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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
Chennai floods was man-made disaster: CAG
Policy matters this week Posted on 17 Jul, 2018 12:06 PM

CAG blames TN government for Chennai floods in 2015

Chennai floods in 2015 (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
No water security without water quality
A study points out that pit latrines with onsite sanitation systems are a source of groundwater contamination. Posted on 16 Jul, 2018 10:19 AM

Groundwater is a major source of water for a large number of Indians with 66 percent rural households and 27 percent urban households directly depending on it for drinking purposes, as per Census 2011.

Unsanitary conditions lead to groundwater contamination. (Image: SuSanA Secretariat, Attribution [CC BY 2.0])
Indian villages look to Bhutan for water
No water supply from India, four remote villages in West Bengal are forced to depend on the neighbouring Bhutan for water. Posted on 05 Jul, 2018 08:15 PM

A lot has been discussed about the acute water crisis in many parts of India. But who would have thought some villages in rural West Bengal have to depend on a neighbouring nation for water?

Damini Minj cycles long distance to collect water from Aiba basti. (Pic courtesy: Gurvinder Singh)
Climate hotspots to affect India's economy
Seven out of the top 10 climate hotspots in India in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, says a World Bank study. Posted on 04 Jul, 2018 10:35 AM

A study by the World Bank indicates that due to rising temperatures and changing monsoon rainfall patterns from climate change, India’s gross domestic product (GDP) may dip by 2.8 percent (amounting to $1177.8 billion) by 205

Tribal and poverty hotspots coincide with climate hotspots. (Pic courtesy: Yann, Wikimedia Commons)
Centre forms Cauvery Water Regulation Committee
Policy matters this week Posted on 26 Jun, 2018 03:00 PM

Cauvery Water Regulation Committee comes into being

Cauvery river in Karnataka. (Source: IWP Flickr Photos via Claire Arni and Oriole Henri)
Creating community leaders to tackle disaster
Under UNICEF’s initiative to mitigate disaster risk, community leaders are created to make villages disaster ready. Posted on 25 Jun, 2018 05:01 PM

Tired from the Baidyanath dhamyatra (pilgrimage) in the nearby town of Deoghar, Nunlal Kamath is stealing a quick nap on a charpoy outside his house. His house is right on the western bank of Kosi, north Bihar’s river of sorrow, in a particularly flood-prone area where there are no high grounds or flood platforms nearby.  

Village disaster management committee has built sand and boulder spurs to deflect floods at spots where bank erosion takes place. (Pic courtesy: GEAG)
Indore retains its cleanest city tag
Indore became the cleanest city in India for the second time in a row, thanks to the untiring efforts of its municipal corporation and residents. A video tells the success story. Posted on 17 Jun, 2018 06:26 PM

Indore has retained its cleanest city tag in the clean India survey 2018. Before it was praised for its cleanliness drive in 2017, the city was just like any other urban city in India dealing with its mounting garbage problem.

Clean road near Pardesipura, Indore. (Source: India Water Portal)
Toilets need water, women suffer under ODF drive
Toilets in households have only increased the drudgery of village women as they have to fetch water from faraway sources for toilet use. Posted on 12 Jun, 2018 01:28 PM

Rajasthan is all geared up for the open defecation free (ODF) status well before the national deadline of October 2, 2019. According to the assistant engineer of the nagar parishad, Resha Singh, 4.75 lakh toilets have been constructed since October 2, 2014 in Alwar district which is about to be declared ODF.

Village women collect water for toilet use. (Photo by India Water Portal)
More farmers to benefit from weather services
Government plans to expand weather services, agromet advisories to reach 40 million farmers from July. Posted on 08 Jun, 2018 01:31 PM

The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) is all set to increase the number of farmers getting agro-meteorological advisory to 40 million from the current level of 24 million by next month. 

Minister for Earth Sciences and Science and Technology Dr Harsh Vardhan announced this today at a press conference to mark the completion of four years of the NDA government.

Better weather services to benefit farmers. (Pic courtesy: Rajarshi Mitra/Wikimedia Commons)
Alwar homes, farms and factories fight for water
Water conflict in Rajasthan’s Alwar district is not just between upstream and downstream users; it is also between users with domestic, agricultural and industrial needs. Posted on 07 Jun, 2018 11:46 AM

Lewari, a village located around 17 km from Alwar in Rajasthan, is the site of a water conflict these days. “The production of Jayanti jaljeera, haazme ka lalantop drink (a digestive drink) has left our village parched,” says Nanak Singh, a resident.

Operation of sluice outlet of Siliserh lake is marked by chaos and conflict among various interest groups.
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