Groundwater

Featured Articles
October 17, 2022
Invisible informal groundwater markets
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
Poisoned waters, threatened lives
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
Making the invisible, visible
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
Poisonous encounters, fatal outcomes!
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
Poisoned waters, deadly outcomes!
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
Poisonous encounters: Nitrate contamination of groundwater in Rajasthan
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)
Does tapping regional springs affect the Western Ghats?
Dr. Jared Buono, hydrologist at NGO Gram Pari, spoke of a project that helped revive springs in the Western Ghats at an event organised by IIT Mumbai and India Water Portal to mark World Water Day.
Hamsa Iyer
Posted on 31 Mar, 2014 10:08 PM

The Western Ghats are made of up basalt rocks, which were formed from lava flows. These rocks are also known as water buckets as they are able to retain a lot of water. This unique feature helps create springs. At an event organised by IIT Mumbai and India Water Portal to mark World Water Day, Dr. Jared Buono talked about how springs were revived in Panchgani with the help of spring boxes.
World Water Day at IIT-Bombay
And the 2014 UN ‘Water for Life’ award goes to …
... IWMI-Tata Water Policy Program, a project that focuses on water and energy, and throws light on how the fortunes of groundwater and energy economies are intertwined.
Shilp Verma
Posted on 31 Mar, 2014 09:52 PM

IWMI-Tata Water Policy Program (ITP), a project that focusses on policy research in the co-management of energy & groundwater, has been awarded the 2014 UN ‘Water for life’ award!
Project leader Tushaar Shah with the award
When it rains, it stores!
In the four years since a programme called 'Mazhapolima', meaning bounty of rain, was launched in Thrissur, Kerala, the district has seen an increase in the quality and quantity of water in its wells.
Seetha Gopalakrishnan
Posted on 25 Mar, 2014 09:03 PM

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Rainwater diverted into an open well in Thrissur
Fatehabad - Another Fukushima?
Nuclear plants are usually located near oceans or rivers in order to have access to ample water for cooling but not the plant at Fatehabad. It is India's largest and could be its most dangerous too.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 25 Mar, 2014 08:14 PM

National Highway 10 passes through Badophal, a village in Fatehabad district of Haryana. The highway is lined by a tiny market and a point where several jeeps start and terminate. These jeeps are headed to Gorakhpur village, some 15 kms away via Kajal Heri, another village en route.
Gorakhpur nuclear power plant site
The key to successfully managing groundwater in India
Dr.Himanshu Kulkarni who was Chairman Working Group on Sustainable Groundwater Management for the 12th Plan, suggests measures to mitigate the poor groundwater scenario in the country.
Makarand Purohit
Hamsa Iyer
Posted on 23 Mar, 2014 10:47 PM

Dr. Himanshu Kulkarni is the Executive Director of the Advanced Center for Water Resources Development and Management (ACWADAM), a non-profit organisation in Pune. It is a premier education and research institution, which facilitates work on groundwater management through action research programmes and training.
A study group observing groundwater in a well
A village becomes water secure
Implementing rooftop rainwater harvesting, treating the catchment and building a community water tank are some reasons why Patkhori village is starting to sail through its water crisis.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 23 Mar, 2014 10:12 PM

Mewat, a historical region comprising of the present Mewat district of Haryana and parts of Alwar, Bharatpur and Dholpur districts of Rajasthan, lies in a semi-arid belt. It experiences variable rainfall annually and receives, on average, 336 mm to 540 mm, as per the Mewat Development Agency.
Water scarcity in Mewat
Sikkim's springs discharge 50% lesser over the last decade
The solution to water scarcity due to the shrinking monsoon season & the resultant declining discharge of natural springs lies in storing water. For this the forestland needs to be conserved.
Sandeep Tambe
Ghanashyam Kharel
Suju Subba and M. L. Arrawatia
Posted on 19 Mar, 2014 11:36 PM

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report predicts large scale changes in temperature and precipitation over the Asian land mass. In the mountains, this translates to less snow, more intense but shorter episodes of rainfall and insufficient groundwater recharge, thereby resulting in the drying up of water sources.
Rural water security in Sikkim
Water - not a gender-neutral resource
Generalization and mere quotas for women will not solve this gender bias. Involvement and empowerment of women are necessary for initiatives to succeed in the water sector.
Prachi Khanna
B S Bisht
Posted on 19 Mar, 2014 10:46 PM

Water is not ‘gender-neutral’, especially in India. It is the woman of the house who walks an average of 6 km each day to collect water for household use. In the Kumaon region, a newly married bride visits the family spring to fetch water a day after the wedding, in a symbolic tradition of water responsibility.
Women & water ( Source: Arghyam)
A multi-pronged approach to improve livelihoods in MP
Out-migration of residents and inefficient agricultural practices in Baldeogarh, MP have been partially resolved by an NGO's intervention, which focused on conserving water.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 17 Mar, 2014 03:46 PM

A little less than 40 km away from the district headquarters of Tikamgarh in northern Madhya Pradesh lies a watershed, which is an area of land where all of the water that is under it or drains off of it goes into the same place (US Environmental Protection Agency).
Farmer looks at the water conservation efforts
Invite to the course on 'Spring Protection', Grampari, Panchgani, Maharashtra
The goal of the course is to build awareness and capacity within the Western Ghats to protect spring ecosystems and ensure safe, sustainable drinking water.
Posted on 11 Mar, 2014 11:14 AM

Get more information on the course 'Spring Protection'.

Know more about Grampari.

Download the invite to the spring protection course from below.
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