Groundwater

Featured Articles
October 17, 2022 While informal groundwater markets cater significantly to the needs of smallholder farmers in India, they continue to be unacknowledged and understudied.
Groundwater, a finite resource (Image Source: TV Manoj via Wikimedia Commons)
July 5, 2022 Studies reveal that children are the most vulnerable to the health risks associated with groundwater contamination due to nitrate and fluoride, highlighting the need for urgent remedial measures.
POisoned waters, dangerous outcomes (Image Source: India Water Portal)
April 26, 2022 The water stewardship initiative by WOTR that developed a tool to visualise aquifers has not only helped farmers understand groundwater as a shared resource, but also led to a behavioural change among water users and helped implement groundwater laws and policies.
Groundwater, a fast disappearing resource (Image Source: India Water Portal)
February 13, 2022 A study provides new evidence that drinking water contaminated with arsenic can lead to still births, recurrent pregnancy loss and infertility among women.
A well in Rajasthan (Image Source: IWP Flickr photos)
August 29, 2021 A study shows that high arsenic contamination of groundwater in Bihar is linked with increase in cancer cases. Districts located near the Himalayan river basins have more people with cancer.
Drinking water in Bihar, linked to cancer (Image Source: IWP Flickr photos)
August 26, 2021 This study from Rajasthan found that anthropogenic factors led to nitrate contamination of groundwater. High nitrate levels in drinking water posed major health risks to children.
A well in Rajasthan (Image Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Groundwater: A few ignored issues
Does the root of India's groundwater problem lie in our Constitution, National Water Policy or the lack of an integrated approach?', asks KG Vyas former advisor to the Rajiv Gandhi Watershed Mission. Posted on 29 Aug, 2015 06:25 PM

Groundwater in our country is rapidly depleting. Inspite of the vision of water managers in planning and investing in the water sector, there are a few issues in the field of groundwater that seem to be partly responsible for this deteriorating groundwater scenario in the country, and these are largely ignored. Where does the problem lie?

Contaminated water in Bhalaswa resettlement colony (Source: India Water Portal)
Kaun kitne paani mein: Movie review
A Hindi film set in a water starved locale in Odisha asks, "Can water be bartered for love?" Posted on 28 Aug, 2015 06:45 PM

Kitna shaant hai ye paani, aur iske liye yeh rajniti’ (the water is so still, yet there is politics around it).

Water scarcity becomes a source of conflict between two villages (Source: Facebook)
Water problems with quality and access plague Sambalpur, Odisha
Groundwater in Talabeda village in Sambalpur, Odisha has high concentrations of iron but more urgently, its water supply system is dysfunctional for the last 2 weeks due to electricity issues. Posted on 27 Aug, 2015 04:00 PM

It's been more than 15 days and the drinking water crisis in Talabeda village in Sambalpur, Odisha is yet to be addressed. The water supply system of the village collapsed due to a fault in the transformer located within the premises of the Talabeda pump house, and no one has the time to fix this and restart the water supply system. 

The colour of the tiles around the public stand-post at Talabeda, Odisha have changed from white to red due to iron contamination.
Can India become groundwater secure?
Understanding scientific principles and spreading this knowledge among communities to design their water solutions could be an answer to tackling both groundwater crises and flood situations. Posted on 24 Aug, 2015 09:59 PM

Over the last few months, rains--whether they flooded India enough or not--have certainly flooded the news.

Depleting groundwater levels in the country (Source:Wikipedia)
International Seminar on 'Challenges to Groundwater Management: Vision 2050'
Centre for Ground Water Studies, Kolkata is organizing a Seminar on “Challenges to Groundwater Management: Vision 2050” on 13th and 14th November, 2015 at Kolkata, West Bengal
Posted on 24 Aug, 2015 03:49 PM

The seminar is intended to provide a platform for professionals involved in groundwater resources development and management to exchange knowledge and to have an insight into the state of the art in current technology and solution in sustainable groundwater management as have been applied in different countries and in India. 

Catching rain in the land of "too much water"
Rainwater harvesting in a school in Jorhat, Assam helps address water quality issues, improves attendance and serves as an example for others in the area to fight arsenic and fluoride contamination. Posted on 23 Aug, 2015 08:16 PM

Even in the remotest village of Assam, you would often find one saying ‘paanir nisina daam’ (meaning as cheap as water) or ‘paanir nisina xorol’ (as simple as water) over a good bargain or an easy task. Water is, almost always, associated with simplicity and abundance.

But those were the good old days.

Children drinking rainwater collected in tanks at Melamati Government Junior Basic School, Jorhat (Assam).
Colourful fabrics lead to murky waters
The textile printing cluster at Sanganer near Jaipur presents a Catch-22 situation on the right to pollution free water versus the right to livelihoods. Posted on 17 Aug, 2015 09:55 PM

Amanishah nallah flowing through Sanganer, a town located 15 kms from Jaipur, is getting murkier by the day as the the textile hand printing industry in the area is getting more prosperous.

Bleaching, dyeing and printing of cottons causes water pollution at Sanganer
Delhi’s Bhalaswa landfill contaminates groundwater
The landfill, which was supposed to be shut down in 2010 once the trash reached a height of 22m still remains functional at a height of 41m, polluting groundwater and areas around it. Posted on 17 Aug, 2015 09:51 PM

With more than 8360 tons of trash created daily in Delhi, the city has three trash pile sites at Bhalaswa, Ghazipur and Okhla. In these sites technically known as landfills, garbage is buried between layers of earth to build up low-lying lands.

Pushpa has been leading the struggle of Bhalaswa residents to clean water
Roundtable Conference on 'Innovations in Catalysing Interventions and Data Driven Decision Making for WASH programs'
Roundtable Conference will includes a book launch of 'Is it really clean? Creating a WASH Index'
Posted on 14 Aug, 2015 12:49 PM

About the conference

Roundtable Conference and Book Launch
No tunnel for the Luhri hydel project in Himachal
Policy matter this week Posted on 11 Aug, 2015 12:07 PM

Villagers win as SJVNL drops its tunnel plan for Luhri hydel project 

Sutlej river in Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh (Sanyam Bahga, Wikipedia)
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