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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
When Osaka comes to Lucknow
The UP government is on a mission to replicate Osaka's riverfront in Lucknow. This spells doom for the families dependent on the Gomti for sustenance. Posted on 14 Sep, 2016 10:14 AM

Raghunath Lakhpat is a terrified man. He can only watch warily as the land on either side of his modest home is being dug up by huge earthmovers. “We are stuck in the middle. Sooner or later, we will have to leave. But where will we go? What will we eat?” he asks helplessly.

Earth movers cluster on the riverbed of the Gomti, engaged in channelizing the river
When in drought, save the livestock
What is the impact of drought on farmers and their livestock? Expert Sajal Kulkarni speaks to India Water Portal. Posted on 12 Sep, 2016 06:31 PM

The Marathwada and Vidarbha region of Maharashtra have been witnessing drought and drinking water crises for a long time. A drought situation always makes headlines for its impact on human lives, but rarely for the effect it has on the livelihoods of these farmers. Livestock are their lifeline and extreme climatic variations are bound to affect them adversely.

Sajal Kulkarni
Power crisis: Time to go green
Hydro energy is a leading source of power in India. With severe water crisis looming large, isn't it time for us to look at renewable energy options? Posted on 08 Sep, 2016 06:33 PM

Despite the severe water management crisis India is going through, hydro energy continues to be the second leading source of power, next only to thermal-based energy in the country. Hydropower generates over 16 percent of India’s electricity.

Tehri, a hydropower dam in Uttarakhand (Source: Mayank Gupta, Wikimedia Commons)
Water for everyone
How can we regulate water resources in an equitable way? Expert Pradeep Purandare speaks to India Water Portal. Posted on 08 Sep, 2016 05:55 PM

The management of water resources in India has always been a challenge. From the British era till now, the various governments that ruled India have grappled with the fundamental issue of water equity. 

Pradeep Purandare
Damn the dams, say the displaced
Many people have been displaced by major dam projects in the country. A bigger threat, however, lies in the ageing dams waiting to collapse. Posted on 30 Aug, 2016 12:28 PM

"If you are to suffer, you should suffer in the interest of the country.”

- Jawaharlal Nehru, speaking to villagers who were to be displaced by the Hirakud Dam in 1948.

The Hirakud dam
Farakka faces a barrage of criticism
The Farakka barrage is an ageing symbol of our need to control rivers and our inability to do so. Can we do away with it? Posted on 27 Aug, 2016 08:25 AM

The chief minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, called for the decommissioning of the Farakka barrage recently.

The lower Ganga, just upstream of Farakka, displays bank-cutting and erosion.
Water warriors at work
Citizens come forward to restore polluted lakes and rivers in their cities. They demand support and swift action from the government. Posted on 24 Aug, 2016 09:31 AM

The pitiful state of some of the water bodies in the country, coupled with the sheer apathy of the government, have forced some well-meaning citizens to come out of their comfort zones and make a difference. Some of these efforts, like the Puttenahalli lake in Bengaluru that is now overflowing with clean water, have been successful, while others are ongoing.

Citizens of Udaipur get together to remove water hyacinth from the Pichhola lake.
Call for applications: Closing The Environmental Compliance Gap
A workshop on Community Based Research Methods for Environmental Justice
Posted on 21 Aug, 2016 10:36 PM

In the field of environmental justice, compliance is one of the least understood and researched topics. Since compliance may involve scientific and technological aspects of the environment, it is mostly left to technical experts, regulatory bodies and members of the industry. It has seen almost no public engagement or community action at the field and at policy levels.

Notes from Swachh Madhya Pradesh campaign
Nipun Vinayak, Director, Swachh Bharat Mission, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, writes about Madhya Pradesh's progress on the ground. Posted on 21 Aug, 2016 09:56 PM

Ajit Tiwari, deputy commissioner, Swachh Bharat Mission, Madhya Pradesh.Ajit Tiwari is Deputy Commissioner, Swachh Bharat Mission, Madhy

Sudam Khade, collector, Sehore, felicitates a woman from the community for their efforts in ending open defecation.
Bio-loos on track, Railways to clean up its act
Dumping excreta on the rail tracks is not just an abhorrent practice, it also corrodes the tracks. With bio-toilets underway, the Railways hopes to fix it. Posted on 03 Aug, 2016 10:27 AM

For almost two decades, the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act of 1993 was a paralytic occupant of the statute books. The Act prohibited the construction of dry toilets which required faeces to be removed manually and outlawed manual scavenging.

A rail coach fitted with bio-toilet. (Courtesy: India Railway Info)
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