Governance

The two documents describe five case studies that highlight some successes and best practices from the Water Supply and Sanitation Department, Government of Maharashtra.

A variety of socio-technical actions have been carried out by the movement participants, which have resulted in increased agrarian-based livelihood incomes, primarily through increased groundwater availability and with it an improved quality of life. The paper identifies the key drivers of the recharging movement and the factors that have sustained it. 

This paper published in the Economic and Political Weekly dwells on the groundwater management debate and makes suggestions for developing a viable approach to sustainable and equitable management of groundwater in India.

This paper published by the Sehgal Foundation presents a case

This paper published by the International Environmental Law Research Centre briefly describes the geography and the socio-economic background of Plachimada, and analyses the legal and institutional framework applicable to the case,

This paper published in the Economic and Political Weekly describes the case of river Khari in Gujarat, which faced increasing amount of pollution due to the discharge of industrial effluents in the river and the efforts made  to solve the pollution problem.

The phenomenon of pollution started in the 1970s when Naroda, Odhav, Vatva and Narol on the eastern periphery of Ahmedabad city were promoted by the government. While there were zones for industries according to the type of waste generated, environmental considerations were overlooked and no provision was made for the safe disposal of industrial effluents. Most of the factories in the industrial estates were water intensive and all of them discharged effluents into the nearby Kharicut canal, which flows into the Khari river, a tributary of the Sabarmati. As the canal remained dry throughout the year, the government ignored its (mis)use.

A 15 day 'Theatre and Communication' workshop was held by water related NGOs from 12 states. This movie demonstrates the accomplishments of synergy and how after this workshop theatre was used in hundreds of schools to convey water related messages to the community.
Courtesy- Ministry of Water Resources, Time- 16:45 minutes

This multimedia course developed by ACWADAM, Pune, is primarily meant for people working in watershed and agriculture projects, to give them a better understanding of groundwater.

Groundwater depletion has reached such alarming proportions in the semi-arid and arid regions, despite huge investments in watershed development programmes by the state and central governments and the international donor community. One of the stated aims of these programmes is to mitigate drought and ensure water availability throughout the year.

Saurashtra is the peripheral region along Coastal Gujarat. It is composed of a Central basaltic plateau that rises 100 to 200m above mean sea level with an average annual rainfall of about 600 mm. The rainfall is concentrated in a few days during which the incident rainfall leads to flashfloods draining into the sea.