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
These 'River View' apartments could get you in neck deep!
The increase in construction activity in and around the Kaliasot river in Bhopal is not only causing social unrest but also poses a danger to residents in the river's vicinity.
Shirish Khare
Posted on 02 Oct, 2015 03:59 PM

At a time when the Central Government has stressed the need to protect our rivers, the Kaliasot river green belt in Madhya Pradesh has witnessed haphazard growth due to illegal constructions. Not only has the flow of the river which flows from the center of Bhopal been affected, but also community lives have been impacted.
Construction work in progress within the Kaliasot river basin area (Source: Shirish Khare)
Training on Monitoring and Evaluation of Development Interventions
A three day training session being held on Monitoring and Evaluation of Development Interventions by Sambodhi Research and Communications Pvt. Ltd. at New Delhi
Posted on 01 Oct, 2015 12:46 PM

Course Objectives:

At the completion of the training programme, the participants would be able to
Activists demand Environmental Impact Assessment for Yettinahole project
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 29 Sep, 2015 05:05 PM

Social Impact Assessment alone not enough for Yettinahole, say activists
River Nethravathi (Source: Parineeta Dandekar via SANDRP)
Relaunch of Buniyaad 2015- a 15 day activist training program
Sambhaavnaa Institute relaunches the activist training program Buniyaad. This is a perspective building program for young activists in a social movement/organisation.
Posted on 22 Sep, 2015 04:17 PM

Sambhaavnaa Institute is organising a two week program for youth involved in initiatives of social change at its campus in in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh. 

About Buniyad: 
A pond comes to life
Hundreds of villagers pitched in to revive a village pond at Bapugaon, a village in Rajasthan, to make it water and food secure.
CECODECON
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 22 Sep, 2015 10:42 AM

It had not rained for awhile and the tiny cracks in the earth in Bapugaon were opening up. This little village in Chaksu tehsil of Jaipur was yet again faced with a drought in the mid 1980s. The situation was aggravated in 1986 when the river Dhund, an important water source for Bapugaon, went dry. Since then, both the quantity and quality of water started deteriorating.
More than just physical rehabilitation of a water body, says Kalyan ji of Bapugaon
Water guards of Rajasthan
Taankas are trusted allies in the harsh weather of Rajasthan, but the focus is shifting now onto personal assets rather than community resources.
Manu Moudgil
Posted on 20 Sep, 2015 07:29 PM

We were driving down the long desert road that runs parallel to the Indo-Pakistan border in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. There was little else to see except the surrounding sand dunes and desert grass.
A taanka in the Thar desert
Parched lips, barren lands and the scramble for water in Maharashtra
What are the factors that have caused the Marathwada region to be known as the 'suicide capital for farmers'? More importantly, do farmers here have some respite before the monsoon disappears?
Aarti Kelkar - Khambete
Posted on 13 Sep, 2015 07:44 AM

Rainfall map of India (Source: IMD)
Staring at drought (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
What does being 'water stressed' mean for India and her neighbours?
India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and China rank in the top 50 of the world’s most water-stressed countries projected for 2040. Our data analysis shows the stress to the environment, economy, and people.
Sabita Kaushal
Posted on 10 Sep, 2015 06:25 PM

A worldwide ranking of water stressed nations by the World Resources Institute
India ranks 31 in the world’s most water-stressed countries projected for year 2020 (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Bisalpur revisited--10 years after protesters were shot, killing 5
Despite many plans, neither rural nor urban are water secure thanks to the Bisalpur Dam since it was constructed in 2007.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 10 Sep, 2015 01:20 PM

Ten years ago five farmers were shot protesting the diversion of waters from Bisalpur dam to Jaipur city, located about 130 kms away.
Kisan Sewa Samiti, Chaksu struggling for drinking water allocation from Bisalpur dam (Source: CECODECON)
Access to water data: Implications for transboundary relations in the Ganges river basin
Despite the enactments of RTI laws and insistence for openness in the government, access to information regimes on transboundary rivers has not changed at a fundamental level in South Asia.
Prasai
S. and Surie
M.D.
Posted on 05 Sep, 2015 12:21 PM

Citizens right to access information on water, climate and environmental issues
A view of the Sharada river at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
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