Governance

Nature has bestowed Kashmir valley with abundant water resources on which its vast population depends in myriad ways since time immemorial. People derive their livelihoods from the numerous direct and indirect activities related to these water bodies. In spite of their immense benefits, the water bodies and wetlands are treated as wastelands in Kashmir.

Climate change consciousness has led to global investment firms prioritising sustainable investments, not only for long-term financial returns but to also provide positive social effects.

Reports of immense damage are continuing to emerge from Assam as the state is reeling under floods followed by incessant rainfall and landslides across many districts. Around 5,75,470 people including 1,15,314 children have been impacted so far.

Individual’s attitude and behaviour is crucial for implementing sustainable construction & demolition (C&D) waste management.

Wastewater treatment and reuse practices are limited in India despite the known benefits of preventing water resources pollution and contributing to sustainable production and consumption systems.

Any large-scale water security program by the government needs two things: [i] continuous data - given the dynamic nature of water - its annual replenishment depends on how much rainfall occurs and what farmers decide to grow in that agricultural cycle; and [ii] people who understand this data and continue to maintain the implementation post-intervention.

When UNICEF brought borewell rigs to India in early 1970s to help deal with water shortage, little did we know that it would become a tool for privatising the groundwater in the decades to come. Today, this practice of treating groundwater as a private resource has led to over-exploitation and an increase in mineral contamination as we drill into deeper aquifers in search of water.

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is one of the largest social protection programmes in the world, providing guarantee of income to some 55 million people every year.

The urban population in India was estimated to be 34.5% in 2019, as per the World Bank. There has been an increase in urbanization by almost 4% in the last decade due to a greater number of people migrating from rural areas to cities in search of better job opportunities.

Against the backdrop of human-induced hazards and disaster risks, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) articulates the need for an improved understanding of disaster risk in all its dimensions of exposure, vulnerability, and hazard characteristics as well as the strengthening of disaster risk governance (UNDRR, 2015).