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Political
When money grows on trees
Posted on 27 Feb, 2017 10:57 AMNature is the source of much value to us every day. Yet it mostly bypasses markets, escapes pricing and defies valuation.
![At the watershed level, the valuation of forests may help design user pay schemes.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/8687224359_160de5fb9a_b.jpg?itok=F6JF6udw)
Water strategy: Ponds need pondering
Posted on 23 Feb, 2017 06:23 PMIn the last few years, the water situation in Maharashtra has got worse resulting in severe droughts leading to drinking water scarcity and agricultural crisis. This has caused immense suffering for the rural folk in the state and saw instances of violence in the name of water.
![A farm pond (Source: Renie Thomas, WOTR, Pune)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/farm_pond.jpg?itok=7zUtcP9I)
Maharashtra goes Doha for water
Posted on 22 Feb, 2017 12:02 PMThere was a time when the farmers of Yavatmal district depended completely on rainfed agriculture. That was before the introduction of Doha, a water harvesting structure by NGO Dilasa Sansthan in 2014. Farming changed drastically after that, something which Sitaram Kove, a 40-year-old farmer of Rajini village in the district, will vouch for.
![A Doha canal at Rajini village. (Source:Dilasa)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/32946607735_41d5bf934b_z.jpg?itok=OpbC7zxH)
No change in Krishna water sharing ratio: Panel
Posted on 20 Feb, 2017 08:54 PMCommittee rules out any change in Krishna water sharing ratio
![Krishna river (Source: Wikipedia commons)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/krishna-river.jpg?itok=ClsR1LXS)
Solar water pumps for efficient irrigation
Posted on 18 Feb, 2017 09:19 PMIrrigation system in India is often about big dams and hundreds of kilometres of canals that incur huge capital expenditure. Hence, policies at the central and the state level are mostly tilted in favour of big projects and often neglect micro-level solutions.
![Zero tillage machine mounted on a tractor.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/zero-tillage.png?itok=_MKWudMd)
‘We have more hardy, nutritious grains than GM can offer’
Posted on 16 Feb, 2017 05:59 PMFarming can’t be sustainable without the seeds which are best suited to the location, water availability, soil type and weather. According to records, there were 1.10 lakh varieties of rice in India till 1965. After that, the Green Revolution happened, which pushed for hybrid varieties.
![At his farm in Odisha, Deb conserves 1,200 traditional varieties of rice.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/rice_1.jpg?itok=p7pUHDnD)
A watered-down scheme
Posted on 16 Feb, 2017 12:25 PMIn November 2011, the government of Madhya Pradesh sanctioned Rs 493 crore to 37 Urban Local Bodies (ULB) for drinking water supply projects under the Chief Minister’s Urban Drinking Water Supply Scheme (CMUWSS) along the lines of the Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT).
![Source:India Water Portal](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/himachal_photos_032tps.jpg?itok=TFsAaZcI)
Telangana’s groundwater crisis
Posted on 15 Feb, 2017 06:50 PMAccording to the data released by the Food and Agricultural Organisation’s AQUASTAT in 2010, at 250 billion m³ per year, India is one of the countries that uses groundwater the most. As high as 80 percent of its water is used for irrigation of which 65 percent is groundwater.
![Declining groundwater levels and the impending crisis. (Source: India Water Portal)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/pgwm.jpg?itok=0JJAc34W)
Public money wasted in the name of Ganga revival: NGT
Posted on 13 Feb, 2017 09:47 PMNGT blames Centre for wasting public money in the name of Ganga clean-up
![Polythene bags and solid waste left behind the Ganga river in Allahabad. (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/2934020101_75f5ac9828_z.jpg?itok=89hR5Glb)