India

India is likely to face stark water scarcity in the coming decades as a result of excessive use, according to the World Resources Institute (WRI)’s Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas - a tool to visualise and assess water stress and drought and flood risk covering 189 countries.

India has the highest population of any country in the world without access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation. According to WaterAid and the World Health Organisation (WHO), 163 million people still lack access to safe water and millions still defecate in the open.

Water, for India, has profound impacts on the health and wellbeing of our citizens; perhaps more so, considering how intertwined it is with various facets of our life, be they social, economic, gender-based, political, or even religious. The evolution of the National Water Policy and the ensuing national debates/ critiques have reiterated how challenging it is to build a common policy with national consensus.

UP emerges as the top state in the country to give employment under MGNREGS

India's first climate change assessment report warns of heavy rains, more floods and warmers days

Coastal flooding is rising in India and recent evidence shows that as high as 36 million Indians will be at the risk of chronic flooding by 2050. The Indian coastline extends over 7,500 kmts across nine states, two Union territories and two island territories — Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep.

The Steering Committee (SC) of the Forum for Policy Dialogues on Water Conflicts in India (Water Conflict Forum in short) has carried out a detailed and critical review of the extant Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) governance system since 1994 in the country, with specific reference to the draft EIA 2020 notification which is up for public comments. 

Consequently, the Water Conflict Forum finds that:

a) There have been systemic and institutional shortcomings in the EIA governance in the country dating to 1994 and which have continued since then.

Dams threaten freshwater biodiversity

Freshwater habitats like rivers, creeks, lakes, ponds, streams, swamps and marshes account for only three percent of the world’s water and cover about 0.8 percent of the Earth’s surface, but harbour incredible diversity and are homes to more than 100, 000 species of plants and animals.

Radha Devi, the sarpanch of Bhadsiya, Nagaur tehsil, Rajasthan dissuaded the principal of the government school from forcing girl students to fetch water for mid-day meal preparation during school hours and sent these girls back to their classrooms. Radha is a 5th class drop-out, who now takes an active role in her panchayat to reduce dropout rates and increase the enrollment of girl students.