Political

National Conference on Water
Theme:"Efficient Water Management: Challenges and Solutions"

Organizers:

• Water Digest
• Bhaskar Foundation
• Dainik Bhaskar

Topics:

• Efficient use of Water: Need for Institutional Mechanism
• Creation and Restoration of Water Bodies: Case Studies
• Health & Hygiene: Purity and Availability Matrix
• Water Harvesting & Ground Recharging: Every drop is precious
• Maximizing efficiency, cleaning impurities: Role of Modern Technologies

Venue: Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh

Description:

We are delighted to invite you to National Conference on Water on the theme Efficient Water Management: Challenges and Solutions jointly organized by Water Digest ,  Bhaskar Foundation and Dainik Bhaskar and Supported by Govt. Of Madhya Pradesh to be held on June 25-26, 2010 at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

Arghyam, a civil society organisation working on water issues since 2005, has participated in drinking water programmes involving State Governments since its inception, either directly or by partnering with local Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).

This publication documents Arghyam's and its partners' collective experiences in participating in these Government programmes and puts forward key learnings and challenges.

The various programmes include - Sachethana, a school rooftop rainwater harvesting programme, and Suvarnajala, a flouride mitigation programme, both in Karnataka; Pani Thiye Panjo, a decentralised drinking water management programme in Gujarat; and Mazhapolima, an open-well recharge programme in Kerala.

Content Courtesy:DevNetJobsIndia

• Programme Manager - Drinking Water

Lanco Foundation

Location: Gurgaon - Haryana
Last Date: May 24, 2010

Organizers: Indian River Network (IRN) Lawyer Forum, National Law School of India University and Tamil Nadu Environmental Council Lawyer Forum

Venue: Malligai Farm - Bennangur, (Near Bangalore), Tamil Nadu

Description:

We are happy to inform that a training programme for south Indian Lawyers involved in environmental activities will be conducted by the Resource persons from National Law school of India University with materials and valuable certificate for the participants and by eminent faculties from NGO's.

Venue: TARAgram, Orchha Tigela, Orchha Dist. Tikamgarh – 472 246 (MP) (11 kms from Jhansi Railway station)

Description:

Development Alternatives (DA) is a research organization and it has a focus on innovation and policy outreach. DA is engaged in a research study sponsored by India Water Partnership (IWP) - “Knowledge Dialogue on Integrated Domestic Water Management-Preparation of Compendium and Status paper”. The overall objective of this study is to influence National Water Policy which governs the management of water resources in India with a view to incorporate aspects of Integrated Domestic Water Management (IDWM) in the semi arid and arid regions of India.

Guest Post: Amrtha Kasturi Rangan, Arghyam

“When a State Government instead of itself undertaking a work, if it allows an agency like the petitioner Company by substantially funding them to undertake such work which is essentially that of a municipality, no one can say that such work of the petitioner company as a private activity. On the other hand, it is very much a public activity over which public interest can generate”.

Judgement in WP NO. 9794 of 2008 and M.P. Nos. 1 and 2 of 2008

The Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 was enacted to ensure transparency and accountability. As per the Act any citizen can write and ask for information from a “public authority”.  The Act also requires that public authorities make information about themselves available to the public – mandatory disclosure.

From its time of enactment, there have been several challenges in operationalizing the RTI Act. A progressive civil society has constantly challenged hesitation and delay in providing information. Several ambiguities have required judicial intervention to interpret the letter and the spirit of the Act. Here we look at the success of widening the scope of accountability to include private agencies who partner with the government under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.

"Worldwide Multi-objective Rainwater Harvesting and Utilization"

Organizers:

• Taiwan Rainwater Catchment Systems Association
• International Rainwater Catchment Systems Association
• Chinese Culture University
• National Taiwan Ocean University
• National Cheng Kung University

Venue:
There will be 2 separate venues:

• Northern part of Taiwan (Chinese Culture University, Taipei), March 28-29, 2011
• Southern part of Taiwan (National Cheng Kung University,  ), April 1, 2011

Topics:

• Surface / groundwater water supplies
• Domestic / agricultural / industrial / commercial usages

Consultancy Development Centre (CDC), on behalf of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, invites Expression of Interest (EoI) for providing solutions and managing water challenges under the

Technology Mission:  Winning, Augmentation and Renovation (WAR) for Water

This presentation deals with the problem of arsenic contaminated aquifers in the Gangetic belt of Bihar and the failure of the state government in tackling the crisis and calls for the establishment of a centralized knowledge & research hub with an understanding of the regional peculiarities to mitigate the crisis.

It traces the origin of arsenic crisis to the switch from use of surface water to groundwater. The health impacts of arsenic poisoning and the factors that aggravate arsenicosis are explained. A total of sixteen districts (fifty-seven blocks) in Bihar are affected by high levels of arsenic in groundwater, in trivalent form, which is a more toxic form of arsenic.

The report of the Task Force appointed by the Planning Commission presents an action plan for removal of arsenic contamination in West Bengal. It looks at the extent of the problem, its intake sources, technologies available and the operation and maintenance (O&M) issues.

It outlines the diverse technologies based on various scientific principles, assesses them based on their scale of operation (domestic or community) on techno-economic considerations & infrastructure required and provides suggestions. Short, medium and long term measures are outlined for tackling the problem of arsenic contamination in drinking water supply in the state.