Society, Culture, Religion and History

Forwarded to the Portal by: Josh Paglia, SIWI

The UNDP Water Governance Facility (WGF) at the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) is a unique initiative that supports developing countries in their efforts to strengthen water governance and reduce poverty through policy support and advisory services. The latest newsletter from the Water Governance Facility provides updates on activities initiated & much more.

Some highlights are: WGF in Action: From the World Water Forum

At the 5th World Water Forum, 15-22 March, Istanbul, WGF participated in several events. At the seminar Beyond Water Bribes: How to build a corruption-resistant water sector Dr. HÃ¥kan Tropp gave a key note presentation Corruption: The Missing Link in Water Governance. WGF also co-authored parts of the World Water Development Report, 2009: Water in a Changing World, and attended its launch 16 March.

Forwarded to the Portal by: Deepa Gupta , IYCN One of the central features of JNNURM is community participation. Mandatory reform conditions such as Community Participation Law, to enable constitution of Area Sabhas within municipal wards and Public Disclosure Law are testimony to this fact. However, our experience shows community participation in various aspects of implementing JNNURM needs much greater attention than just the passage of laws for community participation. It is being increasingly realized that communities have little capacity to participate. Objective of the Fund: The primary objective of the fund is to catalyse community participation by supporting the building of community assets. In the long run, this should lead to increased community participation in the city's functioning thus enabling them to develop a sense of ownership on community assets and take on responsibilities for community-based exercises.

The national seminar on “Changing geohydrological scenario in the hard rock terrain in India”, was jointly organised by the Geological Society of India, Department of Mines and Geology, Central Ground Water Board, Karnataka Jal Biradari and Karnataka Institute of Cooperative Management.

Image and Content Courtesy: Water Alternatives (WaA)

The PAHELI report (Peoples' Audit of Health Education and Livelihoods) is a rapid assessment of the prevailing status of human development in a district and covers four major sectors: life and livelihoods, water and sanitation, mother and child health, and education and literacy. The design and execution of PAHELI was done by Pratham and PAHELI district partners.

If it appears to the Government of any State that a water dispute with the Government of another State has arisen or is likely to arise by reason of the fact that the interests of the State, or of any of the inhabitants thereof, in the waters of an inter-State river or river valley have been, or are likely to be, affected prejudicially it can request the Central Government under Section 3 of the Act to refer the water dispute to a Tribunal for adjudication.

This article from Pugwash online highlights the ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir issue, the growing water demand in both the regions, the risk of water serving as a valuable reso

Groundwater depletion has reached such alarming proportions in the semi-arid and arid regions, despite huge investments in watershed development programmes by the state and central governments and the international donor community. One of the stated aims of these programmes is to mitigate drought and ensure water availability throughout the year.

This paper by Priya Sangameswaram in the Economic and Political Weekly deals with equity in watershed development in Hivre Bazar in Western Maharashtra.

The study is based on a scoping study on ‘Developing Markets for Watershed Protection Services and Improved Livelihoods in India,’ which Winrock International India (WII), New Delhi, undertook as part of a larger international study being carried out by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), London.