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)
Food Security Bill sees light of the day
News this week - Lok Sabha passes the Food Security Bill, floods engulf Gujarat and India bans shark finning. Posted on 01 Sep, 2013 10:28 PM

POLICY MATTERS

Food security bill passed

Affordable food for all (Source: Google Images)
Unbalanced - Bangalore's water supply and demand
Averaging out demand per person isn't good enough to determine supply. Other variables such as growth of a city, difference in groundwater conditions by area and sewerage are equally important. Posted on 01 Sep, 2013 09:02 PM

Water consumption varies based on many factors – how much water is available, where one lives, one’s personal habits, the weather, the seasons and so on and so forth. Each of these contributes to varying usage patterns.

Integrated water resource management
Tug of war on the Gomti
A river, which once unified people, is now being manipulated in the name of 'river conservation'. All it is, is an excuse to create a divide and further caste conflict. Posted on 29 Aug, 2013 02:44 PM

As temple tanks go, this one is quite beautiful. It is a rectangular masonry-lined tank, about the size of a badminton court. Brick steps lead down to the water. On one of its longer sides is a lovely old temple, shaded by mango trees. Groups of men and women sit and gossip in the coolness. Facing them is an avenue of large trees, below which sit contemplative buffaloes.

Gomat Taal is reputedly the source of the Gomti
Free online course on 'Designing and implementing successful water supply and sanitation utility reform', The World Bank, September 23 - November 19, 2013
A core learning program to provide government officials, senior managers of utilities and technical staff with the knowledge, skills and tools for initiating and sustaining reform.
Posted on 29 Aug, 2013 08:54 AM

For further details on the online course, please click here.

Film: Konkanchi Mega Vaat (Mega 'Vaat' in the Konkan)
The proposed power projects in the Konkan region of Maharashtra have gravely affected people's livelihoods and their drinking water. Why aren't these plants being shut down? Posted on 16 Aug, 2013 06:02 PM

24 power projects are being proposed in Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts in the Konkan region of Maharashtra, which has the second highest biodiversity in India. The 9900 megawatt (MW) nuclear power project at Jaitapur is also included in this list of projects. If sanctioned, it could be the largest nuclear power generating plant in the world.

Alphonso mango trees in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra
Invite to International Film Festival on Water, Voices from the Waters - 2013, Bangalore
Voices from the Waters is a film festival to raise awareness about various water issues, by engaging in a process of learning and debate.
Posted on 16 Aug, 2013 05:52 PM

For further details on the invite, please click here

You may download the poster for the festival from below

 

Voices from the Waters 2013
Amritsar - the pond of nectar
Faith, service and legends - the holy city is full of tales around water. Take a dip! Posted on 16 Aug, 2013 02:27 PM

“PAWAN GURU, pani pita, mata dharti mahat” (air is teacher, water is father and earth our mother) -  thus goes the closing line of the Japji Sahib given by the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev. It holds special significance for Amritsar, the holy city, which boasts of the Harmandar Sahib (also known as the Golden Temple).

The holy sarovar around the Golden Temple
Angioplasty for groundwater or a heart attack waiting to happen?
The Maharashtra Govt plans to invest Rs. 800 crore to extend the 'Shirpur Model' of groundwater recharge across the state. Is it recharge or withdrawal that this model promotes? Posted on 16 Aug, 2013 10:38 AM

“What is in a name? That which we call a rose, would smell as sweet by any other”, goes the line from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. There is quite a lot in a name, Juliet, especially if attaching the wrong terminology to a process is used to appropriate public funds - Rs. 800 crores, in fact.

Shirpur, Maharashtra of the 'Shirpur Model' fame
Applications invited for UN-Water Best Practices Award, United Nations University
An award to promote efforts to fulfill international commitments made on water and water-related issues by 2015 through recognition of outstanding best practices
Posted on 15 Aug, 2013 08:24 AM

Further details of the announcement can be gathered from the link here

Open Confusion: Charba and Coca Cola
The Uttarakhand State Government leased land to Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages but the villagers of Charba were completely in the dark about this. Why is there a lack of transparency? Posted on 10 Aug, 2013 08:36 PM

Charba is a small village in Uttarakhand with a population of 10,000. It is located in the 'Vikas Nagar' area just beyond Dehradun - a section that the government has denoted an industrial area. This little village shot to fame when Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages (HCCB) decided to build a plant there.

Radha Behen addresses the villagers
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