Books and Book Reviews

Mannu Mattu Neeru by Shree Padre gives examples of local knowledge and agricultural practices that have successfully helped overcome a drought situation in the state of Karnataka.

These age-old practices, which have been in use for generations now, have helped families survive in circumstances of accute drought and famine. 

Sharanu Banni Jala Kaayakake is a collection of features on soil and water conservation written by Shree Padre and published by the Akhila Bharata Sharana Sahitya Parishat, Mysore.

This piece of writing is based on interviews with farmers and experiences from the ground. This is one of the 8 books that was published duing the 8th Akhila Bharata Sharana Sahitya Sammelan.

It's been years since Bhutahi Balan, a small tributary of the Kosi river in Madhubani, North Bihar, has been causing devastation on both its banks. Dinesh Mishra in his book 'Story of a ghost river and engineering witchcraft' objectively analyses the failure of embankments, which are raised banks to contain the river's flooding.

The Yamuna Manifesto -or Yamuna Nama- is a bilingual book with passages in both Hindi and English, published as part of the Yamuna Elbe project. In five deceptively short sections, the book takes us from the birth to the river to its future.

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For more information on the book 'Water resources of India', Oxford University Press, India, click here.

Bright-eyed in the morning, I walk down the pavement for some fresh air. As I squish over greasy paper bags and forsaken Coke bottles, the stale smell of plastic bags strewn all over hits me. Stamping on them, I charge onto the already cramped road, jostle for space with other people, dodge honking cars, and reach the park breathless, dishevelled and foul. All this, for some fresh air!

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For further details, please see the brochure for 'The Green Bazaar' and the press release attached below.

Traditional water bodies such as bawdis and talabs have long since been an integral part of rural life in India providing water, fish and sometimes even just a venue for people to chit chat. The flat plains in Western Uttar Pradesh, where the Ganga and Yamuna rivers meet, is no exception.

'The Water Catchers’ is a story of an unlikely hero, an unassuming boy living in the concrete, water-deprived city of Mumbai. The boy named Chintu, has a simple wish - to find water in the village called Tintodan of his forefathers.