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.
The 2015-2018 drought, the longest, but less severe of droughts experienced by India raises alarm on the negative effects of future droughts on water security in the country.
Focus on water conservation in MGNREGA: Rural Development ministry to states
The Ministry of Rural Development has asked states to give special focus to works related to water harvesting and water conservation, including river rejuvenation while preparing the MGNREGA labour budget for the 2020...
A majority of India’s water problems are those relating to groundwater—water that is found beneath the earth’s surface. This is because we are the largest user of groundwater in the world, and therefore highly dependent on it. At just over 260 cubic km per year, our country uses 25 p...
A study by Toxics Link, a Delhi-based environmental research and advocacy non-profit identified 15 e-waste processing hotspots in Delhi operating with impunity without safeguards. These hotspots house over 5,000 illegal e-waste processing units directly and indirectly employing over 50,000 people. T...
Pune continues to face a water crisis every summer despite having sufficient water, thanks to its geographical location and plentiful natural water assets. While enough of its water needs are taken care of by water supply from the Khadakwasla dam, the use of groundwater to meet the needs of the popu...
Ladakh, the arid Himalayan desert, is a high elevation borderland located close to the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir, in India. Water here originates from glaciers in the high altitude mountains that tower over Ladakh’s villages. Simple earthwork irrigation channels tap meltwater from ...
Madhya Pradesh, promoted as 'The Heart of India' by the state's tourism board is aptly named so because of its central location. The campaign made me keen to visit the state, for the last many years. I was therefore extremely fortunate that during my internship with the Watershed Organization Trust ...
Soon a national framework for e-flows in all major rivers
To ensure minimum and uninterrupted flow of water round-the-year in rivers across the country, the government is working to have a national framework for implementation and monitoring of e-flows (environmental flows) in all major rivers. The...
Drinking water availability should be a top priority: NGT
In response to a plea filed by Association of the Industrial Manufactures, the National Green Tribunal has said that the availability of drinking water is the first priority and it is for industries and authorities concerned to find out alte...
Study finds Pune's groundwater extraction doubles in 9 years
A survey conducted by the Advanced Center for Water Resources Development and Management (ACWADAM) with assistance from the Centre for Environment Education (CEE) and Mission Groundwater, reveals that groundwater extraction in Pune has do...
Goa government, farmers against MoEF for proposing re-designation of the state’s low lying lands
In its proposal, the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), a scientific body under the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, has redefined coastal areas in Goa as 'land...
It’s ironic that detergents, which are meant for cleaning, flow into water bodies and pollute them with chemicals. A study released recently by Delhi-based non-profit Toxics Link, ‘Dirty Trail: Detergent to Water Bodies’, has found startling levels of the toxic chemical nonylphenol in detergen...
India has witnessed extreme weather conditions this year. While parts of the north and south have battled drought like conditions this summer, the northeast and western coastal areas witnessed heavy rains and floods.While climate change has been highlighted as one of the reasons for these extreme ev...
Access to electricity is a key metric in development. In rural areas, getting on to the grid is a major step forward, improving literacy rates, agricultural productivity and overall household income. However, providing access to power derived from traditional sources like coal, diesel and hydropower...
The Water Future Conference in Bangalore last week, saw many from the scientific community, academia, research, civil society and the media come together to discuss the state of water resources across the world and in India, as well as future pathways and scenarios, and different technological and i...
Peri urban spaces swept up in the urbanisation tangle
Urban growth and expansion of cities is increasing the demand for land and water, increasing pressure on resources available not only in urban, but also in peri-urban areas. State policies often use peri-urban spaces and resources to meet the ne...
The last few months have seen much debate and discussion on the fast approaching Day Zero, with claims that taps in 21 major Indian cities will dry up. People in Chennai were compelled to queue up to collect water from tankers this past June. Last year’s NITI Aayog’s report set off alarm bells t...
Telangana government, tribals stand against proposed uranium mining in Nallamala forests
A few months ago, the environment ministry gave in-principle approval to the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) to begin exploration for uranium in the Nallamala forest, which stretches across the stat...
While enhanced irrigation coverage has been hailed as an important way to improve agricultural productivity, it continues to lag behind in India and agriculture continues to be rainfed, subject to the vagaries of the monsoon. High groundwater dependence for irrigation has not only led to its depleti...
Arecanut is generally grown in the Malnad area of Karnataka, which receives high rainfall. However, it is also grown in dry land areas of Tumkur district, also in Karnataka, using groundwater. Arecanut cultivation area doubled from 5851 hectares in 1990-91 (Kumar 2003) to 12,628 hectares in 2001-02 ...
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A study highlights the need to scale down the export of rice, maize, buffalo meat and other items to conserve groundwater in India.
The recent trade war between the United States and China was, among other things, about virtual water - the hidden water in products. Producing anything, whether it is soyabean or clothes, uses water, and has a water footprint. Even after production, shipping and trading also have a hidden water cost.
The 2015-2018 drought, the longest, but less severe of droughts experienced by India raises alarm on the negative effects of future droughts on water security in the country.
Droughts in India: types, causes and effects
Droughts are greatly feared in India, impacting food production, the economy and the livelihoods of millions of farmers. 60% of India’s population is engaged in agriculture.
Water stewardship is an approach predicated on the concept that water is a shared resource and so water risks are also shared risks that everyone in a catchment will face
Water, its use, availability, and impact on people has been on the public policy debate centerstage for the past several years. In India, a growing water crisis driven by climate change, inefficiency, and water pollution is slowly moving to a near-permanent state that will harm the country’s people, economy and environment.
Excessive and unregulated pesticide use has not only poisoned the soil, water and environment in villages in Punjab’s Malwa region – it has also increased health risks for the people.
To orient participants on innovative borewell recharge method in rural areas as well as various methods of aquifer recharge in urban areas.
Target Participants:
Staff from NGOs who want to integrate the aquifer recharge techniques in their on-going water conservation initiatives in Rural and Urban areas. Students, individual urban residents, institutions as well as representatives of RWAs may also participate and benefit from the event.
Bangalore's water utility is understaffed, under financed and unable to service the city's water needs.
“It is a lack of (institutional) capacity which is leading to public woes on water. We are not in a position to give you quality services because of two things – one, manpower, and two, finances,” said BWSSB Chairman Tushar Girinath, speaking at a panel discussion on ‘Sustainable, Equitable Access to Water’.
