Political

Both Mohenjo daro and Harappa reported wells in every household and also community wells. They are perhaps the oldest in the subcontinent. Here is one open well from the Konark temple in Orissa. These must have been the sole providers of good clean water during that time and one of them continues to provide water for the repair work underway.

The report starts from August as the floods struck and chronicles the sequence of events till November. The initial frenzy of the flood & confusion as people panic and relief exists as only a mirage to the slow grind of the government machinery are documented.

IIT Delhi and Vigyan Vijay Foundation have been implementing a pilot project on Waterless Urinals. The project is supported by Stockholm Environmental Institute and UNICEF. These posters below have been developed as part of that project. The project aims to develop appropriate solutions for scaling-up Waterless Urinals at public places, institutions and homes. One of the core objectives of the project is to advocate waterless urinals as an integral component of toilets especially at homes whereby water and energy can be conserved and the environment is protected. We hope these posters will be of immense value to general public and practitioners looking for undertaking waterless urinals. For more information contact Ramesh Sakthivel , ramsakthivel@yahoo.com

Click below to View Posters in full size :

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Recognizing the value of wetlands and taking cognizance of the fact that there does not yet exist a formal system for conservation and management and wise-use of wetlands, the National Environment Policy (NEP), 2006 seeks to set up a legally enforceable regulatory mechanism for identified valuable wetlands to prevent their degradation, enhance their conservation and wise-use by all the stakehol

Suvrat Kher from the What's With The Climate? blog has an interesting post about the correlation between the groundwater map of India & the incidence of farmer suicides in India. The post takes a look at the incidence of groundwater, the lack of proper management of available resources & the resulting socio - economic losses.

The Government of India, Ministry of Urban Development recently released the National Urban Sanitation Policy. We attach the document below, as well as key excerpts. We request you to add your comments below regarding the provisions of the Sanitation Policy. Click here to view the National Urban Sanitation Policy The document is quite comprehensive and detailed. It lays out a vision for urban sanitation in India. It instructs states to come up with their own detailed state-level urban sanitation strategies and City Sanitation Plans. It moots the idea of totally sanitised and open-defecation cities as a target and the setting up of a multi-stakeholder City Sanitation Task Force to achieve this. Environmental considerations, public health implications and reaching the unserved and urban poor are given significant emphasis in the policy. Funding options are laid out including direct central and state support including through existing schemes, public-private partnerships, and external funding agencies. It directs that atleast 20% of the funds should be earmarked towards servicing the urban poor. The Center also plans to institute awards to the best performing cities, reminiscent of the Nirmal Gram Puraskar awards for villages. Important Excerpts from the Policy: