Urban Water

Floods: lessons to be learnt from the massive flooding in Surat city

A report by IIM criticises the way in which dams are managed in the country and calls for the need to apply Management Science / Operations Research techniques and information technology to improve dam management and prevention of floods

Flood fury: are we ready to face such an event?

This link on the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO) website, presents data related to the status of the urban water, sanitation and solid waste management in India. The data includes information on:

• Status of water supply (physical)
• Status of urban water supply (financial)
• Status of urban sewerage/sanitation system
• Status of low cost sanitation
• Status of solid waste management

Data is included from different states in India namely Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Pondicherry, Sikkim and Tamilnadu respectively.

We see this newsletter as a platform for independent credible voice in the water and sanitation sector. Our emphasis is on bringing together critical news and information with analysis. In this issue we share news and analysis on topical issues and developments.

The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation(DDWS) has simultaneously invited inputs to Discussion Papers on Drinking Water and Sanitation, circulated on Solution Exchange. Inputs given by India WASH Forum, on this, is enclosed in this Update. We have pointed out the missing elements of sanitation improvement strategy that include, criticality of providing water as an inseparable component to household sanitation, the tendency to see behavior change as a lifestyle issue and not linked to the hardware components, peoples livelihoods and living conditions. Suggestions for what needs to be done to strengthen the implementation mechanism of the flagship sanitation programme(TSC) and partnerships.

This paper discusses the relevance of the process of decentralisation in water resources management. The paper argues that decentralisation is not about formulating a top-down reform package to transfer power from central government to other actors to manage water resources, nor is it about emphasising the existence of the bottom up agency.

Rather, the paper draws on "New Institutionalism" and argues that decentralisation is a complex adaptive process that involves natural as well as political actions of actors and agents who draw on existing structures to negotiate and renegotiate the existing unequal power relations to manage water.

The report presents the evaluation of water supply system of Kakinada town in Andhra Pradesh. The neglect of hydrology of a region, while undertaking planning and development works in an urban environment, has serious consequences, the most notable being non-availability of enough potable drinking water to citizens. Water budget studies can be undertaken with all the available records to improve the functioning of such systems and to identify additional alternate resources.

Highlights

• India: World Bank Aid of USD 372 million for Coastal Zone & Water Supply
• India: Centre Approves National Mission on Micro Irrigation
• Chennai: 45 New Machines to Clear Clogged Sewers
• Stockholm Water Award 2010: Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority is the Winner
• Grundfos: World’s Largest Pump Manufacturer by VDMA List

The study endeavors to test the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) in an urban area. The report presents the technical summary of the model, its structure, interaction between the various blocks of SWMM, the input requirements and the output. The Windows implementation of the blocks, including descriptions of the screen sequences, corresponding blocks, changes made for ease of use and limitations of the implementation are presented. The minimum hardware requirements and installation information for the Windows SWMM are discussed.

Get trained in SWMM - Storm water management modelling.

Visit the link for software capabilities http://www.epa.gov/ednnrmrl/models/swmm/