Rural Water

The Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) of the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS) provides ample information on the physical and financial progress of various programmes and schemes implemented by the government, with certain information made available upto the habitation level. This type of an information system is crucial to monitor and evaluate the various schemes being implemented.

JalSevak Solutions present a feasibility study for implementation of JalSevak greywater recycling system at a tribal students' hostel in rural Maharashtra. We analyse the present conditions, existing water supply infrastructure, possible design of the greywater recycling solution and potential benefits.

The management of water resources in India has always been a challenge. From the British era till now, the various governments that ruled India have grappled with the fundamental issue of water equity. 

To address the water sector issues of the farmers in Maharashtra, the government has adopted Maharashtra State Water Policy, 2003 and has passed the following nine irrigation-related enactments:

1.Maharashtra Irrigation Act, 1976. 

2.Mahrashtra Krishna Vally Irrigation Development Corporation Act, 1996

3.Tapi Irrigation Development Corporation Act,1997

River Yamuna, the largest tributary of river Ganga, is the most threatened river system in the country. It faces over abstraction of water and increasing pollution load (municipal and industrial) throughout its course. The river has no worthwhile perennial tributary along its most threatened 600km stretch--from Hathnikund (Haryana) to Etawah (Uttar Pradesh)--where it is revived after meeting with river Chambal. The Somb-Thapana catchment is a tributary feeding the Yamuna.

The demand, supply, availability and access of water resources do not always match. Going by the UN estimates, by the year 2022, India is expected to surpass China's population to become the most populous country in the world. As the population increases, the demand for freshwater goes up; with increased usage, the quantum of waste produced increases as well. Changes in land-use patterns, climatic variabilities and diminished efficiency to use resources only strain the available reserves further.

The body of Guria Das looked like that of a three-year-old when she passed away at the age of 13. Guria was born in 1999 with a condition that constrained her growth. Her father, Chhatua Das recounts how Guria, unable to speak or move, communicated with him and his wife through gestures; a language that only the three of them could comprehend. Born in Jadugoda, in Purbi Singhbhum district in Jharkhand, Guria was one of the many children who succumbed to the health complications from excessive radiation from the uranium mines.

Malguzari tanks were ponds made for water harvesting by the Malguzaars, who were zamindars or tenants in eastern Vidarbha, Maharashtra two centuries ago.These tanks provided water for irrigation and also increased the availability of fish for local consumption.

Water crisis is a reality in most of India. After the summer of droughts come the monsoon floods. Take Maharashtra, for instance. If at one time it is desperately searching for drinking water, at another time, its capital, Mumbai is wading through knee-high water. How do we overcome these annual crises? Unfortunately, the answers are not so easy to find. 

Take the roads of Punjab during the monsoon and you will find most fields turned into pools of water. It’s mainly the water pulled out from the underground vault to support the kharif crop of paddy. Neither a native plant nor suited to the agro-climatic region, paddy has pushed out maize and cotton, which were common in the pre-green revolution era. From 2,27,000 hectares in 1960, the area under paddy rose to 26,12000 hectares by the year 2000. A growth rate of 1,050 percent!