Hydropower

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 streams that originate from these glaciers. The glaciers are extremely sensitive to seasonal variations and serious concerns have been raised in recent years on the impact of climate change on glacier recession and the subsequent sustainability of water resources in the region.

Land-related conflicts in India are on the rise despite some of the most progressive legislations to protect people’s rights over land and forest. Land and forest rights experts and activists from 13 Asian countries including India attended the annual Asia Land Forum, organised by the International Land Coalition Asia. The forum is organised every year, this year’s theme being ‘Land reform for peace and justice in Asia’.

To many in the water sector, K. J. Joy needs no introduction. An activist at heart, Joy is known for his untiring rights based work in mobilising communities in rural Maharashtra, and for his research work on water and water related conflicts including inter-state riparian water conflicts.

Study finds Pune's groundwater extraction doubles in 9 years

The execution of India’s institutional framework for preventing and solving conflicts over river water is still evolving. A new thinking on federalism in the field of water management to meet local aspirations and national ambition is needed. A one-day conference 'Towards water federalism 2.0 - Perspectives from the Ganga and Brahmaputra' was held recently at New Delhi.

"River conversations are critical to re-evaluate histories, reconnect civilisations, cultures and peoples, ideas and regions and open streams of thought for a future with exciting possibilities," says Kishalay Bhattacharjee, Associate Professor and Vice Dean, Jindal School of Journalism and Communication who has conceptualized a new series of quarterly river conversations.

India finally announced that it would increase its targets of restoring degraded lands from 21 million hectares to 26 million hectares^[1]. This target comes on the heels of weeks of conjecture on the "big announcement" expected from the host country during the UNCCD COP14 meeting in Delhi.

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 institutional solutions to accelerate the implementation of the water SDGs and the 2030 Agenda targets, leaving no one behind.

NGT orders DDA to ensure farming on the Yamuna floodplains is stopped by 2020

Government identifies 100 wetlands for restoration in next five years

At the 14th session of the Conference of Parties (COP 14) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the Environment Ministry identified more than 100 wetlands for restoration in the next five years to combat land degradation.