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November 6, 2022
Protecting children from climate change impact not child's play
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)
September 26, 2022
Dirty drains 'drain' health
This study found that the sanitary quality of neighbourhood drains, in addition to toilets, affected sanitation and hygiene and incidences of ill-health in rural households.
Dirty drainages, harbingers of illhealth. Image for representation only (Image Source: SuSanA Secretariat via Wikimedia Commons)
September 9, 2022
Creating jobs while managing air quality
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)
August 19, 2022
Polluted water, hitchhiking microbes and the hidden threat of cholera in India
Better access to clean water coupled with health education to bring about changes in behaviour are critical to prevent exposure to dangerous cholera bacteria that lurk in untreated waters.
The hidden threat of cholera in India (Image Source: IWP Flickr photos)
July 20, 2022
Poisoned waters of Delhi
This study found a high concentration of trihalomethanes (THMs) in water treatment plants in Delhi that were associated with increased risk of cancer.
What's in your tap water (Image Source: India Water Portal)
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)
Smothered by heatwaves as climate swings
Effective action needed to avoid extreme heat events
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 22 May, 2021 11:19 PM

In recent times, India has been routinely experiencing abnormally hot days during the summer months of April and May.
A study shows how the open space on the western bank of the Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad acts as a heat sink. (Image: Emmanuel Dyan, CC BY 2.0)
Rural realities amid second COVID surge
Practitioner's experiences in tackling the second wave in Indian villages
Arjun Kumar
Indira Khurana
Ritika Gupta
Anshula Mehta
Sunidhi Agarwal
Sakshi Sharda
Chhavi Kapoor
Posted on 17 May, 2021 10:44 PM

The second wave of COVID-19 has now spread to the rural pockets of the country at a much faster rate than it did during the first wave of the outbreak.
There is a need to strengthen the capacities of ASHA workers, and other healthcare and grassroots workers. (Image: DMD, Government of Bihar)
Bathing spaces for women - crucial for WASH!
Bathing spaces and not toilets alone, aid women in maintaining health and hygiene. It is time the Swachh Bharat Mission pays attention to bathing spaces as well!
Vaishnavi Pawar
Posted on 11 May, 2021 08:02 PM

While it is known that women and girls experience considerable challenges than men and boys in accessing water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) resources, there is minimal discussion on bathing spaces for women while the focus continues to be on toilet construction.
A temperory bathing space with no water and privacy in a fishing village in Tamil Nadu (Image Source: India Water Portal)
Responding to the second wave of COVID-19 in rural India
A coalition of nonprofits highlights the unique challenges that confront rural India and provides suggestions on how to respond to the second wave of COVID-19.
Rapid Rural Community Response to COVID-19
Posted on 06 May, 2021 11:52 AM

As healthcare systems in urban cities across India grapple with the second wave of COVID-19, smaller towns and v
As healthcare systems in urban cities across India grapple with the second wave of COVID-19, smaller towns and villages too are facing devastating consequences. (Image: ©Gates Archive/Saumya Khandelwa)
India’s pandemic generation: Inching closer to ecological disasters
Battered by the impact of COVID-19
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 17 Mar, 2021 11:20 PM

India is all set to usher in a ‘pandemic generation’, with 375 million children (from newborns to 14-year-olds) likely to suffer long-lasting impacts, as per the State of Environment Report, 2021.
Environmental crisis leading to more vulnerabilities among the marginalised communities. (Image: Pixabay)
Study detects high levels of arsenic in cooked rice in Bihar
Need to remove arsenic from the food chain and not just drinking water in endemic areas
Debapriya Mondal
Mohammad Mahmudur Rahman
Sidharth Suman
Pushpa Sharma
Abu Bakkar Siddique
Md. Aminur Rahman
ASM Fazle Bari
Ranjit Kumar
Nupur Bose
Shatrunjay Kumar Singh
Ashok Ghosh
David A Polya
Posted on 03 Mar, 2021 08:01 AM

Extensive evidence of elevated arsenic in the food chain, mainly rice, wheat and vegetables exists.
Median excess lifetime cancer risk of 2 per 10,000 from food arsenic exposure in Bihar. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
Budget 2021: Policy measures in the nutrition sector
Nutrition interventions need to be strengthened to protect people already at the margin of subsistence.
Shruti Ambast
Protiva Kundu
Shivani Sonawane
Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability
Child Rights and You
Posted on 25 Jan, 2021 11:34 AM

India's food security policy framework includes many proven nutrition interventions. In 2015, India committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of zero hunger.
Children eating their mid-day meal at a worksite school in Andhra Pradesh (Image: ILO Asia Pacific, Flickr Commons, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Sanitation workers amid the pandemic
The pandemic has exacerbated the issues of exclusion and vulnerability of sanitation workers.
Amita Bhaduri
Simi Mehta
Posted on 28 Dec, 2020 01:51 PM

Sanitation workers are out in full force tasked with disinfecting the public spaces as COVID-19 crisis continues to impact the country on top of other serious challenges faced by our WASH sector.
Despite the risks and the dire conditions of their work, sanitation workers continued to do their job (Image: C S Sharada Prasad, India Water Portal)
Responsible consumption and production key to fighting climate change
What are the lessons learnt from COVID-19 pandemic on effective waste and resource management?
Shyamala K Mani
Posted on 26 Dec, 2020 07:12 PM

The twelfth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) goal which calls for ensuring responsible consumption and production patterns, recognizes that consumption and production despite being drivers of the economy have destructive impacts on natural resources.
The management of waste is vital to minimize long-term risks to human and environmental health. (Image: Pasi Mäenpää, Pixabay)
Getting communities engaged in faecal sludge management
Community engagement structures, espe­cially at the slum and ward level, can take on roles with adequate capacity building and training inputs.
Anju Dwivedi
Shikha Shukla Chhabra
Shubhagato Dasgupta
Scaling City Institution for India (SCI-FI) - Centre for Policy Research
Posted on 22 Dec, 2020 05:05 PM

Gyanchand Mishra, Councillor of Ward 3, is the President of the Ward Sanitation Committee (WSC) and is also a member of the City Sanitation Task Force (CSTF).
Community engagement structures at the slum level have ensured that the most mar­ginalized and vulnerable sections of a city, that is, the slum communities now have a voice. (Image: SCI-FI, CPR)
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