Governance

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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)
Groundwater depletion: NGT raps green ministry on inaction
Policy matters this week Posted on 15 May, 2019 11:40 AM

NGT raps green ministry for failing to curb depletion of groundwater

Groundwater depletion adds to water woes. (Image source: IWP Flickr photos)
What happens when you throw away pencil cells?
Study reveals how tossing of dry cell batteries in our dustbins poisons the environment. Posted on 14 May, 2019 05:33 PM

A recent study by Toxics Link, an environmental research and advocacy organisation on batteries titled Dead and buried: A situational analysis of battery waste management in India estimates that 2.7 billion pieces of dry cell batteries are being consumed annually in India.

The evolving framework of end-of-life battery management could be inclusive of the informal chain of collectors and segregators. (Image: Toxics Link)
Only 37 percent of world’s long rivers free flowing
A study finds out dams and reservoirs diminish diverse benefits offered by healthy rivers. Posted on 14 May, 2019 05:02 PM

A little over a third of the world's 246 long rivers remain free-flowing, as per a study by a team of 34 international researchers, including those from McGill University in Canada and World Wildlife Fund India.

Pancheshwar dam on Mahakali river is feared to break the natural flow connectivity of river. (Image: Vimal Bhai)
Evacuation measures during cyclones in Odisha
Study indicates need for institutional capacity-building programmes in order to have high compliance with evacuation orders during cyclones. Posted on 10 May, 2019 02:55 PM

Life is getting back to normal after an ‘extremely severe’ cyclonic storm Fani hit India’s eastern coastline. It ripped through several districts of Odisha and West Bengal and brought in torrential rains and winds of up to 200 km/hr.

The trail of destruction after cyclone Phailin in Odisha on October 15, 2013 (Image: EU/ECHO, Samuel Marie Fanon; Flickr Commons, CC BY-ND 2.0)
What women want
As India votes this month in the Lok Sabha Elections, WaterAid India takes a look at how water and sanitation are still top of mind for many female voters across the country. Posted on 08 May, 2019 04:02 PM

As the world’s largest democracy is all geared for its biggest test - for voters to select their Members of Parliament and the Prime Minister, the top issues that dominate the electoral agenda at the national level have been increased jobs opportunities, controlling inflation, and reducing farmers’ distress.

Image credit: WaterAid/Prashanth Vishwanathan
Namami Gange: Only 10 out of 100 sewage projects done
Policy matters this week Posted on 07 May, 2019 03:49 PM

Under Namami Gange mission, only 10 out of 100 new sewage projects completed

Polythene bags and solid waste left behind as water recedes in the Ganga river. (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Cyclone Fani hits Odisha, 35 dead
News this week Posted on 07 May, 2019 03:36 PM

Cyclone Fani, strongest to hit India in 20 years, causes widespread destruction in Odisha

A cyclonic storm that hit India in 2016. (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Breaking period taboo
A sanitary pad manufacturing unit in a Rajasthan village brings women together and breaks taboo around menstruation. Posted on 06 May, 2019 11:18 AM

Leela Patel (19) explains how women at Wali, a tribal gram panchayat in Kurabad block, just 30 km away from Udaipur, manage menstruation by using old scraps of cloth. She’s aware of cases when women have had to use ash, dust and soil to soak up their periods. Buying a pack of sanitary pads is a luxury in this poverty-stricken belt.

Women at a manufacturing unit in Wali village that produces biodegradable sanitary pads at a low cost. (Image: India Water Portal)
MGNREGA fails to help drought-hit states
Policy matters this week Posted on 01 May, 2019 07:07 PM

MGNREGA's performance unsatisfactory in drought-stricken districts in 2018-19

Labourers build check dams under MGNREGA. (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Mapping pollution hotspots in Yamuna
A sensor network system is being used for mapping and monitoring the water quality of river Yamuna. Posted on 01 May, 2019 10:38 AM

The Yamuna was considered a nurturing and life-enhancing goddess in the past. Legend has it that bathing in the sacred waters of the Yamuna, the sister of Yama, the god of death, frees one from the ordeal of death. The 1376-km river is a tributary of the Ganga and originates in the Yamunotri glacier in the lower Himalayas.

A project, conceptualised by a team of researchers from the University of Chicago, US helps demonstrate that scalable water quality mapping systems can detect and predict water contamination (Image:India Water Portal)
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