Sustainability

Content courtesy: India WASH Forum 

The initiative on management of natural resources through appropriate interventions aimed at:

Guest Post: Rahul Banerjee

Ramaswamy Iyer has made a commendable effort to draft a National Water Policy that tries to reform the current unsustainable approach to water resource management in this country  (EPW Vol XLVI Nos 26&27 Supplement pp 201). Assuming that this draft is an invitation to a larger public debate on the issues involved I would like to make a few comments on it.

This report has been prepared by the members of the working group set up by the Forum for Policy Dialogue on Water Conflicts in India on the issue of “Entitlements and allocations for livelihoods and ecosystem needs". The introductory chapter sets out the context of the report. The immediate context is the work of the Forum over the last 4-5 years, and the learning that this particular issue leads to many water conflicts in India.

Organizer: Madhya Pradesh Forest Department, Govt. of M.P. (MPFD)
                M.P. Minor Forest Produce Co-operative Federaton Ltd.
                Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal

Venue: RCVP Noronha Academy of   Administration, Bhopal

Description:
Madhya Pradesh Minor Forest Produce Federation, IIFM and Madhya Pradesh Forest Department have since long been involved in providing livelihood opportunities to forest dwellers and rural households through some direct intervention and also through research and development initiatives. But it is strongly felt that there are many grey areas where still a lot is needed to be done. Further, many good thing are happening around the globe in the field of NWFP management related issues. There are plenty of success stories regarding sustainable livelihood through NWFP marketing & trading. Madhya Pradesh wishes to learn from such experiences. It is in this background MPMFP Federation is organizing an international conference on NWFP.

Sohail Hashmi, an author, film-maker, one of the founders of the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) and a true Dilliwala on 5 December 2011 at the India Habitat Center. The presentation woven around photographs of the city's step well

Organizers: Institute for Indigenous Agricultural Systems and Knowledge (I-ASK)

Venue: Adamaru, Udupi, Karnataka

I-ASK is a non-profit research organization that promotes participatory scientific research, education and community outreach programs in agriculture and allied areas to achieve ecologically sustainable agriculture.

Organizers: Indian Chamber of Commerce

Venue: Hotel Hyatt Regency, New Delhi

Kashmir was originally home to an elaborate network of farmer owned and managed canal based irrigation systems. Gradually, with the increase in planned development, several irrigation canals were taken under the control of the irrigation department. This paper compares the management of irrigation systems by farmers and government. 

This article in Marathi from the magazine Anubhav titled 'Thembe thembe samruddhi' meaning 'Prosperity with every drop' highlights the situation of acute scarcity of water in the state of Maharashtra and argues that this has been a barrier to the progress of the state leading to dire poverty and deprivation.