Rural Water

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October 25, 2019
Mapping Pune’s aquifers
Groundwater use has doubled in Pune. Comprehensive mapping of groundwater resources and better management and governance is the need of the hour.
Groundwater, an exploited resource (Image Source: India Water Portal)
October 24, 2019
How farm ponds in Madhya Pradesh are building agricultural resilience
An intern with Watershed Organisation Trust narrates his field experience from the villages of Madhya Pradesh, where farmers are using farm ponds to conserve water.
A farm pond constructed by Sheshrao Dhurve in Karaghat Kamti village of Madhya Pradesh
October 21, 2019
In conversation with K. J. Joy of SOPPECOM
In this interview, Joy talks about his work as an activist working in rural Maharashtra, and how he came to work on water conflicts in India.
KJ Joy speaks at a felicitation for the late Professor Ramaswamy Iyer.
October 16, 2019
Jal Jeevan Mission: States to bear half the cost, local bodies to decide water charges
Policy matters this week
Women filling water from a tap (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
October 1, 2019
From droughts to floods: India’s tryst with climate extremes
Deconstructing the traditional narrow engineering based policy discourses around floods and droughts and connecting them to social and cultural realities is the need of the hour in India.
Water talk Series at Mumbai (Image Source:Tata Insitute of Social Sciences)
September 30, 2019
The Water Future Conference in Bangalore: Towards a Sustainable Water Future
The recently concluded 4 day conference in Bangalore looked at the current state of global water resource challenges & future pathways to achieve the SDGs, while ensuring equity in access to all.
Charles Vorosmarty, Chair, COMPASS Initiative, Water Future at the opening plenary on advanced water system assessments to address water security challenges of the 21st century.
A way to minimise agricultural problems in India
The concepts of System of Rice Intensification help farmers adopt practices based on their local conditions. Farmers, and an SRI expert in Chhattisgarh, show how it has worked for them. makarandpurohit posted 5 years 10 months ago

Muneswar and more than 170 farmers in Ambikapur, Chhattisgarh have no regrets after shifting over from traditional agricultural methods of farming to the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) method. Why would they? Most of them have been overwhelmed by the kind of returns they have got compared to their investments.
SRI beneficiaries in Ambikapur
The pond with a purpose
The residents of Gobariya village built two ponds for livestock rearing and horticulture, but a chance discovery led to them becoming a quicker and better income generator. chicu posted 5 years 10 months ago

The Bhuiyas, a group of people who belong to the Scheduled Castes in Jharkhand and Bihar, have historically been landless foragers -- a fact reflected in their name which means 'of the earth'.
Celebrating the pond at Gobaria
Studying springs: A matter of life and death
Mountain dwellers across India are learning hydrogeology in a bid to save their dying springs. In the process, they are also revolutionizing their lives. chicu posted 5 years 11 months ago

Hydrogeology has, before this, been considered a highly specialised field known only to dedicated academics.
Learning hydrogeology informs spring restoration
Citizens charter on drinking water and sanitation before Union Budget
Ahead of the Union Budget, Civil Society Organizations ask for policy strategies to support drinking water and sanitation for vulnerable sections. Amita Bhaduri posted 5 years 11 months ago

A National Convention on Union Budget 2015-16 by the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability, New Delhi held on 8th and 9th January 2015 brought together around 200 Civil Society Organisations from more than 20 States to discuss the policy asks for water and sanitation sector.
Water facility by WASMO in Gujarat
Droughts in Maharashtra: Lack of management or vagaries of climate change?
None of our policies seem to be designed keeping in mind the farmer and his convenience, says Suneel Joshi, State Coordinator for Jal Biradari, in an interview with India Water Portal. aartikelkar posted 6 years 1 month ago

Recent news has been flooded with reports of the severe drought situation in the Marathwada and Vidarbha regions of Maharashtra. Even more shocking are the reports of large-scale suicides by farmers due to crop losses.
Severe droughts (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
‘Blue’ print for a model village
Can the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana that was launched in October this year, achieve its aim to create model villages through the Participatory Groundwater Management (PGWM) programme? Swati Bansal posted 6 years 1 month ago

On October 11, 2014, the Government of India launched an ambitious scheme for village development – the Saansad Aadarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY).
50 year old well in Thapewadi village
Poisonous encounters in Maharashtra
The water in Jamwadi village, Yavatmal has been severely contaminated by the Raymond Company but quality tests only confirm this when the villagers changed the name of the village on the test sample. makarandpurohit posted 6 years 1 month ago

A decade ago, Jamwadi village in Yavatmal, Maharashtra, was a famous tourist attraction due to its beautiful lake. Now, there is no lake to speak of thanks to the Raymond factory in Yavatmal. Wastewaster from the factory flows untreated into the lake, which is located 15 kms away.
Contaminated water from the Raymond factory
Tribals in Jharkhand plan for water security
To let people make their own decisions and to understand that the best solution doesn't always work are two big lessons that have come from meetings with Jharkhand's tribals. chicu posted 6 years 3 months ago

"Clean water", emphasized the woman. "'Close to the house. Whenever it is needed", she added. She was speaking at a village meeting organised to determine what was needed to make the village water secure. The discussions had begun with an attempt to define water security.
A planning meeting in Bhawani Chowki
Scheme to develop 2,379 villages in the next 5 years launched
Policy matter this week Anonymous (not verified) posted 6 years 3 months ago

Centre launches the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana
A drought-free village in Maharashtra
3000 MW Dibang mega project approved without public consultation
News this week Swati Bansal posted 6 years 3 months ago

Dibang hydel project gets Centre's nod
People protesting Dibang Project (Source: SANDRP)
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