Water scarcity due to declining snowfall and dying springs is forcing pastoralists in Jammu and Kashmir to abandon their traditional migration practices. However, a challenges rise, the pastoralist communities have now come together to find solutions.
They have joined hands with the Himalayan Pastoral Trust (HPT), a local NGO based in Central Kashmir and launched the Alpine Pond Project in 2024 to harvest rainwater and store it by constructing ponds in high-altitude pastures with support from the Department of Forests, Jammu & Kashmir. Several small artificial ponds to collect and store rainwater by identifying key grazing areas along their traditional routes have been thus created. The aim of this initiative is to revive the drying meadows and restore hope for the herders who depend on them.
The location of each pond is decided based on community-led mapping of traditional grazing routes, seasonal migration patterns, and water scarcity hotspots. The project aims to ease pressure on overused rangelands and distribute livestock more evenly across the landscape by constructing ponds in surplus grazing zones with underused pasture potential. The project supports over 230 pastoral households, is emerging as a model for climate adaptation, combining both local knowledge and scientific insight (Mongabay, India).
Civil society organisations, farmers groups and scientists in India have raised concerns over the proposed changes to an international agreement on plant resource. The 11th session of the governing body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) was scheduled for the last week of November 2025.
The main concern has been a proposal to expand the scope of the multilateral system (MLS) of access and benefit sharing under the ITPGRFA. While the MLS covers 64 crops at present, the amendment seeks to expand this to include all other plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA), except for a few limited species a country might list only at the time of ratification (negative list).
Civil society groups have warned that this expansion would open up nearly all of India’s agricultural genetic resources to seed companies in developed countries, leading to loss of control of the farmers over these resources (Down To Earth).
ICRISAT has developed a unique solar-driven, eco-friendly solution in combating water hyacinth infestation, a persistent problem affecting millions of people and water systems across Asia, Africa, and Latin America - The novel solar powered water hyacinth harvester. Designed and invented in-house, the harvester provides a sustainable alternative to conventional mechanical weed removal systems.
It utilises solar energy to enable rural communities to clear waterways, improve water flow in tanks and reservoirs, and repurpose the collected biomass for composting, biogas generation, or other value-added uses.
Water hyacinth infestations continue to plague many Indian wetlands. These dense floating mats shut out sunlight, drain dissolved oxygen, and ultimately suffocate fish and other aquatic life, destroying the biodiversity and degrading water quality of the wetlands. The solar-powered harvester provides a practical and sustainable solution for clearing this invasive weed and revitalising stressed ecosystems against conventional weed-removal systems that are costly to operate and maintain, often straining the budgets of rural communities and local agencies (ICRISAT.org).
A new Blue Force and the Robotic Technology Deployment Programme has recently been designed by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) to detect illegal connections and water leakages. This advanced robotic technology helps to detect illegal water connections, identify contamination, and ensure the supply of clean water, and aims to serve as a model for the entire country.
Being the first-of-its-kind in India, this robotic technology enables quick detection of leakage sources without excessive road digging and immediately sends the information to the BWSSB dashboard, enabling rapid action. While earlier efforts needed digging of roads at multiple places to trace contamination, the robotic system will scan pipelines, locate the exact issue, and roads will be dug only where repairs are needed.
Complaint resolution is also expected to be fast. Illegal connections have been causing huge losses to the board and all violations will be identified with robotic technology and strict enforcement, we will identify all violations. The initiative aims to reduce Bengaluru’s 28% water loss caused by leakages and illegal connections (The Hindu).
A unique app known as the Varuni app has been released by India as a part of developing a user-friendly scientific methodology for preparing a water budget at block level, with the help of web-based water budgeting platform developed for this purpose.
An Indo-German WASCA project has developed Varuni, a first-of-its-kind web application designed to generate Block-level water budgets using scientific yet simple methods. Varuni integrates publicly available datasets on rainfall, groundwater levels, crop water needs, livestock populations, and surface water storage to assess whether a block is facing water surplus or water deficit. The tool provides quick diagnostics and guides local officials toward suitable interventions.
The app has been piloted across 18 Aspirational Blocks, representing diverse geographical zones coastal regions, Gangetic plains, Himalayan districts, arid/semi-arid landscapes, plateau regions, and reservoir-fed areas.
The findings highlight a critical need for region-specific water management strategies and that Varuni can serves as a valuable diagnostic tool for immediate planning and has the potential to become a cornerstone in India’s long-term water governance framework (Sarkaritel.com).
This is a roundup of news updates from November 16, 2025 to November 30, 2025. Read our policy updates here