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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.
River conservation efforts need to be prioritised
Healthy forests are necessary for healthy rivers and prosperous communities that depend on the river, say experts. Posted on 05 Apr, 2019 02:06 PM

Odisha is home to 11 major rivers of which many are interstate rivers such as the Mahanadi. As climate change makes extreme rainfall events more frequent in the state, there is an urgent need to better manage the rivers and their basins.

Engagement with indigenous communities in protecting natural forests and rivers is vital (Image: Priya Ranjan Sahoo)
Towards sustainable food production
The entire food chain is increasingly becoming the primary source of pesticide and antibiotic contamination putting the health and safety of people at risk. Posted on 01 Apr, 2019 11:14 AM

The national conclave on food held on March 15, 2019 at New Delhi saw experts urge policy changes to promote sustainable food production especially organic farming as well as regulations to reduce misuse of antibiotics and pesticides.

Apart from pesticides, toxic colours and hormones like oxytocin are also being used indiscriminately to ripen vegetables and fruits. (Image: India Water Portal)
Green gold on fire
The film Green Gold on Fire provides insights into the impacts of forest fire on communities and environment in Jammu and Kashmir. Posted on 15 Dec, 2018 05:54 PM

Jammu and Kashmir is the only state in India where forest fires are reported almost every season. As per Indian state of forest report 2017, India saw a 46 percent increase in the number of forest fires in the last 16 years. Forest fires not only affect the flora and fauna of the region but they also pollute the environment and lead to climate change by increasing greenhouse gases.

Forest fire (Source: Abdul Rashid)
Dealing with droughts
There are many reasons why we see more droughts in India these days. Here is all the information that you need to know droughts better. Posted on 13 Dec, 2018 04:20 PM

Droughts are one of the most feared natural calamities in India impacting food production, the economy as well as the morale of millions of farmers in a cou

India will see more droughts in the future. (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Human activities reduce catchments’ climate resilience
A study finds that only over a third of human-dominated catchments in India are resilient to climate warming. Posted on 10 Dec, 2018 01:04 PM

The impact of global warming on the hydrological cycle should be of paramount concern to all because global warming affects rainfall patterns in various ways like triggering more extreme rainfall events. Unpredictable changes in runoff make it difficult to plan infrastructure to manage water resources such as dams.

River Krishna at Wai, Maharashtra (Image Source: India Water Portal)
The tragic tale of Erai
The polluted Erai river needs to be restored before it completely dies and leaves the people dependent on it searching for drinking water. Posted on 30 Nov, 2018 10:56 AM

The Erai river, the main tributary of the Wardha river, is the lifeline for the people of Chandrapur in Maharashtra. It primarily supplies water to the Chandrapur city and Chandrapur super thermal power station (CSTPS). Since 1984, after the initiation of operations of M/s CSTPS and Western Coalfields Limited (WCL), the river has begun to get polluted and is now gasping for breath.

The Erai river (Source: India Water Portal)
Wind turbines impact Western Ghats ecology
Wind farms reduce the number of predatory birds which in turn results in an increase in the density of vertebrates like lizards in Western Ghats. Posted on 07 Nov, 2018 07:33 PM

Wind energy, considered a clean source of energy, does have a carbon footprint and is also known to disturb bird life. Now a new study done in the Western Ghats has found that wind farms in biodiversity-rich areas can have deeper ecological consequences beyond already known impacts. 

Sarada superba lizard (Pic courtesy: Abi Vanak)
The unique Himalayan wetlands
The Himalayan wetlands are under threat due to unregulated urbanisation and unsustainable tourism. Urgent attention at the policy level is the need of the hour. Posted on 03 Nov, 2018 08:33 AM

Wetlands are very important and productive ecosystems that support a wide range of plants and animals and provide livelihood opportunities to local communities in India.

A view of the Himalayas. (Source: IWP Flickr photos--photo for representation purpose only)
Tech to tackle sewer deaths
With government apathetic towards sewer deaths from manual scavenging, individuals and organisations are coming up with tech solutions to stop the practice. Posted on 21 Oct, 2018 11:44 AM

Anil (40) died on September 14, 2018 while clearing a block in a sewage line at Dabri, a locality in north-west Delhi. Cleaners hired by state governments and civic bodies are supposed to be provided safety equipment like gas masks, goggles, gumshoes, gloves, safety belt etc. Yet, Anil was unprotected when he died of asphyxiation due to the presence of poisonous gas in the gutter.

Women who took part at the India SaniTech Forum say that they want to ensure there are no more deaths from manual scavenging. (Image: India Water Portal)
Swachh Bharat Mission: It’s all about numbers
As Swachh Bharat Mission is racing towards its 2019 deadline, a CAG report reveals that sanitation is not a one-time exercise and there is a need to look beyond the deadline. Posted on 02 Oct, 2018 11:06 PM

We have just a year to go for Swachh Bharat Mission’s (SBM) deadline of making India open-defecation free (ODF). In the last four years, the government has built 86.08 million toilets (as on September 26, 2018) throughout the country as a part of this flagship programme on providing safe sanitation to all by October 2019.

Sanitation is not just about constructing toilets. (Image: India Water Portal)
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