Voluntary Citizen or Civil Society Sector

Featured Articles
October 11, 2022
Visualizing the Vrishabhavathi river to keep it alive
In an effort to inform the general public, especially citizen activists, policymakers, researchers, and students, about the current status of the Vrishabhavathi river, Paani.Earth has created the necessary maps, data, analysis, and information to drive conservation awareness and action around the river.
Vrishabhavathi river (Image Source: Paani.Earth)
October 1, 2021
Community videos: By the community, for the community
Community videos as a tool to influence behaviour change and adoption in rural communities
Community videos are produced by farmers themselves and feature local participants and agents from the rural communities themselves (Image: Digital Green)
September 17, 2021
Villagers’ shramdaan revives canal, enhances area under cultivation
Benefits of well-managed commons on livelihoods
Collective efforts revived the canal structure of Bichhiya dam bringing water to the village (Image: Foundation for Ecological Security)
September 4, 2021
How Paani Foundation harnesses the power of communication for social transformation
Committed to use the power of all forms of communication to bring about behavioral change and transformation at scale
Villagers participating in shramdaan for making watershed structures (Image: Paani Foundation)
September 3, 2021
Learning about safe water practices and solutions
Safe water learning cards being used to train a wide spectrum of stakeholders
Different combinations of safe water learning cards can be customised for a session based on the target audience (Image: INREM)
June 4, 2021
Not all heroes wear capes, some fight amongst us
Meet these real-life heroes, who with their consistent and tireless efforts created an impact and turned their local areas into examples to follow.
Meet the water warriors who made a significant change in their own unique way (Image Source: Environment Club)
Waste away, Ambikapur shows way
A small city in Chattisgarh, Ambikapur implements a cost effective way to get rid of its waste and generates jobs in the process.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 19 Jan, 2018 11:37 AM

Ambikapur has become a role model for all the urban local bodies (ULBs) in Chhattisgarh for its successful solid liquid resource management (SLRM). Thanks to Ritu Sen, former collector of Ambikapur and her team for taking the initiative to clean the city and for bringing the women's self-help groups (SHGs) together for this noble cause. 
A worker carries household waste to the SLRM centres at Ambikapur.
Protest in Chennai to save the Ennore Creek
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 09 Jan, 2018 08:59 AM

Saving the Ennore Creek: Chennai fisherfolk stage Jal Satyagraha
The Ennore creek smothered on all sides by thermal power plants. (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Stubble burning banned, farmers stumped
While banning stubble burning is a positive step towards reducing air pollution in the Delhi-NCR sector, the farmers need support from the government to adopt measures to enable smooth crop rotation.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 07 Jan, 2018 06:20 PM

Amar Singh sits in his huge courtyard at the centre of his home in the village of Atraula in Meerut. Lying in the far west part of Uttar Pradesh, this is a flourishing sugarcane belt. An important agricultural region, its demographic, economic and cultural patterns are similar to that of nearby Haryana and Rajasthan.
A large amount of crop residues are available in western UP and most of these are burnt in the field (Image: Ed Dunens, Flickr Commons)
Is it worth the salt?
Unregulated salt production near Sambhar lake is not just causing health problems among salt workers, it is also depleting groundwater and ruining the ecosystem of the wetland.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 12 Dec, 2017 12:22 PM

The fields are silvery white with raw salt crusts in the vicinity of Nawa, a small town on the northwestern banks of Sambhar lake, India’s largest inland lake. Nawa lies about 90 kilometres east of Jaipur. Also an extensive saline wetland and a Ramsar site, the blinding white salt flats stretch as far as one can see.
Ramachander Singh, a salt worker who has been raking salt for decades now at this salt pan or kyari dotting the lake bed of Sambhar, Rajasthan.
Soil health is declining in India: Report
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 12 Dec, 2017 11:24 AM

Carbon content in India's soil decreases
India's soil health needs attention. (Source: IWP Flickr photo)
Saving Chorao through its people
A new project tries to save the ecologically diverse Chorao island by including the inhabitants of the island in conservation efforts.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 10 Dec, 2017 12:37 PM

Located just 5 km away from the capital city of Panaji, Chorao island, along the Mandovi river, is one of the largest islands in Goa. The island has a unique ecosystem that is different from the other sanctuaries in the state.
Chorao island (Source:GIZ)
Does sanitation really matter to us?
Complete sanitation is important for everyone. A collective effort is needed to make it happen.
Arti Manchanda Grover
Posted on 04 Dec, 2017 04:05 PM

Social media has brought the world to our desktop where information is available at the click of a button. The issues now are not just related to a particular community, region, state, or country; they are global. We get attached to them directly or indirectly and share our opinions on them, which is an easy and powerful way to contribute towards addressing issues we care about.
An initiative to prepare women to be sanitation ambassadors to provide strength to sanitation drives in their villages.
For a better Bandi
Mahaveer Singh Sukarlai was awarded the Bhagirath Prayas Samman at the India Rivers Day 2017 for his valiant effort to safeguard the integrity of the Bandi river in Pali.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 01 Dec, 2017 05:12 PM

A seasonal river in Pali, Rajasthan, the Bandi is nothing short of a sewer. The textile town has witnessed rampant industrial growth, raw sewage discharges and toxic contamination of its waters. The river, which is devoid of lean season flow, is polluted up to 55 km downstream. The river water is unfit for drinking as well as irrigation.
Mahaveer Singh Sukarlai speaks at the India Rivers Day.
Palk Bay: Trawled and damaged
In the last of a two-part series on the importance of conserving the Palk Bay, a video shows how trawling is spelling doom to the ecology of the bay.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 28 Nov, 2017 04:05 PM

The Palk Bay is an ecological paradise located between the island nation of Sri Lanka and the South East Peninsula India. The region separates the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu from the northern parts of Sri Lanka.
The Palk Bay (Source: GIZ)
Conserving Palk Bay
In the first of a two-part series on the ecological degradation of the Palk Bay, a video explains the importance of conserving this biodiversity hotspot.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 28 Nov, 2017 04:04 PM

The Palk Bay is a 15,000 sq km biodiversity conglomeration nestled between the island nation of Sri Lanka and South East Peninsula India with a coastal length of 250 km on the Indian side. 
The Palk Bay (Source: GIZ)
Subscribe to Voluntary Citizen or Civil Society Sector
×