Books and Book Reviews

Ganga's cure lies in people's will for a change
Healing the Ganga can start in your kitchen, says Bidisha Banerjee, whose new book explores the faith and the science that define the river, and what it will take to save it. Swati Bansal posted 7 months 4 weeks ago

It was Bhagirath who chose to leave his kingdom and commit to austere tapasya, for a thousand years, in order to bring Ganga down from the heavens.
Ganga river at Bithoor (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Book review: Future Earth
The book outlines how to reverse the short- and long-term effects of climate change over the next three decades. Amita Bhaduri posted 1 year 1 month ago
Climate change (Image: Kai Stachowiak; Public domain pictures)
Watershed Management Compendium
This compendium by Dr Mihir Kumar Maitra answers all questions that will be of great use to practitioners engaged in both engineering and management aspects of watershed management in the field. Aarti Kelkar Khambete posted 1 year 8 months ago

This compendium by Mihir Kumar Maitra is a valuable resource for all practitioners engaged in watershed management activities in the field.
Watershed management in India (Image Source: India Water Portal)
Rajasthan's ancient yet ever-evolving water heritage
A book documents the enormous range of water harvesting systems still in use in Rajasthan. Amita Bhaduri posted 2 years 2 months ago

The state of Rajasthan has an immense range of ancient and ingenious water harvesting systems, like the famous johads or step wells managed by communities in the arid Thar desert, which receives very low rainfall.
The design of Chand baodi (stepwell) in Abhaneri village, Rajasthan, was intended to conserve as much water as possible (Image: Unseen Horizons, Flickr Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0)
River basin governance: Learnings from Cauvery conflict
While the recent ruling of the Supreme court on the Cauvery conflict opens up new possibilities, a push for holistic and interdisciplinary river basin governance is required. Aarti Kelkar Khambete posted 2 years 7 months ago

The river Cauvery—an inter-state river shared by the southern states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, as well as the Union Territory of Pondicherry—has often been in the news for the fight over its waters between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. What dominates the issue is the conflicting demands for irrigation from the plateau region of Karnataka and the delta region in Tamil Nadu.
Cauvery river at Hogenakal, Karnataka. (Source: IWP Flickr Photos via Claire Arni and Oriole Henri)
India Unshackled: A book discussion
The editor of a new book that lays out alternative futures for India discusses India, democracy and development with a noted journalist. chicu posted 3 years 4 months ago

Alternative Futures: India Unshackled is a new book that dares to imagine what India could be.
Joy (L) and Pema (R) in discussion.
Book Release and Discussion on ‘Alternative Futures: India Unshackled’, a book edited by Ashish Kothari and K. J. Joy
The book is a collection of 35 essays containing dreams, visions, and pathways of reaching a just and sustainable India. priyad posted 3 years 8 months ago

Alternative Futures: India Unshackled is a riveting new book that brings together scenarios of an India that is politically and socially egalitarian, radically democratic, economically sustainable and equitable, and socio-culturally diverse and harmonious.
Alternative Futures: India Unshackled
A remarkable, first-ever collection of 35 essays on India’s future, by a diverse set of authors – activists, researchers, media practitioners. priyad posted 3 years 8 months ago

Alternative Futures: India Unshackled is a book that brings together scenarios of an India that is politically and socially egalitarian, radically democratic, economically sustainable and equitable, and socio-culturally diverse and harmonious.
Alternative Futures: India Unshackled
In the name of development
The indigenous community of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands has been systematically alienated from their land by the colonial and post-colonial policies. A new book chronicles the change. Amita Bhaduri posted 4 years 4 months ago

Pankaj Sekhsaria’s recent book Islands in flux--The Andaman and Nicobar Story is a collection of around 20 years of his writings on the environmental and conservation concerns faced by the indigenous tribal communities of the region.
The forests and the tribal communities of the islands are being decimated. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
A book every city needs
Jal Aur Samaj' takes the readers through the pond culture of Bikaner that nurtured its past and holds promise for its future. Manu Moudgil posted 4 years 8 months ago

A scarcity of something makes it special. That’s the reason why Rajasthan has always sanctified water much more than any other place in India. Low rainfall and saline groundwater turned people into great conservers who not only built beautiful and durable structures but also developed sustainable practices around them.
One of the ponds in Bikaner.
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