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November 6, 2022
Protecting children from climate change impact not child's play
In 2020, 559 million children were affected by four to five heatwaves a year; numbers could increase four-fold by 2050, as per a report by UNICEF
Heat-related mortality is four times higher among children under 1 year of age than in persons aged 1–44 years (Image: Taqver, Wikimedia Commons)
October 22, 2022
Employment guarantee during Covid-19
Role of MGNREGA in the year after the 2020 lockdown: Survey findings from Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh
MGNREGA provided income support or security to vulnerable households during the pandemic (Image: UN Women)
October 14, 2022
Lack of data professionals in the impact sector
Arthan organizes a fireside chat to highlight the need for more data talent for social impact
There is a need to integrate data science into the existing education system (Image: Mohamed Mahmoud Hassan, Public Domain Pictures)
September 9, 2022
Creating jobs while managing air quality
Highlights from a new report released by iFOREST
An old coal-fired power plant has been dumping vast quantities of ash out in the open for many years. (Image: Lundrim Aliu/ World Bank; CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
July 14, 2022
Ichamati: River of poetry is dying a slow death
The river is faced with the dual problem of flood plain encroachment and growing levels of water pollution
Illegal transverse check dams (Badhals) built on Ichamati near a village in Basirhat (Image: Prithviraj Nath @ TheWaterChronicles)
July 10, 2022
Slow onset climate-induced disasters leaving migrants at greater risk of human trafficking
People in India fleeing disasters like drought more likely to have experienced trafficking or modern slavery than those fleeing floods or cyclones
The country's climate change assessment suggests things are only going to get worse (Image: Saurav Karmakar, India Water Portal Flickr)
Understanding the connect between caste and sanitation
De-linking the relationship between the two and not acknowledging the contribution of sanitation workers can limit the goal of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan to clean India and achieve total sanitation.
Subhash Gatade
Posted on 05 Dec, 2015 11:14 PM

Of the one billion people defecating out in the open globally, 66% live in India of which as high as 92% live in rural areas.
Factors affecting sanitation outcomes (Source: Sourabh Phadke)
Tea trouble brewing in Assam
Decreasing rainfall in Assam is causing a decline in tea yield, but the crop itself is somewhat adapting to the impacts of climate change, as are tea growers.
Usha Dewani Das
Posted on 05 Dec, 2015 10:31 PM

Assam, which lies on either side of the Brahmaputra River and borders Bangladesh and Myanmar, is the world's largest tea-growing region (Wikipedia). According to estimates by the Tea Board of India in 2007, the state has 3.11 lakh hectares of area u
Women plucking tea leaves at a garden in Golaghat
Braving the deluge: Chennai's worst December
Chennai's limp back to normalcy will be slow and painful, especially for low-lying Velachery, Urapakkam, Kotturpuram and Saidapet which remain flooded even two days after the rain has let up.
Seetha Gopalakrishnan
Posted on 05 Dec, 2015 02:39 PM

Residents were convinced that November was the worst but stock taking and rehabilitation had to wait a week longer as the maniacal rains of December took everyone by surprise and completely crippled the city. According the

Rescue efforts underway in Kotturpuram, one of the Chennai's worst affected areas
Water vending machines: How equitable are they?
Water ATMs have been in use in India for a decade but who are they helping and are they fulfilling their objective, which is to provide safe and clean drinking water to the poor at a low cost?
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 05 Dec, 2015 02:34 PM

A water ATM, as the name implies, is a sort of a water vending machine similar to bank ATMs except that in a water ATM, money goes in to the machine in return for water. These machines, which run on a cash as well as a prepaid card or smart card system are built, owned and operated by private companies that have rights over public resources such as land and water.
Water vending machines at work (Source:Sarvajal)
The tragedy of the groundwater commons
Groundwater accounts for over 50% irrigated area in India, but the new guidelines by the Central Groundwater Authority only crack down on water-intensive industries such as soft drinks and leather.
Neeta Deshpande
Posted on 04 Dec, 2015 04:46 PM

India's groundwater is under severe stress thanks to its burgeoning population, inadequate and irregular water supply, abuse of water resources, and changes in the groundwater recharge potential.
Water well in Purulia, West Bengal (Source: India Water Portal Flickr Photos)
Springs are more than just a source of water for humans
Springs exist in the most biodiverse regions of the country and anchor entire ecosystems. That fact must be respected while undertaking springs conservation work.
Chicu Lokgariwar
Posted on 02 Dec, 2015 09:04 PM

"If you do good work on the ground, policy will happen", says Himanshu Kulkarni of ACWADAM. This has proven to be in true at least in the case of springs.
Springs not only provide humans with water but anchor entire ecosystems.
Undisposed toxic waste still haunts Bhopal’s groundwater
A report says that many locals in Bhopal are dealing with “high rates of birth defects, rapidly rising cancer rates, neurological damage, chaotic menstrual cycles and mental illness".
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 02 Dec, 2015 03:06 PM

“When cool air blows over the city and it rains in Bhopal bringing welcome respite to its people, I fear that toxic waste is spilling into its groundwater”, says Rajesh Kumar who shows me around the 68-acre plant site of Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL).
A poem that describes how the city was left destroyed is written on a wall near a memorial for those killed & disabled by the Bhopal gas tragedy, 1984
2016 might show worse impacts of El Nino, predicts WMO
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 01 Dec, 2015 08:51 PM

2015 the warmest year since 1850: WMO
Annual average temperature map (Source: Robert A. Rohde via Wikimedia Commons)
Uttarakhand finally recognises the land rights of three villages displaced by Tehri dam
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 01 Dec, 2015 08:44 PM

Three villages displaced by Tehri dam finally recognised as revenue villages
Tehri dam in the lean season (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Mainstreaming India’s water and climate concerns: Reflections before COP-21
India’s INDC commitments show that it is serious about climate change but to effectively deal with the issue, all nations must actively engage in reducing their emissions.
Abhijit Sharan
Posted on 28 Nov, 2015 12:07 PM

“Climate Change has taken on political dimensions, that’s odd because I don’t see people choosing sides over E=mc2 or other fundamental facts of science!” - Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist
INDCs will take centre stage at COP 21-UN Climate Change conference in Paris (Source: France Bleu)
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