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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
Sri. Dinesh Kumar Mishra on the flooding of Kosi basin,2008
Shri Dinesh Kumar Mishra of Barh Mukti Abhiyan has been campaigning on the flood issues for a long term. Following is a note from him on the historical context of flooding in the Kosi basin Posted on 03 Sep, 2008 07:06 PM

Dr. Jagannath Mishra, former Chief Minister of Bihar, has given a pathetic description of floods in Bihar. He said that "Nobody from the government has gone to Saharsa so far. If the people in Saharsa are surviving, they must be saying that we are engulfed in water since ten days and nobody is there to think about us. This is quite worrisome. I will suggest that we must try to look after those surviving there. We must try to save them, whether by boats or a helicopter.. The flood in Saharsa is not a flood, this is unprecedented¦.we cannot call it a flood, it is a deluge." But wait, he is not talking about the recent floods (2008) in Bihar. He was making a speech in the Bihar Vidhan Sabha on the 13th September 1984 about a similar incident that took place on the 5th September 1984 near Navhatta in Saharsa district of north Bihar when the Kosi had breached its embankment at 75th kilometer south of the much talked about Bhimnagar Barrage and come out of the jacket just as it happened at Kusaha this year. Obviously, the powers that be refuse to take any lessons from the past mistakes and their executive wing, the Water Resources Department, is immune to any criticism and learning. The 1984 incident had uprooted nearly half a million people from their homes and hearths and engulfed 96 villages spread over 7 blocks of Saharsa and Supaul districts then. They could return to their homes only after the Holi festival in March 1985.

On the book shelf: Interlinking of Rivers in India, Issues and Concerns
On the book shelf: Interlinking of Rivers in India, Issues and Concerns Posted on 31 Aug, 2008 10:26 AM

untitled1.jpg Key Features: Reviews the risks of inter-basin water transfers warns of critical disadvantages with India's proposed ILR plan offers viable less-risky solutions for water resource development. Inter-basin water transfers are complex human interventions on natural systems that can have profound adverse as well as beneficial social, economic and environmental implications. India's plan to interlink its rivers (ILR) and to transfer water may, according to one set of views, generate positive benefits through improved and expanded irrigation and may also contribute to flood and drought hazards mitigation for India, although the magnitudes are debatable. However, there are opposing views, in the context of India itself, that the interlinking plan is economically prohibitive, fraught with uncertainties, and has potential for disastrous and irreversible adverse after-effects. Water deficit can be reduced through improved water management without large scale engineering interventions. Moreover many of the rivers involved, particularly in the Himalayan component, are international and, therefore, the scheme has major implications for other riparians. Indeed, the planned transfer of water from the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers will adversely impact Bangladesh socially, economically and environmentally---unless arrangements are made to maintain historical flows, which is unlikely to be feasible.

Prof.G. D. Agrawal's satyagraha against the construction of dams on the Bhagirathi River
Prof.G. D. Agrawal's satyagraha against the construction of dams on the Bhagirathi River Posted on 17 May, 2008 09:08 AM


Pained by the unrelenting destruction of the Ganga river, especially by a series of dams in its upper reaches, Dr G.D. Agrawal, India's pre-eminent environmental quality scientist and a legendary Professor (and HoD) of Civil & Environmental Engineering at IIT-Kanpur. (Access:Biography Sketch Here) has decided to go on a fast-unto-death to oppose its continuing desecration. His conviction that we are staring at an unprecedented ecological and cultural catastrophe comes from his powerfully logical mind. Critique on proposed dams on Bhagirathi River. Access here: Critique on Dams

Microfinance for safe drinking water-ACCESS & HUL partnership
On the occassion of World Water Day 2008, ACCESS talks about its work in using microfinance to obtain safe drinking water. Posted on 21 Mar, 2008 12:12 AM

Drop by drop ACCESS & HUL in Base of Pyramid Partnership for Safe Drinking Water for Rural Poor:

Yakalakshmi lives in Nekkunda village, Telengana region in Andhra Pradesh with her husband and two children. Though she has water piped to her house by the village panchayat, her entire family fell ill for a month last monsoon season by drinking water directly from the tap. "We all got high fever and severe diarrhea", she says, "we had to spend around Rs. 4000 on health care, which was very difficult for us". So when she got the opportunity this January to buy an effective water purifier through her Self Help Group (SHG) on an installment basis she was one of the first to sign up. Yakalakshmi is just one of the beneficiaries of a unique tie-up between ACCESS Development Services, a microfinance technical services non-profit organization, and Hindustan Unilever Limited, one of the country's largest producers of fast-moving consumer goods, to provide safe drinking water to rural poor. "Most of these villages have piped water or boreholes", says Padma, Project Coordinator at a local NGO, PEACE, "the problem is that tests by UNICEF in this district show that up to 70 percent of these sources are contaminated."The contamination gets even worse during the rainy season, especially due to poor sanitation and waste-management practices.

Gastro-enteritis rears its head due to contaminated water in Bangalore
S.Vishwanath on the recent incidence of gastro-enteritis due to possibly sewage contaminated water in Bangalore Posted on 30 Jan, 2008 01:46 AM

There is a spurt of gastro-enteritis in the city today. Residents think that it is the contaminated mains supply from the BWSSB that is the source of the gastroenteritis. The Bangalore water supply and Sewerage Board thinks it is water bought by residents from the private water tankers that is the cause but then seems to change its mind.

"Bagmati Calling" : Dharna by villagers demanding rehabilitation
"Bagmati Calling" : Dharna by villagers demanding rehabilitation Posted on 16 Jan, 2008 08:58 AM

The Bagmati Calling : I am reporting from the south bank of the Bagmati near Benipur in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar.

A silent worker clearing the drain in Kolkata
A silent worker clearing the drain in Kolkata Posted on 15 Dec, 2007 05:35 PM

 

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Statement on groundwater from SANDRP
Statement on groundwater from SANDRP Posted on 12 Sep, 2007 07:34 AM

Groundwater - India's Water Lifeline needs urgent intervention

Govt is non serious about the crisis

ICT applications for socio-economic development of farmers
Notes from C-DAC ICT for socio-economic development conference held in Bangalore. Rural kiosk was the topic of discussion in the conference Posted on 20 Mar, 2007 11:32 AM

Nandini and I attended the C-DAC ICT for Socio-Economic Development conference on 11th,12th and 13th of this month in Bangalore. Primarily we were interested in spreading awareness about the Portal among the attendees. Following are some notes from there: Overall I thought the conference was very good. There was a lot of energy and interest and several good initiatives, and many of the speakers came across as smart and committed.

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