Society, Culture, Religion and History

Featured Articles
January 13, 2022
Water management in the times of Gonds of Central India
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
The fast disappearing traditional water harvesting structures of Rajasthan
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
Not in the interest of women farmers!
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
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.
A traditional dry toilet. Image: India Science Wire
December 4, 2019
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.
Image credit: WaterAid/Prashanth Vishwanathan
December 2, 2019
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
Picture credit: Romit Sen
Conserving Palk Bay
In the first of a two-part series on the ecological degradation of the Palk Bay, a video explains the importance of conserving this biodiversity hotspot.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 28 Nov, 2017 04:04 PM

The Palk Bay is a 15,000 sq km biodiversity conglomeration nestled between the island nation of Sri Lanka and South East Peninsula India with a coastal length of 250 km on the Indian side. 
The Palk Bay (Source: GIZ)
Toilet use in Uttarakhand: A mountainous issue
A study from remote villages in rural Uttarakhand finds that toilet use is influenced by geography, accessibility, availability of infrastructure and occupation of villagers.
Kathleen O`Reilly
Richa Dhanju
Abhineeti Goel
Posted on 23 Nov, 2017 02:36 PM

“Sometimes I go for open defecation, sometimes I use the toilet. It’s not like I always have to use the toilet. When I go for work here and there, I defecate in the jungle,” says Renu from one of the remote villages in Tehri Garwal district of Uttarakhand when asked why she does not use latrines every day.
Tanks and canals form the water supply system in a remote Uttarakhand village. (Image source: Chicu Lokgariwar)
Where there are no sewers: The toilet cleaners of Lucknow
On this World Toilet Day, let's turn the spotlight behind the scenes of the sanitation chain, on those who clean out latrines where there are no sewers to carry away the waste.
CS Sharada Prasad and Isha Ray
Posted on 20 Nov, 2017 03:41 PM

November 19th is World Toilet Day. Enormous progress has been made in the global effort to provide safe and affordable toilets for the world's poorest citizens since World Toilet Day was first declared in 2001.
The toilet cleaners of Lucknow (Image source: CS Sharada Prasad)
Waiting for water
The villagers of Khalabari are hopeful that the overhead tank being built in the village would make drinking water easily accessible to them.
Makarand Puirohit
Posted on 15 Nov, 2017 05:50 AM

In the early hours, the villagers of Khalabari, a tribal-dominated village in the Dumuripadar gram panchayat of Koraput district in Odisha step out of their houses for bringing wood and drinking water. The road to the forest where the water is available is rocky.
Khalabari village (Source: India Water Portal)
Wages delayed to MGNREGA workers in 19 states
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 07 Nov, 2017 07:46 PM

States freeze payments to MGNREGA workers
Labourers build check dams under MGNREGA. (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
India Industry Water Conclave on Nov 28, 2017 at FICCI, New ??Delhi
The third edition of India Industry Water Conclave and fifth edition of FICCI Water Awards on Theme : ‘Water Use Efficiency- An Imperative for India’
Posted on 07 Nov, 2017 10:12 AM

The theme for the Conclave this year is “Water Use Efficiency: An Imperative for India” to highlight the imperative of water use efficiency in the industry, agriculture and urban contexts. 
Are people in villages less thirsty?
Veteran journalist P. Sainath says we are living in a time of inequality--of wealth, water and income--driven by policies. Shouldn’t we be more angry about this?
P Sainath
Posted on 18 Oct, 2017 07:49 PM

In India, there has been a stunning growth of inequality in the last 25 years and a spectacular growth of inequality in the last 15 years. It is not just a question of wealth and income; inequality is visible in every sector. It is visible in water whether (it is) water for irrigation or drinking water.
An upcoming building in Mumbai has a pool on every floor. At the same time, migrant labourers rely on tapping municipal leakages for their drinking water. India has more inequality than the rest of the world.
What it means to be water rich
Next Diwali, you will have the option of buying a bottle of water for Rs 65 lakh. Here are some other ways you can spend that money.
Chicu Lokgariwar
Posted on 17 Oct, 2017 06:16 AM

I grew up in the Konkan, drinking water from a well that was filled by rainwater, filtered through the area's laterite aquifers and “fortified” by the leaves shed by the jackfruit tree above it. And then I moved to Pune, where I came across a cloudy, salty, heavy liquid that passed for water.
One bottle of water or 65 open wells? That's the Rs 65 lakh question!
Romancing the Ganga
The Ganga has now been transformed into a water machine with millions of tube wells and canals sucking its waters at frightening rates. What are its implications?
Aarti Kelkar Khambete
Posted on 10 Oct, 2017 09:59 AM

The Ganges, the most revered river in India, faces an unusual predicament. Pollution and excessive usage have turned it into a toxic sludge as it snakes its way through cities, industrial hubs and millions of devotees.
The Ganga (Image source: Anthony Acciavatti)
When women came together for water
The video tells the story of the women of Podapathar village in Himgir panchayat in Odisha who, through their collective efforts, managed to improve the drinking water situation in their village.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 04 Oct, 2017 01:29 PM

Women of Podapathar village in Sundargarh district in Odisha have become an inspiration for millions of women in the country now, thanks to their determination to improve the drinking water situation in their village. 
Women of Podapathar (Source: India Water Problem)
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