Governance
Fluid rivers but concrete mindsets
Posted on 25 Mar, 2014 08:42 PMThe twin sisters: Bihar is a land of fertile farms bearing sugarcane, wheat, rice, gram and pulses. Interspersed between the fields are venerable mango groves. Of Bihar's children, perhaps none is as universally loved as Sita. The village that she was born in -Sitamarhi- welcomed another daughter along with Sita.
Their land lost to a dam, 2,000 farmers take to fishing -- in cages
Posted on 25 Mar, 2014 08:28 PMThe Chandil dam reservoir is located 30 kms from Jamshedpur on the Subernarekha river in Jharkhand. While this dam is a 'tourist hotspot', its construction has resulted in the displacement of more than 20,000 families from 116 surrounding villages. “We lost our farmlands because of the project and now, to support our families, we have to take any job available", says Narayan Gope.
A pathway for water
Posted on 25 Mar, 2014 08:18 PMPophala is a dry land farming village with 73 families that cultivate 290 acres. The people would spend as many as 5 hours to go to another village and get water. In the year 2013, the Gram Sabha in Pophala village, decided on something unique. They decided to figure out a way to get and keep water in their village so as to not be dependent on anyone else.
Fatehabad - Another Fukushima?
Posted on 25 Mar, 2014 08:14 PMNational Highway 10 passes through Badophal, a village in Fatehabad district of Haryana. The highway is lined by a tiny market and a point where several jeeps start and terminate. These jeeps are headed to Gorakhpur village, some 15 kms away via Kajal Heri, another village en route.
The key to successfully managing groundwater in India
Posted on 23 Mar, 2014 10:47 PMDr. Himanshu Kulkarni is the Executive Director of the Advanced Center for Water Resources Development and Management (ACWADAM), a non-profit organisation in Pune. It is a premier education and research institution, which facilitates work on groundwater management through action research programmes and training.
Floods despite dams
Posted on 23 Mar, 2014 10:42 PMFloods in Bihar have acquired menacing proportions following the embanking of its rivers, which has led to severe dislocations in the society. Estimates suggest that 70% of the population in north Bihar lives under the recurring threat of flood devastation (1). The 2013 floods affected more than 5.9 million people in 3768 villages (2).
Cleaning up: From Canada to Kharaudi
Posted on 23 Mar, 2014 10:20 PMIn 2003, President Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam visited a small village in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab. Kharaudi had done something he thought others could emulate.
A village becomes water secure
Posted on 23 Mar, 2014 10:12 PMMewat, a historical region comprising of the present Mewat district of Haryana and parts of Alwar, Bharatpur and Dholpur districts of Rajasthan, lies in a semi-arid belt. It experiences variable rainfall annually and receives, on average, 336 mm to 540 mm, as per the Mewat Development Agency.
Power'house or powerless: A debate on dams in Arunachal Pradesh
Posted on 19 Mar, 2014 11:54 PMArunachal Pradesh, a state rich in water resources, has a huge potential for cheap and plentiful power. Isolated and one of the least developed states in the country, today it is viewed as the ‘powerhouse’ of the country.