Gujarat

A variety of socio-technical actions have been carried out by the movement participants, which have resulted in increased agrarian-based livelihood incomes, primarily through increased groundwater availability and with it an improved quality of life. The paper identifies the key drivers of the recharging movement and the factors that have sustained it. 

This paper published in the Economic and Political Weekly describes the case of river Khari in Gujarat, which faced increasing amount of pollution due to the discharge of industrial effluents in the river and the efforts made  to solve the pollution problem.

The phenomenon of pollution started in the 1970s when Naroda, Odhav, Vatva and Narol on the eastern periphery of Ahmedabad city were promoted by the government. While there were zones for industries according to the type of waste generated, environmental considerations were overlooked and no provision was made for the safe disposal of industrial effluents. Most of the factories in the industrial estates were water intensive and all of them discharged effluents into the nearby Kharicut canal, which flows into the Khari river, a tributary of the Sabarmati. As the canal remained dry throughout the year, the government ignored its (mis)use.

This case study by All India Institute of Local Self Government deals with the transformation of Surat, from a city infested with plague to second cleanest city in India.  This transformation was largely due to improved municipal management, which was brought about by a strong leadership.

Micro-watershed level planning requires a host of inter-related information to be generated and studied in relation to each other. Remotely sensed data provides valuable and up-to-date spatial information on natural resources and physical terrain parameters.

Forwarded to the Portal by: Madhavi Purohit, WASMO

Image and Content Courtesy: WASMO, UNPAN

Water and Sanitation Management Organisation (WASMO), Gujarat wins the United Nations Public Service Award. Water and Sanitation Management Organization (WASMO) of Government of Gujarat has been declared winner for 'United Nations Public Service Award - 2009' under the category of "Fostering participation in policy-making decisions through innovative mechanisms"for "Institutionalization of Community Managed Drinking Water Supply Programme and User Level Water Quality". This award will be received at a ceremony to be held on 23rd and 24th June 2009 at United Nations Head Quarters in New York. It is an internationally acclaimed Award being conferred by the United Nations, Division for Public Economic and Public Administration, New York, for recognizing the significant contribution made by the organization to improve the public administration. The UNPSA Programme recognises institutional efforts to design, provide and expend services to citizens in a cost effective manner while promoting people's participation in the design of services and the definition of their needs for poverty alleviation and as a step forward to achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

This working paper by Smita Mishra Panda, Institute of Rural Management (IRMA) on the case of SEWA’s water campaign in Gujarat that was presented at the CGIAR systemwide program on collective action and property rights (CAPRi).

The water and sanitation management organisation (WASMO) works by empowering communities to manage their local water sources, drinking water supply and environmental sanitation in the state.

CEPT University has received a major grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to research urban water and sanitation issues. The aim of this programme is to develop better information on water and sanitation performance at the local level. This in turn will be used by the state and local governments for extending services to the poor, strive for financial viability, and improve reliability and quality of services.

The research will focus on the use of performance indicators and benchmarks to facilitate consistent reporting, monitoring, planning, budgeting, and investing in water and sanitation services in all urban areas of Gujarat and Maharashtra states. Lessons from the project will be disseminated to other states and at the national level.

CEPT University with its partners will work with state and local governments to develop a reliable and sustainable Performance Assessment System (PAS) for urban water and sanitation services. The PAS envisaged in this project includes: Performance Measurement, Performance Monitoring, and Performance Improvement.

Indicorps invites young Indian professionals interested in committing their time and skills to India to apply for its new sabbatical program: The Young Professionals Initiative (YPI). YPI is a pilot program designed to encourage young working professionals to contribute their skills and knowledge to the land of their heritage in a meaningful way. The core fellowship program aims to inspire a new generation of global Indian leaders through structured grassroot public service opportunities. Indicorps projects embody a firm and demonstrated commitment to promoting peace, inclusiveness, secularism, and the empowerment of Indians.

I was in Bhavnagar - Saurashtra, Gujarat and came across rooftop rainwater harvesting works implemented by (one more than 10 years ago) by Utthan with financial assistance from WASMO, along the same lines as what SACHETANA is attempting . These have strongly withstood the test of time and ALL of the rooftop rainwater tanks I saw (more than 120) were functioning and people were using this water exclusively for drinking and cooking. Here is a proof of concept idea which has withstood the test of time and which is ripe to be taken to areas of high fluoride and arsenic as one possible solution. Even in Gujarat this has unfortunately not happened in the fluoride affected areas at a scale which would benefit people.