Governance

Featured Articles
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)
Sixty river stretches found polluted in the northeast: CPCB
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 22 Feb, 2020 09:53 PM

Northeast has 60 polluted river stretches: CPCB
A river in Assam (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
USD 450 million loan from the World Bank for Atal Bhujal Yojana
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 22 Feb, 2020 09:39 PM

World Bank to provide USD 450 million loan for Atal Bhujal Yojana
Atal Bhujal Yojana aims to arrest the country's depleting groundwater levels (Source: IWP Flicke photos)
Community water purification system in a Delhi urban slum
Women swipe clean drinking water through an automated dispensing unit at the Lalbagh slum.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 22 Feb, 2020 12:38 PM

It’s a dull reality that the state of water in the urban slum of Lalbagh near Azadpur in north Delhi was awful till a few years back. Hoards of people would queue up to get water from the public taps or the tankers along the road. Life was tough here and people got access to piped water supply only recently.
Once selected for the role, the women entrepreneurs were trained to run the community filtration plant and overlook all operations ranging from the management of customers to the plant finances. (Image: India Water Portal)
Tangled bones, children unable to move and lives cut short
Fluorosis has turned out to be a chronic public health problem, with millions of people at high risk due to lack of clean drinking water.
Vikas Ratanjee
Posted on 19 Feb, 2020 11:45 AM

I am in the middle of nowhere, out on a field visit to understand how fluoride, a deadly contaminant in groundwater has been afflicting people in some of the worst affected villages in Nalgonda, Telangana. I am thirsty as hell and would do anything to find a seemingly elusive little glass of water, but I can’t.
INREM Foundation has helped develop protocols on designing proactive action on safe water and nutrition to help mitigate fluorosis (Image: Vikas Ratanjee)
Decentralised groundwater governance to deal with the groundwater crisis
Decentralised groundwater governance frameworks that integrate democratic institutional mechanisms are needed to deal with the current groundwater crisis in India.
Aarti Kelkar Khambete
Harshavardhan Dhawan
Posted on 17 Feb, 2020 05:43 PM

The challenges to sustain groundwater dependency in India are many where groundwater over extraction is not only leading to rapid depletion of the resource, but also giving rise to water quality issues in a situation where the response at the level of policy continues to be lukewarm.
The need for decentralised governance to deal with the current groundwater crisis (Image Source: ACWADAM)
Overcoming heavy odds to emerge as a WATSAN model
How women came together in a Junagadh village to tackle drinking and domestic water shortage effectively.
Bharat Dogra
Posted on 17 Feb, 2020 04:18 PM

Kotda village provides an inspiring example of how a village suffering from teething troubles in the critical areas of water and sanitation can emerge as a model water and sanitation village. Located in Mangrol block of Junagadh district, from a distance this village presents a lush green appearance because of an abundance of coconut trees.
AKRSP has promoted rainwater harvesting to address the issue of scarce potable water at Mangrol. By encouraging households to collect rainwater using pipes on their roofs which then drain into an underground tank they have been able to promote water security. (Image: Aga Khan Foundation Flickr)
Decoding budget 2020
Is the budget a bummer? Experts speak at a panel discussion organised by CBGA.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 10 Feb, 2020 04:35 PM

“Every single number in the budget, be it receipts or expenditure is a lie. The budget numbers can no longer be trusted, as the difference between actual expenditure and budget estimates are off by around 25 percent.
Woman farmer sifting grain (Image: Ray Witlin/World Bank CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Budget 2020: Is the allocation enough to meet the piped water dream
Experts discuss if the budget has enough funds for water access and security.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 09 Feb, 2020 09:25 PM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget announcement on February 1, 2020 made a push for piped rural drinking water supply and promised full coverage of all households by 2024.
Just 21.4 percent of India’s households have access to piped water, as per NSSO data (Image: Niyantha Shekar, Flickr Commons; CC BY-NC 2.0)
Mumbai lost 71 percent of wetlands in last four decades: Report
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 09 Feb, 2020 07:11 PM

Among 22 cities in India, Mumbai has lost the maximum number of wetlands: WISA
The pink guests of Sewri wetland, Maharashtra (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Jal Jeevan Mission receives Rs 11,500 crore allocation in Budget 2020-21
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 06 Feb, 2020 10:07 PM

Government allocates Rs 11,500 crore to Jal Jeevan Mission for 2020-21

In the budget 2020-21, the Finance Ministry has allocated Rs 11,500 crore to the Jal Jeevan Mission for the year for 2020-21.
Women filling water from a tap (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
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