Case Studies - Rainwater Harvesting
Tank irrigation in Karnataka: A historical survey
Tank irrigation in Karnataka, authored by GS Dikshit, GR Kuppuswamy, SK Mohan, and first published in 1993, provides a historical overview of this ancient method of water management. The book covers entire eras from the ancient to the current period. It also gives information about the structural, financial and institutional aspects of tank construction and management.
The full book is available for download on the India Water Portal. Please right-click on the cover page image of the book, and select 'Save link as', to download the full book.
National action plan on climate change (NAPCC) and supporting mission documents (2008-11)
The National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) is a policy document prepared by the Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change. It gives the direction which India needs to take, to mitigate and adapt to climate change. It has been prepared keeping in mind that India's economic need to tap its natural resources needs to be tempered with the need to maintain ecological balance.
Read MoreAjunhi kordech aad (The wells are still dry) - An article in marathi - Anubhav magazine
A large part of the state of Maharashtra continues to face acute scarcity of water due to scanty rainfall, which has had a serious impact on the livelihoods of people who live in these areas. This article "Ajuni Kordech Aad" meaning "The wells are still dry" published in the magazine Anubhav highlights the extreme hardships, lack of employment opportunities, forced migration due to negative impact on agriculture and livestocks, and poverty and deprivation that people living in these areas have to face due to this water scarcity.
Read MoreThembe thembe samruddhi (Prosperity with every drop) - An article from the magazine Anubhav
This article in Marathi from the magazine Anubhav titled 'Thembe thembe samruddhi' meaning 'Prosperity with every drop' highlights the situation of acute scarcity of water in the state of Maharashtra and argues that this has been a barrier to the progress of the state leading to dire poverty and deprivation.
Read MoreQualitative and quantitative water scarcity issues in Bihar - A presentation
This presentation highlights the grave water situation in Bihar in the context of the emerging water quality and quantity issues that the world and especially developing countries will be facing in the near future.
Read MoreLakes in Mumbai – A draft report by WWF India
This draft report on the study of lakes by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (India) documents the physical condition of the lakes in Mumbai. Apart from the three lakes - Tulsi, Powai and Vihar that used to provide water to Mumbai residents, there are many lakes in the Bombay Municipal Corporation jurisdiction that are either polluted by human sewage or industrial effluents and have remained neglected with increasing urbanization.
There is very little to no data available on the existence of lakes of Mumbai. Several RTI’s to the government bodies also revealed that there was a lacuna in terms of the availability of the data; as a result most of the water bodies are easily exploited. Under this study the baseline data was prepared with the help of Google Earth website. The areas appearing to be lakes were marked on the Google Earth Images. These were verified by the field staff through onsite visits. The survey was conducted during September and October, 2008 and March, 2009. The study considers only the fresh water lakes which were accessible and saline water impoundments have not been considered.
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Decentralised treatment and recycling of domestic wastewater - An integrated approach to water management - A pilot project - CPCB (2008)
This report by the Central Pollution and Control Board (CPCB) describes the various intervention measures chosen to reduce the ecological footprint of the Sangamam housing project at Auroville. These measures include water harvesting, recycling and waste management.
Auroville is located in Tamil Nadu, south India, about 12 kms north of Pondicherry and 150 kms south of Chennai/Madras, adjacent to the Coromandel Coast. Auroville’s development is closely related to that of the surrounding villages. There are 13 such villages in the immediate vicinity of Auroville, and altogether 126 villages in the wider bioregion of 825 sq.kms.
Read MoreInstitutionalization of users' level - Water quality monitoring and surveillance in Gujarat - A report by WASMO
This report by the Water and Sanitation Management Organization (WASMO) presents the impact of the Water Quality Monitoring and Surveillance (WQM&S) Programme implemented in Gujarat, which focused on community involvement in assessing and evaluating water quality.
It has been found that waterborne diseases due to contaminated drinking water are rampant in the state of Gujarat along with chronic illnesses associated with the presence of chemical contaminants in the drinking water. Community involvement in managing water quality has been identified as an important step to deal with this situation.
Read MoreDecentralized wastewater management – An overview of a community initiatives in New Delhi - Vigyan Vijay Foundation
This paper by Ajit Seshadri, Vigyan Vijay Foundation highlights the poor sanitation situation in India and argues that centralized approaches to wastewater treatment have had limited success and there is a need to make wastwater treatment people centric and effective through the use of decentralized systems such as DEWATS (Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Systems). DEWATS are locally organized and people driven systems that typically comprise a settler, anaerobic baffled tanks, filter beds of gravel and sand, and an open pond. The open pond or the polishing tank recreates a living environment for the wastewater to clean itself, naturally.
Read MoreGroundwater, self-supply and poor urban dwellers - A review with case studies of Bangalore and Lusaka by IIED
This paper by International Institute of Environment and Development (IIED) explores the extent to which urban dwellers, and especially those living in low income areas, depend directly and indirectly on groundwater. It investigates the difficulties they face and emphasizes the need for better integration of groundwater in the planning and management of urban water resources.
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