Society, Culture, Religion and History

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January 13, 2022 The water structures constructed during the Gond period continue to survive the test of time and provide evidence of the water wisdom of our ancestors.
Kundeshwar lake, Kundam in Jabalpur (Image Source: K G Vyas)
January 2, 2021 Lack of community ownership and local governance are spelling doom for the once royal and resilient traditional water harvesting structures of Rajasthan.
Toorji Ka Jhalara, Jodhpur (Image Source: Rituja Mitra)
December 7, 2020 The new farm related bills will spell doom for women workers who form the bulk of small and marginal sections of Indian agriculture, warns Mahila Kisan Adhikaar Manch (MAKAAM).
Farm women, overworked and underpaid (Image Source: India Water Portal)
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
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 Water stewardship is an approach predicated on the concept that water is a shared resource and so water risks are also shared risks that everyone in a catchment will face
Picture credit: Romit Sen
Watershed Management Compendium
This compendium by Dr Mihir Kumar Maitra answers all questions that will be of great use to practitioners engaged in both engineering and management aspects of watershed management in the field. Posted on 27 Dec, 2019 06:32 PM

This compendium by Mihir Kumar Maitra is a valuable resource for all practitioners engaged in watershed management activities in the field.

Watershed management in India (Image Source: India Water Portal)
Scientists intervene to save dry toilets
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. Posted on 11 Dec, 2019 11:16 AM

New Delhi, December 10 (India Science Wire): Even as efforts are underway to replace dry latrines with modern septic toilets, a group of scientists at Council of Scientific and Industrial Research’s Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (CSIR-IHBT) have worked to save one type of traditional dry toilet. 

A traditional dry toilet. Image: India Science Wire
In wake of climate change, prioritise and invest in water security and clean drinking water
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. Posted on 04 Dec, 2019 05:33 PM

While climate activists and world leaders were gathering in Paris in the first week of December 2015 to discuss the impact of climate change, the metropolis Chennai in the southern corner of India was inundated with floods.

Image credit: WaterAid/Prashanth Vishwanathan
Water stewardship approach to minimizing risks for businesses
Water stewardship is an approach predicated on the concept that water is a shared resource and so water risks are also shared risks that everyone in a catchment will face Posted on 02 Dec, 2019 03:53 PM

Water, its use, availability, and impact on people has been on the public policy debate centerstage for the past several years. In India, a growing water crisis driven by climate change, inefficiency, and water pollution is slowly moving to a near-permanent state that will harm the country’s people, economy and environment.  

Picture credit: Romit Sen
CGWB signs MoU for participatory groundwater management
Policy matters this week Posted on 27 Nov, 2019 12:06 PM

MoU signed for groundwater management through community intervention

An irrigation well at Randullabad, Maharashtra (Source: India Water Portal on Flickr)
Shoddy impact assessments, mining and ruin in Goa
A study finds that weak environmental assessment reporting on the adverse impacts of mining has spelled doom for Goa’s environment. Posted on 22 Nov, 2019 03:40 PM

Development and its impact on the environment has long been a contentious issue in India, where lack of adequate monitoring and control mechanisms have led to severe degradation of land, water and forest resources. Mining activities in Goa have not only poisoned its land and water, but also affected livelihoods by negatively impacting agriculture, fisheries and forests.

A mining site in India (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Manual scavenging persists in India due to weak enforcement of laws
News this week Posted on 18 Nov, 2019 08:01 PM

Manual scavenging still prevails in India thanks to weak laws, says study

manual_scavengers
BWSSB’s workforce woefully inadequate, says Chairman Tushar Girinath
Bangalore's water utility is understaffed, under financed and unable to service the city's water needs. Posted on 18 Nov, 2019 02:49 PM

“It is a lack of (institutional) capacity which is leading to public woes on water. We are not in a position to give you quality services because of two things – one, manpower, and two, finances,” said BWSSB Chairman Tushar Girinath, speaking at a panel discussion on ‘Sustainable, Equitable Access to Water’.

Image credit: Citizen Matters
When the sewers get blocked: sanitation labour in urban India
On World Toilet Day, we bring to light the labour of India’s sewer workers - those who do the unclean work that a Clean India relies on. Posted on 15 Nov, 2019 12:07 PM

Photo credit: Sharada Prasad
NGT pushes to ban RO purifiers for water with TDS below 500 mg/l
Policy matters this week Posted on 13 Nov, 2019 10:45 AM

NGT pushes MoEF to issue notification to ban unnecessary use of RO purifiers

A domestic RO water purifier
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