Urban Water

Featured Articles
November 6, 2022 A film that focuses on importance of communitarian in situ water management
People are struggling to get the quantity and quality of water in urban areas (Image: Makarand Purohit)
October 15, 2022 Synthesis of water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) spatial pattern in rural India: an integrated interpretation of WaSH practices
People in rural areas lack potable water, and use unsafe sanitation and hygiene facilities (Image: Sebastian Dahl)
September 13, 2022 Heavy rains and floods have battered Bengaluru yet again. Uncontrolled and unregulated development and concretisation of the city that pays no heed to the ecology and hydrology of the region needs to stop!
Urban flooding in Bangalore (Image Source: Thejas via Wikimedia Commons)
July 7, 2022 PMAY needs policy commitment to rehabilitate slums in small and medium cities of Gujarat
Need for legal framework for land rights in small and medium cities of Gujarat under PMAY (Image: Homes in the City)
December 11, 2021 Water remains inaccessible to the urban poor in the city of Mumbai as it continues to focus on developing new infrastructure to meet its very high per capita water needs. Why is this so?
Thirsty cities and the invisible poor  (Image Source: Aathavan Jaffna via Wikimedia Commons)
July 19, 2021 Urban India is hurtling towards a major water crisis. What are the important considerations that the Jal Jeevan Mission (Urban) should take into account to meet the water needs in urban areas?
Will urban India get respite from its water woes? (Image Source: Aathavan Jaffna via Wikimedia Commons)
Water worried no more
The residents of Yavatmal come together to solve their drinking water problem. With crowdfunding to aid their effort, the result is inspiring. Posted on 10 Mar, 2017 01:44 PM

Located 10 km from the Yavatmal city in Maharashtra, the Nilona reservoir has been the primary drinking water source for its residents since 1972. As in many other parts of the country, the 1990s saw the city growing and the population increasing. The Yavatmal residents, who had not experienced water shortage till then, started facing acute drinking water shortage.

Nilona dam, Yavatmal
Severe water crisis grips southern India
News this week Posted on 07 Mar, 2017 01:47 PM

Southern India reels under drought-like conditions

Parched land during drought in India. (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
River loses battle for survival against soft drinks
Policy matters this week Posted on 06 Mar, 2017 09:07 PM

Madras HC dismisses plea to stop supply of Tamirabarani water to Coca-Cola and Pepsi

Coca-Cola bottling plant. (Source: S. Subramanium via Hindu)
Election update: Its hills vs plains in Manipur
The land of gems will have a new government soon. We look at what leading political parties have to say about issues related to natural resources. Posted on 04 Mar, 2017 05:33 PM

The key issue in the Manipur Assembly election is the ongoing economic blockade in the state, which, in turn, is attributed to the present government’s decision to

A Manipuri family. (Source: Coffee Table Book, Government of Manipur)
Panel clears hydel projects in Arunachal and J&K
News this week Posted on 27 Feb, 2017 04:18 PM

Arunachal’s Etalin and J&K’s Sawalkote hydel projects get clearance

Pristine Arunachal Pradesh. (Source: Wikimedia)
Act to clean up the system
In our quest to feature unsung heroes who go about their good work silently, we met Pushpa RTI, an enthusiastic right to information activist, who fights for transparency in governance. Posted on 27 Feb, 2017 01:53 PM

With the Right to Information (RTI) Act coming into force in the year 2005, the country saw many RTI activists making the most of it to demand the rights and entitlements of the people from the government. Pushpa, warmly known as Pushpa RTI, is one of them.

Women at Jan Jagriti Sanvad organised by Lok Shakti Manch. (Source: Lok Shakti Manch)
A watered-down scheme
The new urban water supply scheme in Madhya Pradesh that encourages private sector participation is replete with lacunae, according to an NGO that studied the scheme. Posted on 16 Feb, 2017 12:25 PM

In November 2011, the government of Madhya Pradesh sanctioned Rs 493 crore to 37 Urban Local Bodies (ULB) for drinking water supply projects under the Chief Minister’s Urban Drinking Water Supply Scheme (CMUWSS) along the lines of the Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT).

Source:India Water Portal
The search for a shelter
The sorry state of urban slums are testimony to poorly implemented policies for the rehabilitation of migrants. Posted on 01 Feb, 2017 08:46 PM

In the last few decades, India has seen an increasing number of people migrating from rural areas to urban cities in search of work and better living. These migrants often get employed in the informal sector as construction workers, vendors, domestic servants, etc. They also live in informal settlements, generally known as slums.

Residents struggle for a pot of drinking water at Bhuri Tekri, Indore.
What WatSan needs from budget
The water and sanitation sector in India is in urgent need for funds to show results. The budget 2017-2018 should look into it. Posted on 26 Jan, 2017 08:20 AM

According to a report by WaterAid, a water and sanitation nonprofit, released in 2016, India has the highest number (75.8 million) of people in the world without access to safe water.

Drinking water source in a village at Kawardha, Chhattisgarh
No man's land
The state of the poromboke lands in Chennai signifies the deteriorating nature of its ecology. Saving them is important not just to preserve a tradition but also to safeguard growing urban spaces. Posted on 18 Jan, 2017 09:39 PM

From its rather benign origins connoting a type of land classification, the term poromboke has transformed into something grotesque over the years. This term had been in use since the Cholas denoting stretches of land reserved for shared communal use which cannot be bought or sold.

The Ennore creek choked by fly ash. (Screen grab from the Chennai poromboke paadal)
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