India Water Portal is a highly collaborative effort, bringing many organisations and individuals together. It is funded and managed by Arghyam, a public charitable trust set up by Rohini Nilekani which seeks to support strategic and sustainable efforts in the water sector that enhance equity in access to water for all citizens of India.
The National Knowledge Commission was a strong proponent of knowledge portals in 2005, as well as regional websites that shared offline resources to the sector at large. India Water Portal was conceived under this mandate.
Samaj Pragati Sahayog is a voluntary organisation working in water, that aims to develop a new vision of development for India’s drylands based on the principles of equity, sustainability and people's empowerment. SPS worked with Arghyam to customise some of the multimedia courses on India Water Portal.
ATREE (Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment) integrates rigorous natural and social sciences with policy, education, and socially responsible conservation. ATREE partnered with Arghyam to provide some of the base maps and data for the GIS applications.
ACWADAM (Advanced Centre for Water Resources Development and Management) is a not-for-profit organisation that aims to develop solutions to India’s groundwater problems. It is a premier education and research institution that facilitates work on groundwater management through action research programmes and trainings.
BIRD-K (The BAIF Institute for Rural Development - Karnataka) is an NGO that has been working on rural development, poverty alleviation, primary health care and conservation of natural resources for over two decades.
eGovernments Foundation, Bangalore is a not-for-profit trust that provides Municipal eGovernance systems to improve the functioning of City Municipalities. eGovernments Foundation was the main technology partner for India Water Portal when it was first launched.
Adayana, Hyderabad worked with Arghyam to create some of the sophisticated multimedia courses on India Water Portal. Adayana aims to make e-learning relevant to the customer, in their context and within their framework.
Apparatus Media Lab is a brand communication and interactive design studio headquartered in Bangalore. AML created the information architecture, the design and the User Interface of India Water Portal back in 2007 when it was launched.
NetBrahma Studios is an interaction & user experience design studio based in Bangalore, India. NetBrahma redesigned the new India Water Portal, creating the information architecture, web design and user interface.
Azri Solutions is the technology company that manages the back end of India Water Portal. Based in Hyderabad, Azri Solutions works on a range of open enterprise solutions and provide consultancy services on technology to a range of clients.
There are several other organisations and individuals that have worked closely with Arghyam and contributed significantly to India Water Portal. Arghyam also funds the Hindi Water Portal, and runs the India Sanitation Portal through a joint partnership with Water Aid.
We wish to thank the following people, organisations and government departments that have contributed valuable content to India Water Portal, in the form of data, software or case studies:
- Anupam Mishra, for contributing his books and invaluable knowledge on water;
- Claire Arni and Oriole Henri for contributing content and photographs of the Cauvery Basin in Karnataka;
- Subramaniam Sastry and Reinier Kernkamp, for writing the software for the News section;
- Vishal Kiritkumar Mehta for creating the Meteorological Data application as part of his Ph.D research work at Cornell University, USA, with assistance from a fellowship from Arghyam;
- Farhad Contractor, for contributing photographs and knowledge on his work in reviving traditional water harvesting structures in Rajasthan;
- Central Groundwater Board for providing data on ground water depth, recharge and abstraction;
- Central Pollution Control Board for providing data on water pollution like BOD, COD and other contaminations;
- Planning Commission of the Government of India for providing their database of NGOs for the Organisation Locator application;
- Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Department, Government of Karnataka has given the village-level data for all of Karnataka to be used on the Portal;
- State Resource Centre, Mysore, Karnataka for providing a book on Rainwater Harvesting;
- Survey of India for providing base maps for the GIS applications;
- Auroville Village Action Trust;
- Barefoot College, for contributing some of their movies;
- Communication for Development and Learning (CDL), for contributing their book on traditional water harvesting structures of Karnataka;
- Chennai Rain Centre for contributing material on rainwater harvesting;
- CISED for providing articles and papers on biodiversity and forests;
- Development Alternatives for providing information on their network of partner organisations working on water;
- Development Promotion Group, Chennai for putting together the Sanitation Manual for the Portal;
- Dhan Foundation for providing content on tank management;
- DISHA for sharing their work in rainwater harvesting;
- Gandhigram Rural Trust for contributing content based on its work on rural water issues;
- German Agro Action for providing its book of case studies, "Best Practices in Water Management - Case Studies from Rural India";
- Gramalaya for providing content based on its work in urban and rural sanitation;
- IDCA Members of India Development Coalition of America, for providing content and access to water experts;
- India Together, Bangalore for permitting the Portal to link to their articles;
- Indianngos.com for providing information on organisations working in water;
- Megh Pyne Abhiyan, for providing brochures and fliers on rainwater harvesting in flood-affected areas;
- MYRADA for providing content on rainfed agricultural practices, that was compiled into a manual;
- Rainwater Club, Bangalore for contributing a content and photographs on water;
- Sadguru Foundation for providing content based on its work;
- Sahajeevan for contributing content based on its work;
- Sirithulli for providing a slideshow and movie on reviving urban water bodies based on its work in Coimbatore;
- Spinfo for providing mapping data for the GIS applications;
- TIDE for providing content based on its work in wastewater management;
- Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, Norwich, UK for providing data for the Meteorological Data application;
- World Resources Institute (WRI) for providing maps and content on the major river basins in India;
- Centre for Education and Documentation (CED) with contributions from some members of Basicindia for providing maps and content for the Climate Change channel on the Portal.