Sustainability

Featured Articles
December 6, 2022 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 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 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 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 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 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Cities in India are marked by unequal distribution of water, lack of access, outdated infrastructure and minimal enforcement of rainwater harvesting and other means of supply.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)
In conversation with Rohini Nilekani: Water, societal platform thinking and COVID-19 response
We are in conversation with Ms. Rohini Nilekani, a committed philanthropist, author and social activist. She founded Arghyam almost two decades ago and has been a key ideator in the water sector. Posted on 06 May, 2020 03:28 PM

Listen to the interview here:

Rohini Nilekani, Chairperson, Arghyam
IMD revises the onset and withdrawal dates for monsoon
News this week Posted on 04 May, 2020 02:51 PM

IMD revises monsoon calendar for the country

Image used for representational purposes only (Image Source: India Water Portal on Flickr)
Self sufficiency in the times of Covid-19
Utthan promotes self-sufficient food production areas with internal dependencies, as the pandemic causes disruptions from food to fork. Posted on 02 May, 2020 11:26 AM

Reshamben, Manguben and Naseemben, strong women leaders of Vanita Shakti Mahila Sangathan and Ekta Mahila Sangathan, have always argued that government ration shops under the public distribution system should purchase all essential foodgrains from the local area, to the extent possible.

A ‘people to people’ social solidarity enterprise in the times of Covid-19 (Image: Utthan)
Covid-19 and water security in India: Magnifying inequities in an unequal world
The "heal as one" narrative is a false one as the poorest are the most vulnerable to the disease. Posted on 25 Apr, 2020 01:44 PM

 

In the absence of piped water access, poor households will find it exceedingly difficult to practice regular handwashing (Image: UNICEF, Flickr Commons)
Facing up to the water crisis
Conservation measures such as rainwater harvesting and recharging of groundwater need to be generally well established in both rural and urban areas. Posted on 24 Apr, 2020 11:58 AM

The conventional freshwater sources available in India are being currently overexploited, leading to widespread environmental degradation and depletion of freshwater resources especially groundwater. To sustain the needs of an increasing population and ecology, our consumption of water far exceeds the rate at which we are recharging water sources.

Water conservation measures invariably have a positive effect on water quality and the environment (Image: Joel Bassuk / Oxfam; Flickr Commons, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Springing back to life
Jal Jeevan Mission can go a long way to promote springshed management and ensure source sustainability of spring based piped water supply. Posted on 20 Apr, 2020 11:45 PM

Springs are the key source of water for rural households in Uttarakhand, yet they have seen an overall neglect over the decades with discharge from many springs declining bit by bit. The depletion of aquifers, changes in land use and ecological degradation have led to several initiatives to address springshed management in the state. We speak to Dr.

Image: Flickr Commons
We are all fools
Nature has now sent a stern message calling out our foolishness. Posted on 19 Apr, 2020 04:05 PM

Which industry has seen phenomenal growth since World War II? It is food. People have been encouraged to eat more and more as part of the general consumerist thrust to increase consumption. So, the moment people's incomes have gone up they have begun consuming more food along with other things. The economy can grow only if we consume more. This is why we also have to eat more.

On January 31st 2020, the WHO declared the COVID 19 crisis to be a public health emergency of international concern. (Image: Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation)
WASH in the times of COVID-19
Government of Maharashtra and UNICEF Mumbai are training frontline workers to tackle the spread of COVID-19. Posted on 17 Apr, 2020 10:08 PM

Maharashtra has the highest COVID-19 cases in the country and the government is taking a slew of measures to flatten the curve. We speak to Mr.

Students handwashing with soap (Image: World Bank, Flickr Commons; CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Covid-19: Implications for watershed management
Watershed work needs to be stepped up to ensure that the lockdown does not impact the livelihoods of the rural poor. Posted on 16 Apr, 2020 04:47 PM

Over the last four decades, watershed management has emerged as one of the most decentralised, integrated, persisting, innovative and effective programs to enhance natural resources such as water, soil and the vegetative cover as well as to provide means of livelihood to marginalised sections in rural areas.

COVID-19 has adversely affected this year's watershed management work (Image: ILO South Asia-Pacific; Flickr Commons, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Health Ministry advises states to ensure adequate water supply in rural areas
Policy matters this week Posted on 16 Apr, 2020 11:37 AM

Centre advises states to ensure adequate water supply in rural areas during lockdown

Villagers collecting borewell water from a private farmland (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
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