Equity

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October 17, 2022
Invisible informal groundwater markets
While informal groundwater markets cater significantly to the needs of smallholder farmers in India, they continue to be unacknowledged and understudied.
Groundwater, a finite resource (Image Source: TV Manoj via Wikimedia Commons)
March 19, 2022
Women at the frontline of climate change adaptation
Women make strides in mainstreaming climate adaptation approaches on the ground
Kalyani Dash works with 150 households in the village directly and trains them on chemical-free farming techniques, water secure crop production, efficient water use in agriculture for a sustainable farming future as well as kitchen and nutrition gardening. (Image: FES)
March 6, 2022
A tool for crop choice integrates gender and farmer's preferences
Model used to explore consequences of different crop choices on income, gender-specific labour, use of inputs and markets
Promoting socially inclusive and sustainable agricultural intensification in West Bengal and Bangladesh (Image: ACIAR)
December 11, 2021
Counted, but not served?
Water remains inaccessible to the urban poor in the city of Mumbai as it continues to focus on developing new infrastructure to meet its very high per capita water needs. Why is this so?
Thirsty cities and the invisible poor (Image Source: Aathavan Jaffna via Wikimedia Commons)
December 6, 2021
Leaving no one behind!
Will it be possible to ensure equity and justice while balancing climate action goals with economic progress?
Taking everyone along while achieving a balance between economic growth and climate goals is crucial (Image Source: Good Energies)
December 2, 2021
The loo loop
Public toilets and choice of work for women
Separation between women and men’s toilets (Image: Rajesh Pamnani; CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Water warriors at work
Citizens come forward to restore polluted lakes and rivers in their cities. They demand support and swift action from the government.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 24 Aug, 2016 09:31 AM

The pitiful state of some of the water bodies in the country, coupled with the sheer apathy of the government, have forced some well-meaning citizens to come out of their comfort zones and make a difference. Some of these efforts, like the Puttenahalli lake in Bengaluru that is now overflowing with clean water, have been successful, while others are ongoing.
Citizens of Udaipur get together to remove water hyacinth from the Pichhola lake.
Riverbed off limits, farmers fume
With the sewage-fed vegetable cultivation on Yamuna riverbed banned, the farmers are worried about their livelihood.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 01 Aug, 2016 08:23 PM

Champa Devi has been working as a sharecropper on a two-acre farm at Nilothi village in west Delhi. Until a few years ago, the water she used for irrigation came from the Najafgarh drain that empties into the Yamuna river. This form of cultivation using waste water was a norm in the area till sometime ago.
Thousands of farmers like Champa Devi (in pic) who were growing edible crops or doing fodder cultivation on the riverbed and its floodplains took the brunt of the court’s decision.
Manipulating water bodies: A recipe for disaster
The flagship scheme of Maharashtra’s water conservation department, Jalyukt Shivar, is worrying for its myopic vision and faulty implementation, say experts
Aarti Kelkar-Khambete
Posted on 26 Jul, 2016 04:22 PM

Deepening work in progress on the Manjara river in Latur (Source: Ravindra Pomane)
Safe sanitation for women
Toilet security for women in India is less about the availability of toilets and more about addressing gender disparity.
Kathleen O’Reilly
Posted on 05 Jul, 2016 10:08 PM

According to the recent figures by the World Health Organisation and UNICEF [
Women and toilets (Source: India Water Portal)
Pipara women realise pipe dream
Pipara village in the parched Bundelkhand region stands out for its uninterrupted water supply. The village has their women to thank for it.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 01 Jul, 2016 12:03 PM

The cracks on the parched land of Bundelkhand are waiting for the monsoon to quench the thirst of its arid landscape. Despite the wide-spread drought here, Pipara, one of the villages in the region, stands apart as the only one that has not run completely dry. 
Women fill water from one of the taps at Pipara.
Farm ponds save village from drought
Tonk Khurd’s innovative farm ponds prove that when it comes to solving water crisis, one size does not fit all.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 21 Jun, 2016 09:09 AM

Vikram Patel, a 71-year-old farmer in Chidavad village of Dewas district in Madhya Pradesh is one of the first farmers to have embraced the idea of farm ponds to increase the groundwater level in his farm.
Vikram Patel near his farm pond in Chidavad.
Business interests and environmental crisis: A book review
While the environmental crisis threatens to impact the ecology and livelihoods in India, business interests take over sustainable solutions.
Kanchi Kohli and Manju Menon
Posted on 05 Jun, 2016 07:03 AM

A number of Asian countries are going through environmental crisis. Nowhere is the impact felt so seriously than in India, where the crisis threatens to affect survival. It is also impacting biodiversity, ecology and livelihoods. In this context, it becomes important to understand how nature and the current environmental crisis are being addressed in policy discourses.
Business profits and the environmental crisis (Source: India Water Portal)
Young professionals lead the way in water and sanitation
A fellowship placed young people in villages for a year, implementing good water & sanitation practices.
Priya Desai
Posted on 31 May, 2016 12:22 PM

Open drainHirehandigola village in Gadag district of North Karnataka is an unsurprising picture of rural India.
Hirehandigola village, North Karnataka
‘Bharat Mata’ weeps in dry Marathwada
Women reel under the dual onslaught of unprecedented drought and failed public policy in Marathwada. The government must wake up to this reality.
Seema Kulkarni
Posted on 30 May, 2016 09:25 AM

The image of a woman walking for miles with a pot of water on her head, another pot in one arm and a frail child clutching on to the other arm does not surprise anyone in Marathwada.
Women wait for water in Latur (Source: Roshan Rathod)
Changing seasons and diarrhoeal diseases
This study in urban and rural areas of Vellore, Tamil Nadu found that seasonal fluctuations had an effect on water quality and diarrhoeal disease risk.
Alexandra V. Kulinkina et al
Posted on 19 May, 2016 09:07 AM

Access to safe drinking water and diarrhoeal diseases in India
Water quality, seasonality and diarrhoeal diseases (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
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