Makarand Purohit

Makarand Purohit
Water treated royally in Mandu's Jahaz Mahal (Ship Palace)
It was not enough for the Mughals to just harvest rainwater but the structure needed to form a lilting backdrop to life in their palaces as exemplified by the Jahaz Mahal. What can we learn from it? Posted on 12 Aug, 2015 07:56 PM

Ghiyas-ud-din-khilji is a man about whom history is confused. Contemporary records speak of 'a lover of peace, particular in his daily prayers'.

An intricate set of curlicues set in the floor leads rainwater from the roofs to a tank in Jahaz Mahal, Mandu
Nagpur Municipal Corporation in troubled waters
Nagpur's woes due to water privatisation aren't unique. More than 54 private sector participation projects across the globe are in the same boat.
Posted on 05 Aug, 2015 09:41 AM

The Maharashtra State Accountant General (AG) recently exposed the hidden agenda of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) and its so-called best Public-Private Partnership model with regards to Nagpur's water supply.

No 24x7 water supply for Nagpur
90% of malarial deaths happen in rural India
The economic burden of malaria in India is $1940 million -- lost earnings make up 75 percent while treatment costs make up the rest -- despite the GoI spending $51.33 million towards it in 2013.
Posted on 24 Jul, 2015 07:07 AM

Stagnant puddles, which are a breeding ground for mosquitoes, follow the rains every year causing an increase in the incidence of water-borne diseases. Malaria is the third most common of these diseases in India after diarrhoea and typhoid. 

An Anopheles stephensi mosquito feasting (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Why use a refrigerator to store water when you can use a clay pot?
Decreasing demand in India for earthen pots to store drinking water has affected thousands of potters' livelihoods. The film 'Vanishing Potters' provides a closer look.
Posted on 04 Jul, 2015 10:06 PM

What's not to like about clay pots? "They cool water naturally due to the tiny air pores present in them, are affordable, save energy and are eco-friendly when compared to refrigerators", says Gautam Bandhopadhaya, a water expert in Chhattisgarh.

A potter making a clay pot in Jevra Sirsa village in Durg district
How has water privatisation affected Chattisgarh?
The Mahanadi's longest tributary, the Shivnath, has borne the brunt of urbanisation and industrialisation but the impact has been felt the most by residents. We capture their story in pictures.
Posted on 27 May, 2015 04:37 PM

The Shivnath River is the longest tributary of the Mahanadi River.

Shivnath river near Mahamara Barrage, Durg
Water and facilities flow better into cities
An analysis of Census 2011 data confirms many known facts--the urban beats the rural when it comes to treated tap water supply, access to water testing labs and much more.
Posted on 05 May, 2015 01:35 PM

Sixty eight percent of India's population lives in rural areas but when it comes to facilities -- including the availability of safe drinking water -- cities and towns corner most of them.

Rural-Urban Drinking Water Supply Gap, Census 2011
Are there solutions to epidemics from water-borne diseases?
The recent jaundice outbreak in Sambalpur, Odisha has again unfolded several questions related to rise of water-borne diseases in urban areas in India. This film explores these problems.
Posted on 02 Mar, 2015 10:06 PM

Between May and December 2014, 17 deaths were registered in Sambalpur due to jaundice but residents say that the death toll due to water-borne diseases is much more than that. In January 2015, the Odisha High Court issued a notice to the state government asking it to furnish details on the steps taken to check the Jaundice outbreak in Sambalpur. 

What is Jaundice?

Polluted water in Sambalpur, Odisha
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.
Posted on 24 Feb, 2015 10:10 AM

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
Water Untouched: A film on Dalits' lack of access
Forming 17% of India's popultion, Dalits still have to depend on the goodwill of dominant castes for many things including access to basics. Why?
Posted on 19 Feb, 2015 08:59 AM

“The Dalits of this country get access to water on the goodwill of the dominant caste. Water to untouchables is still miles away,” says Goldy M George, a Dalit activist and an expert on Dalit rights.

A Dalit woman in Ekta Nagar, Raipur
The dark life of the Kelo
Senior journalist Shiv Rajpoot, who has traveled across the Kelo river in Chhattisgarh twice by foot, shares the story of its transformation.
Posted on 15 Jan, 2015 11:52 PM

"The Kelo river has never been like this but in the last two decades, the economic growth in the region has spoiled the purity of the river", says eminent journalist  Shiv Rajpoot from Raigarh, who is also known as "Kelo man". He has twice traveled by foot, the 90 km stretch of the Kelo from its origin to its end.

The objectives of his two visits were to study and document:

Shiv Rajpoot during his Kelo Yatra, 2008
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