Groundwater

Digital tools to tackle water scarcity

FRANK Water and Arup launch the WASH Connect mobile app and WASH Basins Toolkit to empower local government and communities to jointly manage water resources. Amita Bhaduri posted 9 months 2 weeks ago

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.

About 200,000 people die each year in India from diseases related to unclean water (Image: FRANK Water)

Boosting rural livelihoods using agriculture and MGNREGA amidst Covid-19

Strengthening farm and non-farm livelihoods can pave the way for food and nutritional security. Amita Bhaduri posted 9 months 2 weeks ago

As the Covid-19 pandemic was leaving deep scars around the globe, it forced governments to take measures to protect citizens and ensure food security for its people. In India, initially, it looked as if the remote rural areas would skirt the pandemic.

MGNREGA can play an important role in integration of migrant labour in the rural economy (Image: Ashutosh Nanda)

India to have more rains, floods and warm days in the coming century: Report

News this week Swati Bansal posted 9 months 3 weeks ago

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

Country is going to face more rains, floods and warm days in the coming century (Source: IWP Flickr photos)

Groundwater depletion in Punjab: Time for a major policy overhaul

The time for quick fixes is over; a comprehensive policy overhaul is urgently needed to impede the juggernaut of Punjab's groundwater depletion. Amita Bhaduri posted 9 months 4 weeks ago

Punjab, a small state in northwest India, derives its name from the Persian words panj (five) and ?b (water), meaning the "land of five rivers". Ironically, this state is now regularly in the news for its rapidly depleting groundwater levels.

Pumping groundwater with the energy generated from solar panels (Image: Prashanth Vishwanathan/IWMI; CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Villagers in Rajasthan show resilience during national lockdown

Continuing to prepare rural communities for the most unprecedented events in Alwar. Amita Bhaduri posted 10 months ago

India’s national lockdown to curb the fast-expanding community transmission of coronavirus led to life coming to a standstill across the country. The long pause of over three months is starting to ease, and the new shift towards “normal” gives health and hygiene ultimate attention.

Repairing the school infrastructures before students return to their classrooms (Image: Sehgal Foundation)

Priorities for the Revised National Water Policy

There is need to evolve a National Water Policy that establishes a framework and pathway to sustainable, efficient and equitable management of surface and groundwater resources. Aarti Kelkar Khambete posted 10 months ago

The Department of Water Resources, under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, has constituted a drafting committee on 5 November 2019 to revise the existing National Water Policy (NWP). Dr. Mihir Shah, a renowned water expert and a former member of the Planning Commission is chairing the committee.

The need for sustainable, efficient and equitable management of surface and groundwater resources (Image Source: India Water Portal)

Fire in Assam to have catastrophic effect on ecozones: Experts

News this week Swati Bansal posted 10 months ago

Fire breaks at an oil well in Assam damaging ecozones around the site

Migratory birds flock Maguri Beel, which is 500 m away from the incident site (Source: IWP Flickr photos)

Need to protect the unique geological features in the Upper Ken basin

An attempt to document the geological features, water potential, and traditional wisdom around them in the Upper Ken basin. Amita Bhaduri posted 10 months 1 week ago

Kathayi, a scheduled tribe (ST) dominated village in the midst of the forested stretches of Shahnagar block in Panna district faces acute water scarcity during the 3-4 summer months. Through the government schemes, three wells and two hand pumps were installed in this 75 household village in the last 10-15 years, but most of them are dysfunctional now.

Panghata Kund in village Aloni, Panna (June 2014, after initial monsoon) (Image: Seema Ravandale)

India’s deepening water crisis - need for a response at scale

Capacity building and data should not be seen as one-time activities but as a foundation for impactful, sustainable, large scale programmes. Swati Bansal posted 10 months 2 weeks ago

The water crisis in India has been in the making for sometime now, and the current COVID-19 pandemic has further brought to fore the challenges of safe water and hygiene, necessary for survival.

Residents of a village built a farm-pond and repurposed it to suit their needs (Source: IWP Flickr photos)

Agricultural crop substitution can bridge rural and urban water needs

Rural and urban water crisis in India can be addressed through adaptive changes in current agricultural practices, as per a study in Maharashtra by the Indian School of Business. Amita Bhaduri posted 10 months 2 weeks ago

With 85 percent of water being utilized for agriculture in India, a gradual shift in agriculture towards water-intensive crops have exposed the country to an increased threat of water crisis. The erratic nature of monsoons adds to this exposure and calls for judicious use of water resources, especially in the dry regions.