Manu Moudgil

A couple of Swan boats are lying beside the library wall. The cages to keep animals and birds are rusting while weeds have taken over the compound which hosts a few swings and a restaurant.

The past few months saw Karnataka and Tamil Nadu bickering over the sharing of the Cauvery water. It was the failure of the south-west monsoon that had put crops in Karnataka at risk, forcing the government to stop water supplies to Tamil Nadu. The arrival of the north-east monsoon in Tamil Nadu, however, has eased this tension.

Harike wetland is the direct result of the Indus Water Treaty between India and Pakistan. To make best use of the waters of eastern rivers allotted to it, India constructed a barrage near the confluence of Beas and Satluj in 1952 from where two canals take water to the fields of Punjab and Rajasthan.

Sand is today the most consumed raw material in the world after water. From building infrastructure to making glass, silicon chips, solar panels and even detergents and toothpastes, sand is an omnipresent element of our living.

What makes a good fisherman? His tools like boats and intricate nets, the ability to make deep dives or the tenacity to stand the elements? For most of the fishers, it’s about having a deep understanding of the ecosystem and the wisdom to make it work for them. The fishing community at Palk Bay is a good example for this.

Even as Karnataka and Tamil Nadu fight over their rights on Cauvery water, not much thought has gone into the place where the river originates. Kodagu district, earlier known as Coorg, lies on the eastern slope of Western Ghats, a biological hotspot which is home to the Cauvery and is also the primary catchment area of the river.  

If you are a resident of Delhi, it wouldn’t matter if you have a residence proof or not; neither would it matter if your settlement is illegal. You will get individual water connection that will supply enough water for your daily use.

The city of Udaipur is all about its lakes. If Pichola gets the maximum tourist footfall, the scenic beauty of Fateh Sagar invites solitude lovers. The Udai Sagar lake in the east, which remained the first line of defence for the city, now meets the industrial need for water. 

Rain has just abated but the clouds are threatening to burst again. “Not a good time to visit, what with reducing light and imminent showers,” I tell myself. “Don’t worry, it would be a light drizzle, if at all,” the person at the ticket counter assures. My guide, Sachin, a young, stout man with a winning smile, arrives from a tea break armed with binoculars and a slim guide book.

"Jatene dekho utene bawri" (wherever you look, there’s a stepwell). This is how the woman standing on the threshold of her house, in the walled city of Jodhpur, told us when we asked where we could find stepwells in her neighbourhood.