Storage and Supply

Featured Articles
December 29, 2020 Water resources in most Indian cities are overworked and overused, and not adequately replenished.
Cities in India are marked by unequal distribution of water, lack of access, outdated infrastructure and minimal enforcement of rainwater harvesting and other means of supply. (Image: Anish Roy, Pixabay)
November 8, 2020 The National Hydrology Project has created a national platform for water data and is working to enhance the technical capacities of agencies dealing with water resources management.
Breakthrough cloud computing facilities and remote sensing applications have helped showthe filling pattern of a water body (tank or reservoir) through freely available satellite imagery at an interval of five days.  (Image: Maithan dam, Wikimedia Commons)
December 26, 2019 Policy matters this week
The Mandovi river disputed between Karnataka and Goa (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
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
November 18, 2019 Bangalore's water utility is understaffed, under financed and unable to service the city's water needs.
Image credit: Citizen Matters
Two states, a canal and a river
A solution to the problem of sharing Yamuna waters continues to elude Delhi and Haryana even as the river dries up and caste issues flare up. Posted on 17 May, 2016 11:21 AM

‘Jat’ reservation and the rampage on a canal

Munak canal to check seepage losses along the Western Yamuna Canal and to augment its supply
Urban sanitation in India: Lessons from Brazil
Brazil’s trajectory of industrial growth & rapid urbanisation is akin to India. Then how has it managed to provide it’s urban citizens better sanitation facilities? Posted on 14 May, 2016 01:08 PM

Urban sanitation in India and the need to look at Brazil

Urban sanitation: A challenge for India (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Government schemes converge at Sarda Panchayat in Sambalpur, Odisha
Thanks to the successful implementation of the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS) scheme, villagers began to believe in collective action and community development. Posted on 24 Apr, 2016 11:41 AM

Since India became independent in 1947, the central and state governments have introduced various rural development schemes, and have been trying to get them to converge. While this effort hasn't been as impactful on a large scale, there are some success stories. Sarda Panchayat in Sambalpur, Odisha is one.   

View of Sarda village, Odisha
Copper and silver vessels are age-old bacteria killers
A study found that water stored in glass, plastic and ceramic containers, and coconut shells did not show a reduction in coliform bacteria. Posted on 21 Apr, 2016 09:42 AM

About 3 million children from developing countries below the age of 5 die every year due to diarrhoeal diseases caused by polluted water, poor san

Household drinking water and coliforms (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
The Dying Springs of Chirimiri'
Blasting and drilling around Chirimiri's coal mines have taken a toll on the area's water resources and environment. The film presents the community's perspective on this issue. Posted on 01 Apr, 2016 06:04 PM

Chirimiri Coalfield is a part of Central India Coalfields, located in Koriya district, Chhattisgarh.

Coal mining in Chirimiri
Courting catastrophe: Unplanned urbanisation and flooding
Urban floods and pervasive environmental pollution are living testimonies of unplanned and hurried urbanisation. With cities already stretched to their limits, how much more can they endure? Posted on 21 Mar, 2016 08:40 AM

South India's rivers are rain-fed unlike those in the North, which are glacier-fed due to the contrasting topography and climate. Unlike the Himalayan system, many of India’s peninsular rivers dry up during the hotter half of the year, leaving lips and fields equally parched.

Houses constructed on the fringes of the Ambattur eri in Chennai
5 crore people cleanse themselves at the cost of 5000
Ujjain's own labourers, farmers and the Kshipra river will bear the brunt of the onslaught of pilgrims at the upcoming Ujjain Simhastha (Kumbh Mela). Posted on 24 Feb, 2016 09:38 PM

The Ujjain Simhastha (Kumbh Mela) in Madhya Pradesh will begin on April 22, 2016 and go on for a month. The event, held once every 12 years, holds religious significance to Hindus, and throngs of people--approximately 5 crore over the month--take a holy dip in the Kshipra river during this time.

Early morning at Ramghat, Ujjain
Saved by tanks: The story of Puducherry’s Bahour commune
While the monster floods of 2015 mercilessly gobbled up villages along the coast of Tamil Nadu, settlements in neighbouring Puducherry managed to escape the fury. Miracle, you say? Posted on 16 Feb, 2016 10:13 AM

The East Coast of India is very much unlike its western counterpart both in terms of physiography and climatology.

The Manapet tank in Bahour has an ayacut of around 110 acres, most of which is now urbanised (Image: Seetha Gopalakrishnan, IWP)
Ultratech Cement mines limestone (and villagers) in Chhattisgarh
The people of Parswani were promised jobs, healthcare and water. Now, after signing an MOU, they just about get polluted water for irrigation purposes. Posted on 13 Dec, 2015 03:38 PM

Paraswani village in Balodabazar district, Chhattisgarh contains vast reserves of limestone, a sedimentary rock that is a primary ingredient in the cement manufacturing process. Since 1992, Ultratech Cement Ltd. (UTCL) followed by four other similar companies, have begun excavating this rock within a 30 km radius of the village.

A view of the Ulratech Cement factory from Paraswani
Braving the deluge: Chennai's worst December
Chennai's limp back to normalcy will be slow and painful, especially for low-lying Velachery, Urapakkam, Kotturpuram and Saidapet which remain flooded even two days after the rain has let up. Posted on 05 Dec, 2015 02:39 PM

Residents were convinced that November was the worst but stock taking and rehabilitation had to wait a week longer as the maniacal rains of December took everyone by surprise and completely crippled the city. According the

Rescue efforts underway in Kotturpuram, one of the Chennai's worst affected areas
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