Storage and Supply

Challenges to India’s urban water security and future growth patterns

Water resources in most Indian cities are overworked and overused, and not adequately replenished. Amita Bhaduri posted 2 weeks 3 days ago

Linkages between water security and socio-economic growth

Cities in India are marked by unequal distribution of water, lack of access, outdated infrastructure and minimal enforcement of rainwater harvesting and other means of supply. (Image: Anish Roy, Pixabay)

NGT orders states to designate nodal agencies for restoring water bodies

Policy matters this week Swati Bansal posted 1 month 1 week ago

Designate nodal agencies for restoration of water bodies: NGT to states

Gharisar lake in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan (Source: IWP Flickr photos)

Breaking down data silos in the water sector

The National Hydrology Project has created a national platform for water data and is working to enhance the technical capacities of agencies dealing with water resources management. Amita Bhaduri posted 2 months 1 week ago

In support of the Digital India Initiative, the National Hydrology Project (NHP) is translating the Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS), Government of India’s (GoI) vision to create a “one water, one data platform” for the country.

Breakthrough cloud computing facilities and remote sensing applications have helped showthe filling pattern of a water body (tank or reservoir) through freely available satellite imagery at an interval of five days. (Image: Maithan dam, Wikimedia Commons)

Data-driven ‘water and agriculture’ planning: The big picture

If data was better organized and available for download in more ‘user-friendly’ formats, its utilization would improve manifold. Amita Bhaduri posted 3 months ago

India is fortunate to have a rich tradition of public data collection and compilation.

The quality of our public data is highly variable, yet if analyses and interpretation are done keeping in mind some of the limitations, the datasets can be a precious resource at the meso and macro level. (Image: Pixabay)

Water wisdom of the Gonds of Garha Mandla

A peek into history shows how the Gonds of Garha Mandla managed their water needs with great ingenuity and wisdom by constructing and maintaining water tanks . aartikelkar posted 3 months 1 week ago

The Gond dynasties mainly flourished in the Central highlands of India. This region includes Sagar, Bhopal, and nearly half of Narmada valley, including the flanks of Vindhya and the Satpuda mountain ranges of southern Madhya Pradesh. The principal states of the Gonds were Garha-Mandla (1300 to 1789), Devgarh, Kherla and Chanda.

Kolatal, a traditional tank in Garha region of Jabalpur (Image Source: K. G. Vyas)

A reflection on multi-faceted droughts in Bundelkhand region

Alternatives have to be re-adapted to the understanding of droughts in the wake of climate change. Amita Bhaduri posted 6 months 2 weeks ago

Drought conditions are not new to Bundelkhand. The acute situation now is a convergence of three types of droughts – meteorological, agricultural and hydrological - cumulatively coinciding as witnessed in Nunagar village in Panna district, Madhya Pradesh. We saw hundreds of vessels queuing up at the panchayat well.

Child walks through the parched field for kilometers to fetch water in peak summer in village Banjari (Image: Reshma Sahoo)

Pumping groundwater to harnessing rainfall: A tale of two states

Saurashtra, and Vidarbha and Marathwada have similar climatic and aquifer characteristics. Why do the latter suffer from droughts when Saurashtra has been able to improve its groundwater levels? aartikelkar posted 6 months 2 weeks ago

Groundwater depletion, a growing challenge for India

Groundwater decline in India (Image Source: India Water Portal)

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 6 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)

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

News this week Swati Bansal posted 6 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)

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. aartikelkar posted 7 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.