Sustainability

Featured Articles
December 6, 2022
The water that you eat
Need to shift to a more sustainable diet without compromising on major nutrients and calories
Historically, India has been a net exporter of virtual water (Image: PxHere)
November 6, 2022
Protecting children from climate change impact not child's play
In 2020, 559 million children were affected by four to five heatwaves a year; numbers could increase four-fold by 2050, as per a report by UNICEF
Heat-related mortality is four times higher among children under 1 year of age than in persons aged 1–44 years (Image: Taqver, Wikimedia Commons)
April 26, 2022
Making the invisible, visible
The water stewardship initiative by WOTR that developed a tool to visualise aquifers has not only helped farmers understand groundwater as a shared resource, but also led to a behavioural change among water users and helped implement groundwater laws and policies.
Groundwater, a fast disappearing resource (Image Source: India Water Portal)
December 6, 2021
Leaving no one behind!
Will it be possible to ensure equity and justice while balancing climate action goals with economic progress?
Taking everyone along while achieving a balance between economic growth and climate goals is crucial (Image Source: Good Energies)
March 22, 2021
Water governance standard and certification system – An answer to the water problems of agrarian India
The recent 'Water governance standard and certification system' developed by WOTR can greatly help villages to develop good governance practices and manage their water needs equitably and sustainably.
Long queues waiting for tankers are common in different parts of Maharashtra during water scarcity (Image Source: WOTR)
December 29, 2020
Challenges to India’s urban water security and future growth patterns
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Cities in India are marked by unequal distribution of water, lack of access, outdated infrastructure and minimal enforcement of rainwater harvesting and other means of supply.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)
Training Workshop on Understanding and Resolving Water Conflicts in India
Organised by The Forum for Policy Dialogue on Water Conflicts in India, The Energy and Resources Institute and Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment
Posted on 05 Sep, 2016 04:36 PM

Water Conflicts ForumATREE logoTERI logo
Accept refuse: A lesson in wastewater management
There is a new technology available now to reuse domestic and industrial refuse. This could just be the solution to India’s increasing water problem.
Seetha Gopalakrishnan
Posted on 31 Aug, 2016 01:05 PM

The demand, supply, availability and access of water resources do not always match. Going by the UN estimates, by the year 2022, India is expected to surpass China's population to become the most populous country in the world.
Constructed wetland at ICRISAT's Patancheru campus.
Run-up to the photo biennale
Presentation on one of Chennai's more abused backwaters and water stories through the lens of a photographer are the high points of the pre-event of PondyPHOTO.
Posted on 02 Aug, 2016 06:12 PM

When - August, 4, 2016 between 6PM and 8PM

Where - Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Chennai; No. 4, Rutland Gate, 5th Street, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600 006

About PondyPHOTO
PondyPHOTO 2016 - Chennai pre-event
Riverbed off limits, farmers fume
With the sewage-fed vegetable cultivation on Yamuna riverbed banned, the farmers are worried about their livelihood.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 01 Aug, 2016 08:23 PM

Champa Devi has been working as a sharecropper on a two-acre farm at Nilothi village in west Delhi. Until a few years ago, the water she used for irrigation came from the Najafgarh drain that empties into the Yamuna river. This form of cultivation using waste water was a norm in the area till sometime ago.
Thousands of farmers like Champa Devi (in pic) who were growing edible crops or doing fodder cultivation on the riverbed and its floodplains took the brunt of the court’s decision.
Manipulating water bodies: A recipe for disaster
The flagship scheme of Maharashtra’s water conservation department, Jalyukt Shivar, is worrying for its myopic vision and faulty implementation, say experts
Aarti Kelkar-Khambete
Posted on 26 Jul, 2016 04:22 PM

Deepening work in progress on the Manjara river in Latur (Source: Ravindra Pomane)
Groundwater revival comes a cropper
An NGO’s effort to recharge the groundwater in an area finds little success with water-guzzling crops that rule the market.
Dr S S Grewal
Posted on 24 Jul, 2016 09:05 PM

Water crisis is a reality in most of India. After the summer of droughts come the monsoon floods. Take Maharashtra, for instance. If at one time it is desperately searching for drinking water, at another time, its capital, Mumbai is wading through knee-high water. How do we overcome these annual crises?
A villager shows the rainwater harvesting structure in Aravalli hills.
Rice and shine
How paddy grew in popularity in Punjab and continues to steal the show, thanks to lack of alternatives for farmers.
Manu Moudgil
Posted on 22 Jul, 2016 10:08 PM

Take the roads of Punjab during the monsoon and you will find most fields turned into pools of water. It’s mainly the water pulled out from the underground vault to support the kharif crop of paddy.
Whatever be the water situation, it doesn’t look like paddy’s popularity as a crop is going to diminish anytime soon. Source: Akshay Mahajan/Flickr
State does a Nero while Kharun weeps
Despite the pitiable state of a polluted Kharun, the government is keen on developing the riverfront to attract tourists.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 18 Jul, 2016 09:30 AM

At sunrise, everything is luminous but not clear. 

― Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It and Other Stories
Kharun river at Mahadev Ghat, Raipur.
Climate change: When past presents itself
A new study pins climate change as one of the reasons for the decline of Indus Valley Civilisation
Manu Moudgil
Posted on 24 Jun, 2016 08:40 PM

Summers get hotter, rains decline and crops fail. The conflict between people increase and migration in search of better lands and skies begin. Sounds familiar? We are not talking about Marathwada here. This is how the lives of our ancestors played out thousands of years ago.
A narrow lane flanked by houses at Bhirrana. Source: Archaeological Survey of India
A river comes to people
Nanduwali in east Rajasthan started flowing again when the villagers decided to work with nature and not against it. The river is now lifeline to those settled on her banks
Manu Moudgil
Posted on 13 Jun, 2016 08:28 PM

Gajanand Sharma is excited about the monsoon this year. He is building an anicut on the small stream that runs through his farm. “After the rain, the land will be filled with water and then I will sow wheat and reap record production in this area,” he prophesises. This forecast doesn’t come from his knowledge of astrology, but that of geology, gained over the years.
A temple and a small pond at the origin of Nanduwali.
Subscribe to Sustainability
×