including access to basics. Why? Posted on 19 Feb, 2015 08:59 AM

“The Dalits of this country get access to water on the goodwill of the dominant caste. Water to untouchables is still miles away,” says Goldy M George, a Dalit activist and an expert on Dalit rights.

A Dalit woman in Ekta Nagar, Raipur
India ranked 12th in mismanaging plastic waste
News this week Posted on 17 Feb, 2015 08:28 PM

8 million tonnes of plastic waste dumped into world's oceans in 2010: Study

Two oceans meeting at Dhanushkodi, Tamil Nadu
Arid, but water secure in Kutch
Reduced migration, better hygiene practices and access to information on govt. schemes were only some of the achievements of villages in Rapar, Gujarat. The videos tell the full story. Posted on 16 Feb, 2015 11:34 PM

For many in Rapar taluka of Kutch, migration was a way of life due to the absence of rainfall; they went in search of greener pastures. But when the people realised their collective potential and how they could use it to resolve water scarcity in their villages, there was no stopping them ,and the compulsion to migrate reduced.

Rearing livestock: the mainstay of people in Rapar
Kerala's groundwater contamination source revealed
A study conducted in a village in Kozhikode district of Kerala highlights the need for standards while locating wells to prevent groundwater contamination. Posted on 16 Feb, 2015 09:41 PM

Open wells are one of the most important sources of drinking water, especially in Kerala’s coastal belt. Sadly, recent studies show that as much as 70% of these have been declared unfit due to faecal contamination.

Groundwater quality in Kodiyathur village, Kerala

A view of an open well
Citizens charter on drinking water and sanitation before Union Budget
Ahead of the Union Budget, Civil Society Organizations ask for policy strategies to support drinking water and sanitation for vulnerable sections. Posted on 13 Feb, 2015 02:24 PM

A National Convention on Union Budget 2015-16 by the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability, New Delhi held on 8th and 9th January 2015 brought together around 200 Civil Society Organisations from more than 20 States to discuss the policy asks for water and sanitation sector.

Water facility by WASMO in Gujarat
Bihar Government bans plastic packaged water bottles in all its departments
Policy matters this week Posted on 09 Feb, 2015 01:35 PM

Bihar's government offices to soon become free of plastic bottles

Plastic water bottles (Source: Pixabay.com)
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