Police forces of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana got into an ugly brawl over water row between the two states. Scene at Nagarjuna Sagar dam area was quite shocking as two law enforcement forces collid
Reviving Ganga is an important priority for the country since 45 percent of the country’s population depends on the river for livelihood and well-being, said Sanwar Lal Jat, minister of state
As India takes lead in world climate change policies, the ministry of environment, forests and climate change has drafted new emission and water consumption standards for thermal power plants.
The Goa government has decided to review all projects in which services of US-based company Louis Berger were engaged even as the state crime branch has started the investigation into the bribery s
Union minister for women & child development Maneka Gandhi is taking to social media to interact with people on the issue of #100Women Initiative contest launched by her ministry. This in
Tall promises made by political parties in their election manifestos got legal sanction as the Supreme Court on Monday refused to tie parties down to their grandiose claims. Refusing to entertain a
Water is essential for sustaining life and our ecosystem as a whole and India is by far the largest and fastest growing consumer of ground water in the world. In our country, ground water is a comm
Puducherry has come up with an eco-friendly way of treating water in a fishing hamlet Chinna Kalapet. Based on a technology called SHEFROL (sheet flow root level) bioreactor, the wastewater treatme
A number of districts in the country, especially in Maharashtra, have been reeling under drought for several months. Though water is a state subject, there have been a number of guidelines released
As a fourth of the country`s populace is hit-by drought, here is a lesson to be learnt from women in villages adjoining Puri district of Odisha. They have turned water logging in their fields to th
Even as the country reels under severe drought, information secured by Greenpeace through RTI suggests that the government is willing to overlook the policy meant to protect pristine forests,
Of the many thought-provoking stories by literary legend Premchand, there is one about a landlord’s arrogance and water scarcity. It is titled ‘Thakur ka Kuan’ (the landlord&rsquo
There are 302 polluted river stretches along 275 rivers in the country. The pollution assessment is based on the bio-chemical oxygen demand (BOD) levels which are the key indicators of pollution, M
It’s been seven months since swirling flood waters ravaged Chennai, and the painful 2015 memory is still afresh for Robertson. “It was the most horrific experience of my life. We are sc
The river Saraswati flowed steadily for over 2,000 years, before dying over 4,000 years back. The Haryana government is now intent on bringing it back to life, even as many other rivers across the
A new research supported by international development research centre (IDRC) has shown that peri-urban areas lose access to their water sources due to growing urbanisation. The research was
Scaling up village water safety and security (VWSS) can help improve access to quality drinking water and condition of household toilets. It can also help face floods and drought situations, NGO sa
The editors of Water: Growing Understanding, Emerging Perspectives faced a considerable challenge in selecting 29 articles that were published previously in the journal Economic and Politi
Life in Bengaluru came to a halt this week following the Cauvery water protest that led to the worst violence in ten years. States of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have always been in conflict ove
India’s leading water expert and president of the South Asia Consortium for Interdisciplinary Water Resources Studies, S Janakarajan, wonders why Chennai, a city that receives 1,250 mm ra
The supreme court has asked Karnataka to release 2,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu every day till further orders. However, farmers living near Cauvery delta region are worried as their li
Arsenic took my brother’s life. He had developed a wound on his foot from where blood and pus used to ooze out all the time. Despite that, he fought for all of us and tried his best to bring
Union minister Uma Bharti on Friday said that the centre is discussing the issue of bringing water into concurrent list with states. To place water in the concurrent list is a propos
Disputes between communities – or even countries – over the water from shared rivers, forest ecosystems and atmospheric conditions can inflame existing tensions in fragile regions, said
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led government in Delhi has completed two years in office. The government repeatedly accused the central government of creating obstacles and stalling projects, yet
The average annual per capita water availability in the years 2001 and 2011 was assessed as 1,820 cubic meters and 1,545 cubic meters respectively which may reduce further to 1341 and 1140 in year
As many as 602.55 lakh people are without access to safe drinking water, the Lok Sabha was informed. Union minister Ramesh Chandappa Jigajinagi as per data entered by state governmen
The 2,500 km long river Ganga is relatively clean in some parts. Union minister Vijay Goel informed the Lok Sabha that water quality monitoring of river Ganga is being carried out by
The ground water in parts of various states is a deadly cocktail of fluoride, nitrate, arsenic, lead, cadmium and chromium. Union minister Sanjeev Kumar Balyan informed the Lok Sabha
What if there was a law for optimum use of water, conservation of rivers and underground water? It would have battled the water crisis in different regions of the country.
When the truth was a few steps away from Modi’s gaze In November 2014, prime minister Narendra Modi made his first visit to his constituency Varanasi and laun
The river Ganga that the people in the plains know is very ill. It is odious. Well, what they perhaps don’t realise is that the river is not like that when she begins her journey from the Gan
The water resources ministry is working on a national river Ganga bill to protect the river from pollution and degeneration. Addressing the media on Monday, union minister for water resources, rive
The water they drink poisons their bones. Scores of people in Pachgai Khera, a village of some 500 residents, some 20 kilometres from Agra and off National Highway 44, are bent over or have their l
India is planning to establish a voluntary carbon market with World Bank assistance with focus on areas that are not covered, union minister for environment, forest and climate change, Dr. Ha
Anupam Mishra, widely known for his book ‘Aaj Bhi Khare Hain Talab’ – about reviving traditional methods of water conservation, passed away on this day a year ago.
There are 302 polluted river stretches, which is primarily due to discharge of untreated municipal sewage and industrial effluent, parliament was informed. Union minister Mahesh Shar
There are about 28,000 arsenic/fluoride affected habitations in the country. Union minister Uma Bharati informed parliament that the ministry of drinking water and sanitation had lau
No construction can be carried out up to 100 metres from the Ganga river, parliament was informed on Thursday. Union minister Dr Satya Pal Singh said that a model Draft Bill for Floo
The interlinking of river (ILR) programme has been taken up on high priority, union minister Nitin Gadkari informed parliament. The minister said that the National Perspective Plan (NPP) was
Come Holi and the non-ending debate on saving water vs it’s just-a-once-in-a-year festival rages on. A week before the festival, many housing societies and complexes has already started prepa
Though the summer is yet to set in, the 91 major reservoirs in the country are holding water equal to barely a third of their capacity, according the latest government data. The wate
While train accidents get much attention, there’s something else that should equally be attended to: the railway’s drinking water supply, which could well have caused many more deaths t
Day zero fast approaches Cape Town, one of the wealthiest towns in Africa. It’s been three years since the city has not received proper rainfall. The water reservoirs are depleting fast. The
On the eve of the 8th World Water Forum (WWF), held in March, social media was abuzz with ‘news’ that the Brazilian government had handed over its two large aquifers to private companie
The just-concluded assembly election in the southern state of Karnataka has demonstrated the power, reach, and influence of social media. Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter are proving to be effective
One of the three big elections before the grand final next year is over. Predictably, there was mud-slinging and allegations, caste equations and mutt visits, histories and histrionics: With a pinc
The paved road, the few concrete houses and men on motorcycles – these are deceptive signs of development in Madralalpur village. Only a couple of weeks ago, Babu, a 47-year-old distressed fa
It’s 10 am and in Dhandhuka town of Ahmedabad district, the sun is already scorching. A dry lake, which was desilted and deepened a few weeks back, has been turned into a venue for a fete. Sh
Like other people-related disputes, inter-state river disputes in India are congenital. People live in peace for ages till the hegemonic state etches a border through them, dividing them up and div
Sometimes it is challenging to be an average law-abiding citizen in India. The real pain lies especially in citizen-government interactions. From corruption to inefficiency, availing public servi
Well water in about 400 villages along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab is laden with deadly arsenic. The World Health Organisation (WHO) sets a safe limit of 10 micrograms of arsenic per litre
When considering climate change, one of the greatest threats before the humanity, discussions usually focus on air and water, but land too is affected by and in turn affects global warming as much
Scheduling irrigation, constructive use of water, proper crop selection and utilising modern irrigation technologies will help enhance water security while also ensuring a high agricultural product
Addressing the Conference of Parties (COP14) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday announced that India would raise its target o
This piece is based on a previous article by the authors published in Geoforum [Elsevier] in May 2019: available online:
A new study titled, ‘Quantitative analysis of Microplastics along River Ganga’ by Toxics Link has found heavy concentration of microplastics in the Ganga. All samples col
Since 2013, in a holistic, 360-degree model of community development Swades Foundation has reached out to 2,700 hamlets and villages across Raigad and Nashik districts in Maharashtra. Applying
Why sanitation in budget 2022-23 is important? The upcoming budget 2022-23 will be of significant value as India is in the middle of the third wave of the pandemic. The bud
Even as the Congress has moved the Supreme Court alleging cost escalation in Mumbai Sewage Disposal Project-II (MSDP-II), the BrihanMumbai municipal corporation (BMC) has gone ahead and issued work
How many times a day do you flush the toilet? This number is probably between five and eight times for an average person. How many times a day do you spare a thought towards what happens to the hum
Since August 2019, Government of India, in partnership with States, is implementing Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) to make provision of potable tap water supply every rural household by 2024.
The first All India Annual State Ministers’ Conference on Water was inaugurated by prime minister Narendra Modi on Thursday. The theme of the conference is ‘Water Vision @ 2047’ a
Marginlands: Indian Landscape on the Brink By Arati Kumari-Rao Picador India, 256 pages, Rs 699
