Harshavardhan Dhawan

Harshavardhan Dhawan
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)
Decentralised groundwater governance to deal with the groundwater crisis
Decentralised groundwater governance frameworks that integrate democratic institutional mechanisms are needed to deal with the current groundwater crisis in India. Posted on 17 Feb, 2020 05:43 PM

The challenges to sustain groundwater dependency in India are many where groundwater over extraction is not only leading to rapid depletion of the resource, but also giving rise to water quality issues in a situation where the response at the level of policy continues to be lukewarm.

The need for decentralised governance to deal with the current groundwater crisis (Image Source: ACWADAM)
Can recurring droughts in Maharashtra be offset by participatory groundwater management (PGWM)?
Three different methods using PGWM that resulted in better water management demonstrate that hydrogeology can become a catalyst for villages to come together to plan and achieve water security. Posted on 20 Jan, 2016 09:02 AM

Maharashtra is the fourth state following Karnataka, Chattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh to seek out relief from the Union government thanks to more than 15,000 of its villages across Marathwada and parts of Western Maharashtra reeling under drought in 2015 [1].

The role of PGWM to deal with droughts in Maharashtra (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Pooling borewells and opportunities
Groundwater use is synonymous with individual rights. Malkaipeta Thanda, a village in Andhra Pradesh, has shown the opposite-that a community can share and benefit from it too. Posted on 03 Feb, 2014 12:48 PM

Gamalibai is a farmer in Malkaipeta Thanda, a small tribal hamlet of the Lambadi community in Ibrahimpur village, Ranga Reddy district in Andhra Pradesh. She does not have much in common with the image of the hearty, prosperous farmer that beams at us from posters selling agricultural machinery.

Gamalibai on her farm
Angioplasty for groundwater or a heart attack waiting to happen?
The Maharashtra Govt plans to invest Rs. 800 crore to extend the 'Shirpur Model' of groundwater recharge across the state. Is it recharge or withdrawal that this model promotes? Posted on 16 Aug, 2013 10:38 AM

“What is in a name? That which we call a rose, would smell as sweet by any other”, goes the line from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. There is quite a lot in a name, Juliet, especially if attaching the wrong terminology to a process is used to appropriate public funds - Rs. 800 crores, in fact.

Shirpur, Maharashtra of the 'Shirpur Model' fame
Why participatory groundwater management is no longer an oxymoron: The story of Randullabad
Randullabad village has been practising participatory groundwater management for the last two years with ACWADAM's guidance. This article details this achievement. Posted on 15 Apr, 2013 06:04 PM

India is heavily dependent on groundwater use. Domestic use, agriculture and industry all rely on groundwater extracted by means of pumps, wells and tanks. This  dependence is illustrated by falling groundwater levels. Frequently, this overuse and consequent decline trigger conflicts.

Groundwater Management - Typology of challenges, approaches and opportunities - Research papers from the conference organised by ACWADAM and Arghyam at Pune (May 2009)
This article is about the workshop on groundwater was organised by ACWADAM and Arghyam Trust in Pune in May 2009. Posted on 17 Mar, 2010 04:40 AM

ACWADAMA workshop on groundwater was organised by ACWADAM and Arghyam Trust in Pune in May 2009, that brought together several experts in the field, and explored diverse topics such as the importance of scale in groundwater resource planning and management, importance of aquifer typologies, participatory processes of groundwater management, groundwater regulation and groundwater linkages with watershed development, markets and policy matters.

The attempt of the workshop and research papers presented, was to highlight contemporary issues in groundwater management, and to look at it through the multiple lenses of hydrogeology, sociology, economics, livelihoods, environment, disasters and so on.

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