Irrigation

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August 10, 2022 The irrigation at all costs mindset and narrow policies for drought protection during the colonial rule ignored rainfed agriculture and local practices that sustained agriculture in the Bombay Deccan. This continues even today.
Recurrent droughts and the struggle for survival (Image Source: Gaurav Bhosale via Wikimedia Commons):
August 9, 2022 Ensuring irrigation through farm ponds in tribal Chhattisgarh
Many tribal farmers opted for individual farm ponds under MGNREGA ensuring protective irrigation. (Image: Meenakshi Singh)
April 8, 2022 Lack of governance and six toothless irrigation acts have done very little to change the water situation on the ground in Maharashtra, argues water expert Pradeep Purandare.
Peanut irrigation in India (Image Source: Seratobikiba via Wikimedia Commons)
March 11, 2022 Subsidies enable tribal farmers to adopt micro-irrigation systems providing them assured irrigation
A key mitigation strategy to deal with water scarcity due to climate change is on-farm management of water using techniques like micro-irrigation (Image: India Water Portal Flickr)
September 17, 2021 Benefits of well-managed commons on livelihoods
Collective efforts revived the canal structure of Bichhiya dam bringing water to the village (Image: Foundation for Ecological Security)
August 29, 2021 Experience of Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India) in revitalizing the traditional phad irrigation system in hilly tribal villages of Western Madhya Pradesh
Community members contribute voluntary labour required for laying the pipeline network and tank construction (Image: Anjali Aggarwal)
A river comes to people
Nanduwali in east Rajasthan started flowing again when the villagers decided to work with nature and not against it. The river is now lifeline to those settled on her banks Posted on 13 Jun, 2016 08:28 PM

Gajanand Sharma is excited about the monsoon this year. He is building an anicut on the small stream that runs through his farm. “After the rain, the land will be filled with water and then I will sow wheat and reap record production in this area,” he prophesises. This forecast doesn’t come from his knowledge of astrology, but that of geology, gained over the years.

A temple and a small pond at the origin of Nanduwali.
"Power firms lose Rs 2400 crores to water crisis"
News this week Posted on 12 Jun, 2016 08:54 PM

Power firms’ loss due to water shortage is Rs 2400 crore this year: Greenpeace

An NTPC thermal plant (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Simhastha leaves farmers fuming
The festival has hordes of Ujjain farmers broke and the mighty Kshipra river troubled. Swift government action is needed to set things right. Posted on 12 Jun, 2016 07:38 PM

Ramesh Mali, a farmer in his late thirties, looks at his farmland nervously. It has been 13 days since the Simhastha Maha Kumbh festival, 2016, concluded. The district administration had acquired his four bigha land (approximately 0.64 hectares) for the festival. The barricades and the concrete left on his land give us the idea that the land is not fit for farming this season.

Kshipra at Mangalnath Ghat, Ujjain
Business interests and environmental crisis: A book review
While the environmental crisis threatens to impact the ecology and livelihoods in India, business interests take over sustainable solutions. Posted on 05 Jun, 2016 07:03 AM

A number of Asian countries are going through environmental crisis. Nowhere is the impact felt so seriously than in India, where the crisis threatens to affect survival. It is also impacting biodiversity, ecology and livelihoods. In this context, it becomes important to understand how nature and the current environmental crisis are being addressed in policy discourses.

Business profits and the environmental crisis (Source: India Water Portal)
Cyclone Roanu: Wanes off India but creates havoc in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh
News this week Posted on 24 May, 2016 09:44 PM

India escapes impact of cyclone Roanu while it creates havoc in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh

Tropical cyclone of 2013 (Source: NASA WorldView)
Formulate National Plan on drought management: SC to Centre
Policy matters this week Posted on 17 May, 2016 05:28 PM

SC directs Centre to prepare National Disaster Plan, implement MGNREGA, Food Security Act to tackle drought

Drought affected area in Karnataka (Source: Pushkarv via Wikipedia)
Two states, a canal and a river
A solution to the problem of sharing Yamuna waters continues to elude Delhi and Haryana even as the river dries up and caste issues flare up. Posted on 17 May, 2016 11:21 AM

‘Jat’ reservation and the rampage on a canal

Munak canal to check seepage losses along the Western Yamuna Canal and to augment its supply
Mangrove nurseries protect coasts and livelihoods
Mangrove plantations in coastal Odisha are not just protecting people from storms and cyclones, but also opening up new livelihood possibilities. Posted on 13 May, 2016 01:40 PM

Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur are among the most vulnerable districts affected by cyclones and climate change in coastal Odisha. In the last few decades, the coasts of Odisha have witnessed three major devastating storms.

Mangrove Nursery at Naupal ( Source: Regional Centre For Development Cooperation)
Water management for climate resilient agriculture
Water management should be given number one priority in agricultural policy to prevent droughts, minimise risks due to droughts and build a climate-resilient agriculture. Posted on 12 May, 2016 11:04 AM

Although agriculture is the largest source of livelihood for people in India, its share in the gross domestic product (GDP) has been declining over time with

Agriculture and climate change (Source: India Water Portal)
River dispute: Haryana manages water better than Punjab
Data shows Haryana has done better than its parent state, but the positives are getting lost as both states clamour for more. Posted on 03 May, 2016 02:30 PM

Rapid growth in population, agriculture production, industrialisation and urbanisation have put an extreme burden on India's dwindling water resources. Water-guzzling paddy covers maximum gross area under cultivation at 44 million hectares.

A bridge over Satluj river in Punjab. Source: Harpreet Riat/Wikimedia Commons
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