Governance

Featured Articles
November 6, 2022 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 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 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 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 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 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)
New scheme for the development of mining-affected areas
Policy matters this week Posted on 29 Sep, 2015 04:58 PM

Government announces launch of Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana

Coal mines in Jharsuguda district (Source: IWP Flickr Photo)
Relaunch of Buniyaad 2015- a 15 day activist training program
Sambhaavnaa Institute relaunches the activist training program Buniyaad. This is a perspective building program for young activists in a social movement/organisation.
Posted on 22 Sep, 2015 04:17 PM

Sambhaavnaa Institute is organising a two week program for youth involved in initiatives of social change at its campus in in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh. 

About Buniyad: 

A pond comes to life
Hundreds of villagers pitched in to revive a village pond at Bapugaon, a village in Rajasthan, to make it water and food secure. Posted on 22 Sep, 2015 10:42 AM

It had not rained for awhile and the tiny cracks in the earth in Bapugaon were opening up. This little village in Chaksu tehsil of Jaipur was yet again faced with a drought in the mid 1980s. The situation was aggravated in 1986 when the river Dhund, an important water source for Bapugaon, went dry. Since then, both the quantity and quality of water started deteriorating.

More than just physical rehabilitation of a water body, says Kalyan ji of Bapugaon
Centre approves 50 more days of work under MGNREGA to tackle drought
Policy matters this week Posted on 21 Sep, 2015 10:14 PM

50 more days of work under MGNREGA in drought-hit areas

Labourers building check dams under MGNREGS (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Polavaram--solution or problem?
Dam history will be repeated with the construction of the Polavaram Dam. Unfortunately, other options that could have been looked into such as reduction of height, were ignored. Posted on 21 Sep, 2015 11:13 AM

Papi kondalu, a scenic gorge located on the lower stretches of the Godavari, will soon be engulfed within the controversial Polavaram Dam. The river serves as a visitor’s delight as it winds through the hills--the same hills that are home to primitive tribal groups such as the Kondareddys.

Papi kondalu gorge on Godavari (Source: Pranay Raj, Wikimedia Commons)
Water guards of Rajasthan
Taankas are trusted allies in the harsh weather of Rajasthan, but the focus is shifting now onto personal assets rather than community resources. Posted on 20 Sep, 2015 07:29 PM

We were driving down the long desert road that runs parallel to the Indo-Pakistan border in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. There was little else to see except the surrounding sand dunes and desert grass.

A taanka in the Thar desert
Piped water scheme changes the lives of Odisha villagers
Bandhabhuin village went from having 1 handpump for 400 people to 7, toilet facilities in 55% of the houses and had an overall improvement in its social and economic fabric. Posted on 19 Sep, 2015 05:55 PM

In India, about Rs.70,000 crore 

Anup Munda showing his functional toilet at Bandha Bhuin
Godavari, Krishna rivers are interlinked
News this week Posted on 14 Sep, 2015 10:21 PM

Godavari, Krishna rivers interlinked

Prakasam Barrage across Krishna river (Source: Subhash Chandra via Wikipedia)
Long-delayed Teesta-III project in Sikkim gets cleared
Policy matters this week Posted on 14 Sep, 2015 08:26 PM

Teesta-III project in Sikkim gets a green signal

The meandering Teesta river (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
What does being 'water stressed' mean for India and her neighbours?
India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and China rank in the top 50 of the world’s most water-stressed countries projected for 2040. Our data analysis shows the stress to the environment, economy, and people. Posted on 10 Sep, 2015 06:25 PM

worldwide ranking of water stressed nations by the World Resources Institute

India ranks 31 in the world’s most water-stressed countries projected for year 2020 (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
×