Tamil Nadu

A two day National Workshop on need for policy and legal norms for allowing freshwater flows in Rivers in India on January 3-4, 2009 at Bangalore ended with a unanimous demand that governments must allow continuous, sustained freshwater flows in all perennial rivers of India, whenever, a dam, diversion or hydropower project is planned, constructed or operated. Inaugurating the workshop on the morning of January 3, 2009, Shri L C Jain, former member, planning commission of India (and many other important posts), expressed his pain and anguish on the state of India's Rivers, "It is very disturbing that the acts of commissions and omissions of the authorities have ruthlessly, blindly, heartlessly lead todestruction of almost every major rivers of India. The hearts of the officials and ministers should throb for the millions depending for their needs and livelihoods on the rivers, but it seems that the stones of the South and North block buildings have entered their hearts." Quoting Gandhiji's agenda for the economic independence of India from what he wrote in the Young India on November 29, 1929, Jain said, Land, Water and Air cannot be subject of commerce, but the planners lock up the pain, hunger, malnutrition in the paragraphs of their five year plan documents and do not ensure their inclusion in their actual plans and programmes. He expressed his deep anguish that even the recommendations of the official policies and committees on ensuring freshwater flows in the rivers remain unimplemented.

The Central Electrochemical Research Institute (CECRI), Karaikudi, India with the sponsorship of Department of Science and Technology (DST), New Delhi, India has developed an indigenous, low cost method of removing Arsenic from drinking water. The purifier is eco-friendly and can be run off a solar power source. Models for Domestic as well as Community use have been developed

DHAN People Academy is conducting a Seminar on Role of Women in Water Conservation and Governance in People Institution. It is to be held on 08.03.2008 at DHAN People Academy, Madurai.

On 29^th January, my colleague Binayak and I went to Nelmangala to participate in the "Save Arkavathy"Walk. The Walk was organized hoping that the participants would learn from the experiences of the villagers along the Arkavathy River and be able to generate interest in them to join the walk.

TN AQUA 2007 Conference on "Emerging Trends in effective water and wastewater management in Industry" 05-06 October 2007: 0930 hrs-1730 hrs: Hotel Taj Coromandel, Chennai The Tamil Nadu State Council of CII (SR) is organizing a two-day conference on Aqua 2007 on 05 -06 October 2007 at Hotel Taj Coromandel, Chennai