Urban Water

Featured Articles
November 6, 2022
Decentralised urban water management in Chhattisgarh
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
Evaluating WaSH conditions spatially at the panchayat level
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
Chaos in a concrete jungle
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
Slum land rights: A necessity for success of PMAY
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
Counted, but not served?
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
Will urban India gain respite from its water woes?
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)
The sanitation crisis in India - An urgent need to look beyond toilet provision
Recent evidence indicates that India is heading towards a major sanitation crisis in the coming years. Efforts made at meeting the sanitation challenges have been found to have very limited results, with as high as 65% of the population not having toilet facilities coupled with very low use of existing toilets in urban and rural areas.
It is perhaps the right time to critically evaluate and move beyond the excessive focus we have on 'provision' and pay attention to the underlying complexities of the mechanisms involved, that influence sanitation behaviour among people. If we dont do so, we stand the risk of "missing all the trees for the forest", i.e. missing the social and economic dimensions of the sanitation needs of the people, in the hurry to count the number of toilets provided ! Aarti Kelkar-Khambete writes about the issue.
Aarti Kelkar-Khambete
Posted on 18 Apr, 2012 12:14 PM

Guest post by: Aarti Kelkar-Khambete

Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

The sanitation crisis and the recent evidence on lack of toilet facilities 
Maharashtra Water Resource Regulatory Authority s approach paper on criteria for determination of bulk water tariff in 2013 - 2016 - Draft put out for inviting comments
The Maharashtra Water Resource Regulatory Authority (MWRRA) has in March 2012 circulated its approach paper on criteria for determination of bulk water tariff for the period 2013-2016. The draft is now put out for public consultation, which is the next step in the exercise as per the regulations.
IWP
Posted on 14 Apr, 2012 09:46 PM

 
Toolkit for integrated urban water management, developed by Institute for Resource Analysis and Policy
This toolkit published by the Institute for Resource Analysis and Policy (IRAP) is an outcome of a study that involved exhaustive review of research undertaken all over the world on various aspects of urban water management by scholars and practitioners. It is not only relevant for water managers of urban local bodies, but also senior policy makers, scholars and practitioners concerned with water resources, particularly urban water.
Institute for Resource Analysis and Policy (IRAP)
Posted on 12 Apr, 2012 11:24 PM

The review included, but was not limited to urban hydrology, management of water supply infrastructure, water resources management, water quality management (WQM), groundwater management, technical and economic instruments for water demand management, technical and economic aspects of leakage reduction, environmental and economic aspects of wastewater treatment and reuse, storm water management
Climate change and water sources: Strengthening community preparedness and water use regulations hold the key
Climate change is one of the most serious threats to the environment, health and economy of our nation as well as the whole world. Recent scientific studies show that global warming is already causing environmental changes that will have significant global economic and social impacts. As the world's 4th largest emitter of greenhouse gases, India has to juggle the imperative demand for economic development with pressures for greater efficiency in the use of energy.
Neelima Garg
Posted on 10 Apr, 2012 10:34 AM

Author : Neelima Garg
Water law in a globalised world - Philippe Cullet discusses the need for creating a new framework
Water issues are rapidly acquiring a global dimension, while water laws remain rooted in specific regions. In this paper published in the Journal of Environmental Law, Philippe Cullet examines the need for a new framework for water law that allows for linkages with the global water cycle as well as human rights and environmental law.
Philippe Cullet
Posted on 09 Apr, 2012 11:09 PM

1. Introduction
Maps, lakes and citizens: The use of surveys in lake conservation - An article in the Seminar magazine
Settlements in the area that is now Bangalore have a recorded history that dates back to the 5th century CE. Water for these settlements was made available through multiple series of tanks, which numbered 19,800 around the year 1830.
Harini Nagendra
Posted on 19 Mar, 2012 11:44 AM

This lake system is now decaying with lakes either taken over for urban uses, or choking due to neglect. ATREE and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) have been engaged in attempting to understand how to restore these lakes for urban use, while maintaining their ecological importance. This article in Seminar describes this attempt.

Puttenahalli: one of Bengaluru's urban lakes

Draft National Water Policy (2012) fails to take into account the multiple, complex problems and issues relating to water in India says M S Vani
The Draft National Water Policy 2012 seems to be an improvement over earlier versions due to a fundamental shift from the ‘project oriented’ approach espoused so far by the bureaucracy and political establishment to a ‘resource’ oriented approach. Water, considered state property due to eminent domain principle, was hitherto seen only in terms of projects- irrigation or multipurpose. Now at least it is defined as a ‘natural resource’.
But what does it really mean, to call water as a ‘natural resource’? What is the relationship we as humans are seeking to establish with this part of nature? What are the relative roles of citizen and state in India towards this resource?
M S Vani
Posted on 18 Mar, 2012 05:49 PM

Guest post by: M S Vani

Perusing the draft, one comes across all the ‘right’ concepts, words liberally sprinkled throughout the document, describing the resource:-

  • Natural resource
  • Hydrological cycle
  • Ecological needs of rivers
  • Climate change
  • Sources pollution

and our intended response to it :-
Status of water supply in in class-I cities and class-II towns of Uttar Pradesh (UP)
Status of water supply in in class-I cities and class-II towns of Uttar Pradesh (UP)
spectromech
Posted on 17 Mar, 2012 10:15 PM

Source: Central Pollution Control Board’s 2009-10 Report

Class of cities/towns
Integrated water management for rural/urban India: Common effluent treatment plant can conserve fresh water in industrial estates
Contamination of surface and groundwater resources is rampant in rural/urban India with wastewater entering fresh water bodies or seeping into groundwater. An integrated approach is needed to manage the water and wastewater treatment so that water supply is kept clean and wastewater is recycled for beneficial use in agriculture and industry. This paper will present a study that was completed for the Hammond Sanitary District in Indiana where 38 million gallons per day (MGD) will be recycled after secondary treatment for beneficial use by land owners in Northwest Indiana.
Vasudevan Rajaram and John R Sheaffer
Posted on 17 Mar, 2012 11:02 AM

Authors : Vasudevan Rajaram and John R. Sheaffer
Lessons for rural water supply - Assessing progress towards sustainable service delivery - India - IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre, The Hague
This report by the IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre describes the findings of a study that was conducted in India as a part of a 13 country study that aimed at reviewing and better understanding the trends within rural water supply and identifying factors that appeared to contribute to or constrain the delivery of sustainable services at scale. The study also aimed at identifying organisational incentives and barriers that shaped the way in which sector institutions approached rural water services.
James A J
Posted on 10 Mar, 2012 04:24 PM

The study looked beyond a simple description of the situation towards broader processes of decentralisation and political leadership, in an attempt to unpack what has gone right or, as in many cases, what has gone wrong, within the rural water sub-sector.
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