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)
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Constructed wetlands as a cost effective cleaning option
Water treated using constructed wetlands before being used for irrigation can be a suitable and cost effective option to prevent possible human health risks Posted on 25 Mar, 2015 01:18 PM

Hyderabad, which is India's fourth largest city, has a population of almost 7 million. The Musi river, originating from the Anantagiri hills, divides the city into north and south. The River flows through the city and joins the Krishna in Nalgonda.

Musi river (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Punjab's groundwater crisis: A bye product of the govt's short sighted policies?
As long as electricity is improperly priced and farmers get the MSP for rice, they will not take up maize cultivation. This will lead to further deterioration of groundwater. Posted on 23 Mar, 2015 05:26 PM

Punjab has made great progress in grain production following the technological revolution in agriculture in the 1960s. The state achieved this through subsidised use of high yielding variety seeds, fertilisers and irrigation.

Farmer in Punjab (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Can Madurai's dying tanks be revived?
Yes, say the authors, but not before these tanks are recognized in a manner befitting their past glory: as prized resources that provided water to the city even though it had no perennial rivers. Posted on 19 Mar, 2015 09:34 PM

Madurai, Tamil Nadu's second largest city, is now filled with buildings and roads which are eating into its age old network of tanks and canals. This change did not happen overnight. It began in the late 19th century by the British when they merged several hamlets to establish their headquarters in the region.

A tank on the outskirts of Madurai, Tamil Nadu
Land Bill opposed in the Rajya Sabha
Policy matter this week Posted on 17 Mar, 2015 04:28 PM

Opposition to the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill

Construction activity on what was once a farm land
Slow poisoning of the Harike wetland
Considered a Ramsar site since 1990, the Harike wetland in Punjab is on the verge of a serious crisis, as contamination of its waters from effluents has reached critical levels. Posted on 09 Mar, 2015 09:58 PM

Known as "Hari-ke-Pattan", this wetland is the largest in the Tarn Taran Sahib district of the Punjab in northern India and has the Harike Lake in its deeper part [1]. Its rich biodiversity plays an important role in maintaining the hydrological balance in the catchment area. It also supports a vast range of migratory birds including a number of globally threatened species [1].

Harike wetland (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Unseasonal rains damage crops worth Rs 10,000 crore
News this week Posted on 09 Mar, 2015 08:47 PM

Rabi crop damaged in north and central India

Rainy clouds hovering over Manipur's farmland
Embankments: Engineering solutions or problems?
In his book titled 'Bandini Mahananda', Dinesh Mishra describes the vicious circle of embankments that has created more problems than solutions in Bihar. Posted on 02 Mar, 2015 05:12 PM

Mahananda, a major River of north Bihar rises in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal. It meets the Ganga after a journey of 376 km through the flat lands of Bihar, West Bengal and Bangladesh. It would spill its banks because of the flat slopes, causing deluge and waterlogging in the Katihar district of Bihar.

Floods in Bihar; Image: Usha Dewani
Keepers of a complex irrigation system in Bihar
The Ahar Pynes irrigation systems were originally built and managed by the Zamindars of South Bihar. How does the system function today and who is responsible for it? Posted on 02 Mar, 2015 12:28 PM

For as long as local records exist, the countryside of  South Bihar has witnessed a lone man striding across the fields night and day. In the past, he was accompanied by a lantern and a lathi. Today, his companions are a bicycle and a mobile phone. He is the Bandhwe, a man charged with overseeing the irrigation channels of the area.

Rameshwar Yadav, Bandhwe of Jamune Dashayan Paine
Environment Ministry lied to Supreme Court about the Uttarakhand dam report
Policy matters this week Posted on 24 Feb, 2015 11:08 AM

Centre presents an opposite picture in the Uttarakhand dam case

Ganga at Kaudiyala
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