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Tamil Nadu

Nutrient-based fertiliser subsidy: Will farmers adopt agricultural best management practices? An article in EPW

The new nutrient-based fertiliser subsidy policy provides implicit incentives to farmers to test soil samples regularly and get crop-wise recommended doses of nutrients, and offers prospective benefits from the agro-environmental management point of view. A study of six villages in the lower Bhavani Basin in Tamil Nadu by Sacchidananda Mukherjee in Economic and Political Weekly reveals that despite a strong willingness on the part of farmers to adopt agricultural best management practices, inadequate infrastructure and the high transaction costs involved in accessing such services make them reluctant to test soil samples regularly. This paper looks at the institutional, infrastructural and agronomic factors influencing farmers’ willingness, and concludes that the new policy needs to be supplemented with basic agricultural extension services through public-private partnerships.Read More

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Nutrient-based fertiliser subsidy: Will farmers adopt agricultural best management practices? An article in EPW200.11 KB

Contextualising urban water supply in a changing environment: India Urban Conference, November 17-20 2011

The India Urban Conference (IUC) was organised to encourage multi-level dialogue regarding India's urban transformation. It aimed to set the challenges faced by urban planners in the current economic, socio-political, and ecological landscape. This would enable informed and negotiated choices on urban development. The stated objectives of the conference are as follows:Read More

  • To make urban, applied research relevant to an increased spectrum of stakeholders including academics, civil societies, policy think tanks, research institutes, media, private sector, and citizens.
  • To leverage experience to generate useful evidence to promote applied research and responsive policy-making.
  • To create new research initiatives and/ or collaborations with a potential for creating tangible changes/ reforms for the benefit of urban India and its context.
  • To identify and explore research issues affecting urban India, by exploring through a perspective of eight selected themes.
  • Publish research papers and evidence presented/ discussed in the form of case-books, web publications, and potentially a special issue of a journal.
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Mainstreaming groundwater in urban planning- Himanshu Kulkarni11.67 MB
Urban water institutions - Models, gaps and new challenges – Malini Shankar6.19 MB
Water management in industry: Lessons from the CII Awards for Excellence – L.S. Ganapati1.41 MB
Creating enabling conditions for governance reforms in urban water institutions - Dr. A.P. Tiwari1.47 MB
Performance assessment systems for improved service delivery - Dr. Meera Mehta9.06 MB
Urban water institutions: Myth of decentralisation and devolution - Dr. V. Suresh1.79 MB
Overview of urban sanitation in India - Pavan Kumar Ankinapalli208.09 KB
ILCS & community toilets: Experiences of a Karnataka town - Manjunatha Prasad687.81 KB
Honeysuckers - Sanitation without pipes - S Vishwanath28.94 MB
Role of scientific studies in managing urban groundwater quantity aspects: The experience with Mulbagal, Karnataka – Prof. Shekar Muddu7.95 MB
Sustainable water management: Nexus between groundwater quality and sanitation practice – Prof. Sudhakar Rao1.08 MB

Location

Mysore, KA, India
Latitude: 12.303534, Longitude: 76.646110

Evaluation of physico-chemical characteristics in groundwater using GIS – A case study of Chinnar sub-basin, Cauvery River, Tamil Nadu, India

This study uses GIS to assess the potability of groundwater and the spatial variation of groundwater parameters in Chinnar sub-basin, Tamil Nadu. The study found that the groundwater of the basin is extremely hard with total hardness, magnesium and potassium contents being above the permissible limits. Thirty nine out of 57 samples exceed the allowable limits for fluoride.

location map of Chinnar sub-basin and spatial distribution of ground waterRead More

Democratisation of water management - The experience of Tamil Nadu with governance reforms

Through these three papers, the authors argue that the solutions to the global water crisis do not lie in investing more and more money into the water sector or in the introduction of better technology. Nor is the introduction of the private sector and the reduction in the role of the government going to help. Rather, the time has come to introduce changes at the basic or the fundamental level in the way in which the water sector functions.

There is an urgent need to bring about reforms in governance by moving towards decentralisation and democratisation, leading to  involvement of people from all the sections of the society, who know and understand that they are responsible for the system and its functioning, as well as by introducing principles of equity and social justice. The papers demonstrate the successful implementation of this approach by describing the experience of Tamil Nadu at democratising water management through introduction of reforms at the level of governance, through involvement of the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board (TWAD).Read More

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Democratisation of water management - Establishing a paradigm shift in the water sector - The Tamil Nadu experiment with governance reform (2006)98.78 KB
Democratisation of water management as a way to reclaiming public water - TheTamil Nadu experience - V Suresh - Pradip Prabhu (2007)272.41 KB
Solution for the water crisis - Democratisation not privatisation - Promising stories from Tamil Nadu (India) - V Suresh (2007)28.24 KB

Koodam – Breaking hierarchy, building democracy - Paper published in Integral Leadership Review

This paper published in the Integral Leadership Review discusses the Tamil concept of 'koodam' as a possible tool to transform bureaucratic structures into more non hierarchical and people friendly structures. The paper argues that hierarchy and bureaucracy are two of the most common features of governance systems that play a determining role in shaping the organisational culture, systemic response and human relations that prevail in government institutions.

Thus, the more rigid and formal the hierarchy, the greater is the consciousness of status and authority that in turn creates closed human relations systems dominated by feelings of suspicion, formalism and a discomfort with anything ‘personal’. Bureaucracy, or rule boundedness, determines how open the organisation is, not just vis-à-vis the outside world, but even inside the government system itself, encompassing relations between and amongst different sub-systems or departments.Read More

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Koodam - Breaking hierarchy, building democracy - Integral Leadership Review (2011)73.07 KB
Ecology, Economy, Values, Dignity, Development, Democracy - The Koodam - V Suresh (2011)3.05 MB

A survey of point of use household water treatment options for rural south India

Point of use household water treatment is the process of treating water at the household level to improve its microbiological purity. In cases where treated municipal water is not available, or is subject to recontamination due to a faulty distribution system, household water treatment is essential and allows families control over their drinking waer.This report examines the various methods of point-of-use water treatment options available, their pros and cons, and their suitability for South India. Read More

Strengthening rural livelihoods: The impact of information and communication technologies in Asia – A report by IDRC

ICTThis report prepared by International Development Research Centre (IDRC) examines how information related constraints in poor rural areas are being overcome and how information technology is being employed to the benefit of people in South Asia.

Poor people are constrained by limited access to information and poor communications technology. The research looked at the use of ‘information communications technologies’ (ICTs) in providing agricultural extension services, getting timely market price information, finding out about rural wage labour opportunities, helping rural communities to build a sustainable asset base and understanding crop diseases and soil nutrition.

The results of the research bring together rigorously tested practices and methods of applying ICTs for improving rural livelihoods. Each research study has investigated how and to what extent a specific ICT intervention made a difference. Together it shows how ICTs have empowered rural people and transformed livelihoods in agriculture: by filling information gaps, raising awareness, building skills and extending social networks.

The focus was on agricultural communities, as Asia’s poor and middle-income countries have primarily agriculture-based economies. However, a broader ‘livelihoods’ approach has been taken to ensure that we observe the variety of ways ICTs can have an effect on rural communities. The scope of the research took into account the range of on-farm and off-farm productive and reproductive activities that support farming households and communities.

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Location

Nagapattinam, TN, India
Latitude: 10.766667, Longitude: 79.833333

Fishery statistics – A manual by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation

FishThis manual provides the users of marine and inland fishery statistics, data with a ready to use reference guide on methodological aspects of data (metadata) based on harmonized concepts and methodologies that facilitate international comparison and help in aggregation of statistics to derive meaningful conclusions. The adoption of the methodology suggested in this manual will go a long way in facilitating data aggregation and data comparison both at intra-regional levels, including international levels.

The section on both marine and inland fisheries consists of four chapters and appendices. Chapter I highlights the significance of the sector, need for statistical standards and development of statistical system of the sector. Concepts and definitions are placed in Chapter II. Chapter III presents sources of data and details of methodology being adopted for generating these data. Chapter IV conveys the suggestion for ensuring quality standards. Lastly, appendices include estimation methods, forms and schedules and major resources available in the Indian waters.Read More

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Fishery statistics – A manual by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (2011)1.28 MB

Harvest of rain - A CSE film

This video by the Centre for Science and Environment is dedicated to India's traditional water harvesting systems and practices. The camera wanders through the states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra and records the profound traditional science of the people. “Harvest of Rain” analyses a wide variety of water harvesting systems as a function of differing ecological terrains.Read More

Water quality hot-spots in rivers of India – A report by Central Water Commission

River Water QualityThis report by the Central Water Commission (CWC) attempts to provide the water quality scenario of our rivers and evolve a methodology for identifying hot spots in Indian rivers. The water quality data is based on the average values observed during the last ten years (2001-2011) at 371 monitoring stations of CWC on almost all major, medium and minor rivers in India. In respect of Dissolved Oxygen and Biochemical Oxygen Demand, the Central Pollution Control Board's classification has been considered for evaluating the hot spot in the rivers.

The physical and chemical quality of river water is important in deciding its suitability for drinking purposes. As such the suitability of river water for potable uses with regard to its chemical quality has to be deciphered and defined on the basis of the some vital characteristics of the water. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) vide its document IS: 10500:1991, edition 2.2 (2003‐09) has recommended the quality standards for drinking water and these have been used for finding the suitability of river water. On this basis of classification, the natural river water of India has been categorized as desirable, permissible and unfit for human consumption.

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Water quality hot-spots in rivers of India – A report by Central Water Commission (2011)3.94 MB

Location

Erode, TN, India
Latitude: 11.342235, Longitude: 77.727477

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Arghyam

6.22-2011.07.01-06