Lifestyle

Featured Articles
December 11, 2019 Dry toilets have long been hailed as a sustainable solution to the sanitation and waste management crisis facing India today, but have been overshadowed by more modern toilet designs.
A traditional dry toilet. Image: India Science Wire
November 27, 2019 Policy matters this week
An irrigation well at Randullabad, Maharashtra (Source: India Water Portal on Flickr)
November 11, 2019 Study points to vulnerabilities faced by women in the mountains and plains of Uttarakhand, which is likely to only increase with climate change.
Ganga's riverflow at Rishikesh in Uttarakhand (Image courtesy: Ankit Singh; Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)
November 6, 2019 The number of people vulnerable to floods triggered by climate change by 2050 is triple that of previous estimates, according to a new study.
Aerial view of Chennai during floods 2015 (Image: Veethika, Wikimedia Commons, CC-SA 4.0 International)
October 22, 2019 A forum discusses the need to stop illegal land transfers and land alienation of the poor.
The maldharis from kutch on their own road trip (Image: Malay Maniar, Flickr Commons, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
October 21, 2019 In this interview, Joy talks about his work as an activist working in rural Maharashtra, and how he came to work on water conflicts in India.
KJ Joy speaks at a felicitation for the late Professor Ramaswamy Iyer.
Pani Panchayat: A model of groundwater management – A presentation by ACWADAM
Pani Panchayat is a voluntary activity of a group of farmers engaged in the collective management (harvesting and distribution) of surface water and groundwater (wells and percolation tanks). Posted on 25 Aug, 2010 08:20 AM

Pani PanchayatThe presentation by ACWADAM deals with Pani Panchayats as a model of groundwater management.

Pani Panchayat is the name first given to a movement by Mr. Vilasrao Salunke for motivating farmers of Naigaon village of the drought-prone Purandhar taluka of Maharashtra in 1974. The government's inability to deal with the drought situation prompted him to take a 40 acre land on lease from the village temple trust and develop a recharge pond in the recharge area of the village, a dug well in the discharge zone and a lift irrigation system.

Farmers got impressed with the results demanding a scale up of the experiment leading to the setting up of Gram Gaurav Pratisthan (GGP) through which the work was expanded to encompass both groundwater and surface water management. 

Duel among duals - Popular science of basaltic hydrogeology in a village of Saurashtra - A paper by CAREWATER
Tradition and history show their scientific prowess over centuries of existence. Yet, the learning of formal scientific knowledge challenges it. A dichotomy or just two different languages? Posted on 03 Aug, 2010 07:57 PM

Carewater INREM FoundationThe report by Carewater INREM Foundation deals with the duel between popular science used in decision making by farmers and the formal science of hydrogeology that is based on scientific data collection. These two parallel streams of knowledge exist together, sometimes complement, and at other times are at conflict. People’s knowledge on hydrology is not ‘dying’, but thriving and growing well, refreshed continually by interfaces with science. In hard rock areas, the high hydrogeologic variability makes observation as important as theory since it is localized, pervasive and relevant to the needs of people.

Rapid assessment survey of Kodaikanal lake - ENVIS Centre (TN) (2009)
Tourists endanger Kodaikanal's freshwater lake and the biodiversity dependent on it Posted on 02 Aug, 2010 02:02 AM

Rapid Assessment survey of Kodaikanal lake - ENVIS Centre (TN)This document by the Department of Environment, Government of Tamil Nadu highlights the importance of the Kodaikanal lake as an important tourist destination and warns that this freshwater lake is under the threat of getting polluted and its biodiversity endangered.

The document presents the findings of the study that aimed at assessing the physico-chemical and biological quality of the Kodaikanal lake.

Evidence indicates that unrestricted tourism activities have led to high use of plastic bottles, glass bottles, plastic bags, causing high levels of pollution and silting of the lake. Damaged fibreglass boats left inside the lakes also pose a serious threat to the lake ecosystem.

Dr. G. D. Agrawal , the scientist, environmentalist and rishi
Dr. Agarwal - an Inspiring teacher, a humble man and the most-sought-after environmentalist Posted on 27 Jul, 2010 03:52 PM

Dr. G. D. Agrawal Scientist and Rishi

Meeting Dr. G. D. Agrawal in his spartan, two room cottage in Chitrakoot, Madhya Pradesh, you would never guess what an accomplished and distinguished scientist he is – first Member-Secretary of the Government of India’s Central Pollution Control Board, former Head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at IIT Kanpur and a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. The list goes on and on.

Yet this eminent professional sweeps his own floors, washes his own clothes and cooks his own meals. He retains only a few possessions and dresses in homespun khadi. At the age of 76, his main mode of transport within Chitrakoot is a bicycle and when he travels further afield, he goes by ordinary bus and second-class train. These are the deliberate choices of a devout Hindu whose deepest values are for simplicity and reverence for nature. Dr G.D. Agrawal is the doyen of environmental engineering professionals in India. Well past retirement, he continues to teach and inspire students as an Honorary Professor of Environmental Sciences at the Mahatma Gandhi Chitrakoot Gramodaya Vishwavidyalaya, in Chitrakoot (M.P.).

5th Global YES Summit, Rework The World - A trip report
The YES Summit: Working toward a new world for the youth Posted on 26 Jul, 2010 11:17 PM

Had the opportunity to attend a recent worldwide gathering on the topic of youth and social entrepreneurship, which gave much food for thought. The event was the 5th Global YES Summit, entitled “ReWork The World”.  Details of the gathering are at www.reworktheworld.org . The message there  was that we need to do something radical in order to find productive work for the vast numbers of youth coming into the workforce especially in developing nations. The new jobs cannot be of the old variety, they need to be green, sustainable jobs. In other words, we need to ‘rework the world’.  The conference was based on the premise that these new jobs will come out of social entrepreneurship.

Project Boond - V, a comprehensive mitigation initiative in the drought prone regions of Bharatpur
Water scarcity in Rajasthan as monsoons fail and Bilaspur- dam dries up Posted on 21 Jul, 2010 01:47 PM

With the failure of monsoons in Rajasthan and dry-up of the Bilaspur dam, the water situation assumes graver proportions in most parts of Rajasthan, besides Jaipur, Tonk and adjacent districts. These areas, now in the news for acute water shortage problems, have always depended upon monsoons for their traditional rainwater-harvesting systems and the riverine sources.

While the Government has taken remedial measures with construction of tube-wells across the rural and drought-prone areas, they have been sporadic and insufficient at their best.  Merely announcing relief measures and planning of schemes on paper as an immediate disaster management strategy are not solutions to mitigation of water problems in this State.

Prof G.D. Agrawal resumes fast unto death to save the Ganga, Swami Avimukteshwaranand and others to join in support
Resolves of the Emergency Meeting to decide Plan of Action against the illegal decision of the GoM to allow resumption of Loharinag - Pala Power Project Posted on 21 Jul, 2010 11:10 AM

Forwarded to the Portal by: Ayan Biswas
Image and News Courtesy: 

Shankracharya designate Swami Avimukteshwaranand ji presided over an emergency meeting organized by Manushi Sangathan, Ganga Ahvaan and Ganga Yamuna Jal Biradri to express our strong protest against the patently illegal decision of the Group of Ministers giving clearance to the Loharinag-Pala dam on the Ganga River. The following expert members of the NGRBA also participated in the meeting to express their strong protest having been kept in the dark about the appointment of the GoM which has passed a virtual death sentence on the most sacred river of India: Rashid Hyatt Siddiqui, Rajendra Singh, Rama Raota and Ravi Chopra.

Screenings/lectures/discussions - World Water Day 22nd/23rd March
The program details regarding the film screenings on the use and abuse of water on the occasion of World Water Day, on March 22nd & 23rd 2010 in Bangalore.
Posted on 19 Mar, 2010 10:38 AM
  • New bill to penalize those wasting drinking water-Deccan Herald, Bangalore March 9
  • Privatisation no solution to tackle water shortage in city- Deccan Herald March 9
  • Water Crisis to worsen in city- Deccan Herald March 12
  • City is the second highest water waster in country at 50.9% New Delhi top the list at 52.4%- Deccan Herald March 13

While all these questions remain unanswered and new ones add

The city gets thirstier under the scorching summer sun and the water vendors make fast buck in some instances as much as Rs 1000 for a tank load of water, a consortium of concerned organisations and institutions working on water and environment issues invite you to a panel discussion and film screenings on the use and abuse of water on March 22nd & 23rd 2010 at Ashirvad, 30 St. Mark Road Cross, Opp. State Bank of India at 5.45pm.

The Fourth Gender, Water and Equity Training Workshop in South Asia, SaciWATERs, Mumbai
Posted on 09 Mar, 2010 09:40 AM

Venue: Mumbai

Organizer's: TISS, SaciWATERs, SOPPECOM, GWA

×