Surface Water

Featured Articles
October 11, 2022 In an effort to inform the general public, especially citizen activists, policymakers, researchers, and students, about the current status of the Vrishabhavathi river, Paani.Earth has created the necessary maps, data, analysis, and information to drive conservation awareness and action around the river.
Vrishabhavathi river (Image Source: Paani.Earth)
August 9, 2022 Ensuring irrigation through farm ponds in tribal Chhattisgarh
Many tribal farmers opted for individual farm ponds under MGNREGA ensuring protective irrigation. (Image: Meenakshi Singh)
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)
Water footprint of food and cooking fuel
Rice and wheat have large water footprints in rural India Posted on 26 Mar, 2021 02:33 PM

Water is a basic resource for food and fuelwood production. In general, people in rural areas of India consume carbohydrate-rich staples with small amounts of animal foods. They mostly depend upon fuelwood for cooking.

Madhya Pradesh has the largest blue water footprint for food (334 m3/cap/year) and the blue water footprint from wheat contributes 87%. (Image: Pixabay)
NGT orders states to designate nodal agencies for restoring water bodies
Policy matters this week Posted on 02 Dec, 2020 11:40 AM

Designate nodal agencies for restoration of water bodies: NGT to states

Gharisar lake in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Illegal river bed mining continues unabated in north India
Need effective sand mining governance and law enforcement to address the plundering of the rich river ecosystem. Posted on 25 Nov, 2020 09:13 PM

In October this year, locals and river activists campaigned against illegal sand mining in Yamunanagar, Haryana. The authorities were compelled to take notice and the errant firms that had deployed heavy machinery to embank the river and divert its natural flow to extract sand were booked for violation.

Law enforcement is missing on the ground causing immense environmental damage to the river ecosystem (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
30 Indian cities to face rise in water risks by 2050
News this month Posted on 09 Nov, 2020 05:50 PM

30 out of 100 cities to face greatest rise in water risks by 2050 are Indian: Report

Indian cities set to face acute water shortage (Image source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Breaking down data silos in the water sector
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. Posted on 08 Nov, 2020 08:48 PM

In support of the Digital India Initiative, the National Hydrology Project (NHP) is translating the Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS), Government of India’s (GoI) vision to create a “one water, one data platform” for the country.

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)
Creating a repository for India’s water resources data
WRIS provides a comprehensive, authoritative and consistent data on India’s water resources in a standardised national GIS framework. Posted on 29 Oct, 2020 11:08 AM

Water, a scarce natural resource fundamental to life, livelihood, food security and sustainable development is required in every sector i.e. domestic, agricultural, industrial and environmental. Its source is precipitation, the usual forms being rainfall, snowfall etc. These in turn build surface and groundwater resources in the form of rivers, lakes, ponds, glaciers, groundwater etc.

Remoteness of the observation sites poses a challenge in setting up the data collection instrument (Image: Pxfuel)
Embankments in Bihar: The inapt and futile defence against floods
Embankments in Bihar have failed miserably against flood protection. Take a look on these frequently asked questions (FAQs) on why they failed and what are the possible solutions to floods in Bihar? Posted on 19 Oct, 2020 06:05 PM

What is the history of floods in Bihar and why is it prone to floods?

An embankment in Madhubani after a week of repairing (Source: Santosh Yadav via IWP Flickr albums)
Data, data everywhere, but where?
Involving the community in a data framework with the right incentives will have the second-order benefit of the community becoming decision makers with respect to water use. Posted on 16 Oct, 2020 09:21 AM

A few of us did an exercise where we closed our eyes and thought of the first four words that came to our minds when we thought of water data in India. Here is what we came up with:

The seamless flow of data from one program to another can be enabled if a few principles are kept in mind (Image: José Manuel Suárez, Wikimedia Commons)
Data-driven ‘water and agriculture’ planning: The big picture
If data was better organized and available for download in more ‘user-friendly’ formats, its utilization would improve manifold. Posted on 15 Oct, 2020 06:57 PM

India is fortunate to have a rich tradition of public data collection and compilation.

The quality of our public data is highly variable, yet if analyses and interpretation are done keeping in mind some of the limitations, the datasets can be a precious resource at the meso and macro level. (Image: Pixabay)
No improvement in the water quality of the Ganga during lockdown: CPCB
News this week Posted on 08 Oct, 2020 08:28 AM

Water quality of Ganga river remained grim during lockdown: CPCB

Ganga river at Kachla, Uttar Pradesh. (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
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