Wells and Step-wells

Featured Articles
February 24, 2021
Baravas - Unique water harvesting structures of Maharashtra
Baravas, the unique water harvesting structures of Maharashtra continue to stand the test of time. Urgent efforts need to be made to conserve them and learn from them!
A barav from Limb village in Satara district, Maharashtra (Image Source: Aarti Kelkar Khambete)
November 18, 2019
BWSSB’s workforce woefully inadequate, says Chairman Tushar Girinath
Bangalore's water utility is understaffed, under financed and unable to service the city's water needs.
Image credit: Citizen Matters
November 13, 2019
Cyclone Bulbul devastates West Bengal and Odisha
News this week
A cyclonic storm that hit India in 2016. (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
November 4, 2019
India has a groundwater problem
Despite being the lifeline of India’s water supplies, groundwater is overlooked by policy makers and users alike.
An irrigation well at Randullabad, Maharashtra. Image source: India Water Portal on Flickr. Image used for representational purposes only.
October 25, 2019
Mapping Pune’s aquifers
Groundwater use has doubled in Pune. Comprehensive mapping of groundwater resources and better management and governance is the need of the hour.
Groundwater, an exploited resource (Image Source: India Water Portal)
September 26, 2019
Water wisdom in times of a climate crisis
New report documents India’s rich traditions of water harvesting and sustainable use.
Bandhara (in Nashik, Maharashtra), a low masonry weir of 1.2 to 4.5 m height, which is constructed across a small stream for diverting the water into a small main canal taking off from its upstream side (Image: Shailendra Yashwant, Oxfam India)
Impact of pit-toilet leachate on groundwater chemistry and role of vadose zone in removal of nitrate and E. coli pollutants in Kolar District, Karnataka, India
Impact of pit-toilet leachate on groundwater chemistry and role of vadose zone in removal of nitrate and E. coli pollutants in Kolar District, Karnataka, India
M Sekhar
PV Raghuveer Rao
Sudhakar M Rao
Posted on 04 Jan, 2013 02:00 PM

Given the many problems associated with flush toilets and the sewerage system, pit toilets offer a viable solution in India. However, the use of soakpits raises the question of groundwater contamination. This paper assesses the impact of pit toilet leachate on groundwater quality in Mulbagal town (pop ~ 60,000) in Karnataka relies on pit toilets, and uses groundwater for drinking.View of the town of Mulbagal, Karnataka

Highlights from the 10-year water policy research programme of the International Water Management Institute and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust discussed at the IWMI - TATA Annual Partners' Meet at Anand, between 28-30 November, 2012
IWMI -Tata water policy research programme aims to draw upon research carried out throughout the country to identify solutions for India's water stress and present these as policy recommendations
Chicu Lokgariwar
Posted on 05 Dec, 2012 02:06 PM

IWMI-Tata water policy research programme is a collaborative initiative between the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT). 
Dugwell - An asset for sustainable livelihood: An Arghyam and Action for Social Advancement (ASA) project carried out in 2 tribal bocks of Ratlam district in Madhya Pradesh
Population increase and the resultant increase in consumption has come to lay enormous stress on food production, thus underlying the need to bring in more land under cultivation
Mystic Frames
Posted on 27 Oct, 2012 10:44 AM

 At the same time we also need to keep in mind the judicious use of natural  resources, especially in rain-fed areas. Integrating sustainability and demand is one of the greatest challenges faced by communities and nations today.
Bacterial contamination in water affects more than half of Chennai
First, water tax and now, water purifiers - how will the lower income group afford quality drinking water?
Pritha Bhattacharya
Posted on 09 Oct, 2012 03:44 PM

Chennai formerly known as Madras, the capital of Tamil Nadu is the sixth most populous city in India with 4.68 million residents as of 2011. Until 1870, it had no piped water supply within the city and people were dependent on public and private wells. The construction of a piped water supply system was started in 1872. This laid the foundation for the present water supply system.
Source: Shawn (flickr.com/photos/uncultured)
Dug wells- A potentially safe source of drinking water for the arsenic and iron contaminated region of Bihar - A paper by Megh Pyne Abhiyan (MPA)
Dugwells started losing their significance following installation of handpumps, which led to uncontrolled pumping of groundwater and problems of groundwater contamination with arsenic in Bihar
Megh Pyne Abhiyan
Posted on 03 Aug, 2012 01:00 PM

This paper published by Megh Pyne Abhiyan argues that  dug wells slowly started losing their significance following the invention and large scale marketing of hand pumps,.
Tenda, a traditional system to draw water from open wells that is still practiced even today in Chattisgarh and Odisha
This article and video by Sachin Tiwale describes how farmers in Chattisgarh and Odush use the Tenda system to reduce labor and water the fields efficiently
Sachin Tiwale
Posted on 05 Jun, 2012 10:00 PM

Two talukas, Jat & Atpadi, in Sangli district of Maharashtra face worst drought despite river Krishna flowing just 100 kms away
Drought has again hit large parts of Maharashtra this year. But the worst affected are two talukas in Sangli district
Ashwin Aghor
Posted on 05 Jun, 2012 02:09 PM

 
National Environmental Engineering Research Institute seeks opinion from the public on the concept of groundwater recharge with treated municipal wastewater
The Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India, New Delhi, has entrusted National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) to undertake a feasibility study on "Artificial groundwater recharge using treated municipal wastewater". Artificial groundwater recharge is a process of augmenting the natural purification processes occurring within the soil aquifer in the vadose zone. This treatment technique is known as Soil aquifer treatment (SAT).
Anisha Nijhawan
Posted on 09 Mar, 2012 02:24 PM

Guest post by: Anisha Nijhawan
Photo exhibition on open wells and groundwater, Goethe-Institut, March 22, 2012, Bangalore
Posted on 05 Mar, 2012 12:05 PM

Organizer: Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore

Venue: Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore,
            716 CMH Road,
            Indiranagar 1st Stage,
            Bangalore 560 038

Gothe Institut

The Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore, offers language courses, organises cultural events and has a Library. We determine our main areas of interest in consultation with our Indian cooperation partners from the fields of art, science and media, from NGOs and select companies, with whom we jointly develop appropriate programmes and projects. Our activities range from film screenings, exhibitions, theatre performances and concerts to workshops and conferences particularly on innovative topics such as video and media art.

Water resource accounting as a tool for urban water management - An illustration in NCT- Delhi - Journal of Indian Water Works Association
This paper published in the Journal of Indian Water Works Association demonstrates how urban water management can be based on policies with the goals of effective water allocation, and its quality and quantity management, by making use of a water resource accounting framework and focuses on illustrating how urban water management can be achieved through water accounting through a case study of NCT-Delhi.
N Ramakrishna
Posted on 24 Feb, 2012 10:41 PM

The paper discusses the natural resources accounting in the context of national/regional policy first, and then places water resource accounting within it. Subsequently, the methodology as well as study framework adopted for resource accounting are discussed.
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