Political

This document by Jayanta Bandyopadhyay, highlights the importance of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) basin as an important source of water for many of the countries in South Asia, and the crucial role of negotiations in the context of the impending water crisis threatening the basin with the phenomenon of climate change.

The document argues that traditional water engineering has been found to be highly reductionistic and ineffective in bringing about development in the GBM basin and the continuing poverty in the GBM basin can be linked to the absence of a holistic ecological perspective, use of an incomplete framework for economics and ignoring of long-run economic costs of the actions proposed.

Hello Friends ! 

   This is my first post on the board. I compliment the portal team in compiling enormous resources on line .

In an attempt to tackle the deteriorating ground water situation in the state, the Uttar Pradesh State Government has drafted the Uttar Pradesh Groundwater Conservation, Protection and Development (Management, Control and Regulation) Bill (2010), and has invited feedback from the public.

Comments have to be sent before 5 July 2010 by email to up.gwd@rediffmail.com or by post to this address: Director, Utttar Pradesh Groundwater Department, Navam Tal, Indira Bhavan, Ashok Marg, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

The draft copy of the Act is uploaded on the UP State Groundwater Department website and can be downloaded here, and is also attached with this post.

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.