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September 1, 2021 Best practices for holistic urban water management in Chennai Metropolitan Area
These bright plastic jugs are ubiquitous in Chennai and Tamil Nadu. (Image: McKay Savage, Flickr Commons; CC BY 2.0)
December 26, 2019 Policy matters this week
The Mandovi river disputed between Karnataka and Goa (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
December 6, 2019 A report by the India Rivers Forum highlights the need to focus further than the main stem of the Ganga river.
Distant snow clad mountains, the smaller hills and the Ganga river (Image: Srimoyee Banerjee, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)
December 4, 2019 To adapt well & build resilience, climate change strategies need to factor in efforts towards water security, writes Vanita Suneja, Regional Advocacy Manager (South Asia), WaterAid.
Image credit: WaterAid/Prashanth Vishwanathan
December 2, 2019 A study highlights the barriers to harnessing India's potential for wind energy.
Windmills in Karnataka, India. Picture credit: India Water Portal
Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan a low impact, high expenditure scheme: CAG
Policy matters this week Posted on 23 Sep, 2020 01:29 PM

Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan had a low impact in making Maharashtra drought free: CAG

Deepening work in progress under the Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan (Source: Ravindra Pomane)
Improving city-wide sanitation service delivery in small towns of Odisha
Project Nirmal demonstrates appropriate, low-cost, decentralized, inclusive and sustainable sanitation service delivery solutions for two small towns (Angul and Dhenkanal) in Odisha. Posted on 16 Sep, 2020 06:32 PM

Tucked away in the slums of Dhenkanal, a small community offers a glimpse of how sanitation solutions have changed hundreds of lives for the better. Till recently, post rains in the absence of proper drainage, the clogged lanes were causing a lot of inconvenience to the residents of Parhatiya Sahi slum.

Community meetings in the slums of Dhenkanal under Project Nirmal (Image: SCI-FI, CPR)
Sanitation empowered her
Community response to the slum sanitation improvement project hinges on grassroots leadership in a slum settlement in Dhenkanal. Posted on 14 Sep, 2020 03:58 PM

In a corner of the Kathagada locality in the Parhatiya Sahi slum of Dhenkanal stands a small neat house. Surrounded by a well-tended garden that is planted with fruit trees, flowers and grass, this is Reena Rani Singh’s home. She is a multi-purpose local leader and is a member of the local Self Help Group (SHG), Mahila Arogya Samiti and Slum Sanitation Committee (SSC).

As a part of Project Nirmal, community structures including Slum Sanitation Committees (SSCs) and Ward Sanitation Committees (WSCs) were constituted at the slum and ward level (Image: SCI-FI, CPR)
Agriculture and food security challenges amid Covid-19
The pandemic has bared our vulnerabilities and shaken our collective consciousness to focus on agriculture and rural economy. Posted on 09 Sep, 2020 03:32 PM

India has seen large scale rural-urban migration of people trying to escape rural distress in the last few decades.

Women farmers produce vegetables through innovative farming practices in Banka, Bihar. They can sell their produce at regional markets, and earn a better income for their families. (Image: USAID, Flickr Commons, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Empowering, involving local communities crucial for reviving Yamuna: Study
A user-friendly water quality index could be created to help riverine communities take informed decisions. Posted on 07 Sep, 2020 12:56 PM

There aren’t many studies on understanding the socio-economic impact of river pollution, and the handful of those available miss out on capturing the voices of the local communities who are most affected by river pollution.

To improve the participation of the riverine communities in river clean-up activities, a platform can be set up as a governance mechanism. (Image: Thommen Jose, CC BY-SA 4.0)
Swachh Survekshan 2020: Indore tops in cleanest city category
News this week Posted on 25 Aug, 2020 09:19 PM

Indore once again tops the Swachh Survekshan 2020 in the cleanest city category

Clean road near Pardesipura, Indore. (Source: India Water Portal)
Next phase of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban to focus on water treatment
Policy matters this week Posted on 25 Aug, 2020 08:26 PM

Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban: Next phase to focus on water treatment and toilet waste disposal

Next phase of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban to focus on water treatment (Image source: India Water Portal)
Decentralised governance key to handling Covid-19
There is a positive correlation between the panchayat raj system and effective handling of Covid-19, says Mani Shankar Aiyar. Posted on 22 Aug, 2020 07:38 PM

Panchayats have been the core of India's rural governance even before they received the constitutional mandate through the 73rd constitutional amendment in 1992, forming the basis of decentralization in the country. There are 2.5 lakh gram panchayats; over 6 lakhs villages; around 4500 urban local bodies and 4000 census towns in the country.

A first time Sarpanch of Lahora Gram Panchayat in Rajasthan’s Tonk District, stands committed, guiding the community with her political acumen. (Image: UN Women;CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Water projects get priority in MGNREGA amidst COVID-19
Efforts needed to better utilise MGNREGA funds to deter vested interests from misappropriating. Posted on 18 Aug, 2020 01:54 PM

Lockdown in April to May 2020 due to COVID-19 led to the mass migration of workers from the cities to villages. Despite strict measures by the government to stop any movement, people facing lost jobs and high cost of living in the cities began to walk back or use whatever transportation was available to travel to their home villages.

Work in progress at an MGNREGA site (Image: UN Women/Gaganjit Singh)
Locals struggle with WASH issues post-Amphan
Cyclone Amphan wreaks havoc in the Sunderbans at a time when the country was already battling a large spread of Covid-19. Posted on 17 Aug, 2020 12:17 PM

UN’s recognition of safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right recently hit a decade and this makes us ponder even more about the situation in the Sundarbans after the Amphan cyclone. The destruction caused by Amphan in the Sundarbans poses a massive threat to the very right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation of the people living there.

Having no source of water is proving to be extremely difficult for the people living in the Sundarbans. (Image: WaterAid, Subhrajit Sen)
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