Bishwadeep Ghosh

Bishwadeep Ghosh
Investing in “local water professionals” for the country’s water security
India needs water professionals to manage its water resources locally to be water secure. This needs focus and investment. Now. Posted on 26 May, 2021 03:17 PM

For decades, governments, philanthropies, CSRs and CSOs have been exploring ways to ensure water security for both lifeline activities and livelihoods.

Frontline workers get trained and acquire invaluable skills in the process of fulfilling their roles within one or multiple programs
Jalabandhus for sustainable service delivery
Water For People develops a cadre of entrepreneurs delivering critical services for water security. Posted on 09 Feb, 2021 10:31 PM

As a major source of potable water, hand pumps are ubiquitous in rural India.

India’s deepening water crisis - need for a response at scale
Capacity building and data should not be seen as one-time activities but as a foundation for impactful, sustainable, large scale programmes. Posted on 01 Jun, 2020 03:22 PM

The water crisis in India has been in the making for sometime now, and the current COVID-19 pandemic has further brought to fore the challenges of safe water and hygiene, necessary for survival.

Residents of a village built a farm-pond and repurposed it to suit their needs (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Technology to build knowledge and capacities beyond COVID
The time has come to utilize technology to build resilience of communities by training them to strive for better livelihood opportunities where they want to. Posted on 22 May, 2020 09:14 AM

The COVID-19 crisis has brought the world to a standstill. Government, civil society and volunteers are rallying to ensure that social and economic inequalities do not dictate how this crisis draws lines between the “haves” and “have-nots”. Nonetheless, the crisis seems to have deepened the existing divide.

Bringing the digital revolution to the hands of real India (Image: CXOToday.com)
From policy to practice: Can National Water Policy 2020 bridge the gap?
The new policy needs to build context specificity and have enabling mechanisms for equitable resource allocation. Posted on 11 Apr, 2020 07:46 PM

The way water as a resource has been viewed in the policies of India has evolved significantly over the years. Reduction in per capita availability over the years (5177 to 1463 cubic metres between 1950-2015) has forced every new policy to change the way it has approached its management. It was considered an economic commodity in the second National Water Policy (NWP) drafted in 2002.

Women extracting water from the riverbed, Gaya (Image: ICIMOD/ Prasanta Biswas; Flickr Commons)
Jal Jeevan Mission: Will piped water to every household no longer be a pipe dream?
There is a need to focus on the “first mile” i.e. communities across rural India to be able to ensure sustainability and scalability for piped water supply. Posted on 14 Mar, 2020 04:26 PM

Millions of Indian women can take up to six trips a day to gather and transport water, which takes up a major part of their day. During scorching summers when many sources dry up, their drudgery gets even worse.

A school boy from Tilonia in semi-arid region of Rajasthan drinks from a tap from a rainwater harvesting tank that provides clean drinking water. (Image: Barefoot photographers of Tilonia)
Perils, politics and prospects of groundwater in India
How can India change the game on groundwater management to deal with its overexploited aquifers? Posted on 05 Feb, 2020 03:15 PM

After independence, India was largely food insecure but post Green Revolution around the 1970s, foodgrain production increased manifold consequently reducing food insecurity and poverty in the country, in spite of rapid population growth. Its ability to achieve targeted results was largely dependent on the explosion of groundwater abstraction mechanisms like tubewells.

An irrigation well at Randullabad, Maharashtra. (Image source: India Water Portal on Flickr)
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