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Art of killing a river
Manoj Misra speaks on the much neglected area of the Yamuna river and its floodplains and why its mere clean-up is not enough--especially as the World Culture Festival approaches. Posted on 22 Feb, 2016 01:19 PM

Recent permission granted to the Art of Living to hold the World Culture Festival in the Yamuna floodplains points fingers yet again at the fact that not much has been done to assure its safety. The rapid encroachment of the Yamuna floodplain has raised a few questions. Can the river sustain the rampant commercialisation of its floodplains?

NGT had in July 2015 slapped a fine on the Akshardham temple management for carrying out expansion without prior environmental clearance and without examining whether the expanded portion fell on the Yamuna’s floodplains (Source: Ramesh N G, Wikimedia Commons)
Floating gardens for the landless
Flood affected areas in coastal Odisha have adopted new ways of farming. Called floating gardens, these have the scope to reduce the food insecurities of the landless poor. Posted on 17 Feb, 2016 09:49 PM

The coastal district of Puri in Odisha is infested with water hyacinth. In 1982, 10 million people and 3 million hectares of agricultural land was affected by floods causing the water hyacinth to increase to such an extent that it has affected the lives and livelihood of communities for almost three decades.

Women working on a floating garden (Source: RCDC)
High on potential, low on execution
Small hydro power projects, which could have a greater potential to deal with energy deficiency, are yet to yield what they promise thanks to procedural hiccups and bad research. Posted on 17 Feb, 2016 09:25 PM

Recently, Prime Minister Modi asked Niti Aayog to submit a report on stalled hydropower projects in the country.

A small hydro power project in Chamba, Himachal Pradesh
Saved by tanks: The story of Puducherry’s Bahour commune
While the monster floods of 2015 mercilessly gobbled up villages along the coast of Tamil Nadu, settlements in neighbouring Puducherry managed to escape the fury. Miracle, you say? Posted on 16 Feb, 2016 10:13 AM

The East Coast of India is very much unlike its western counterpart both in terms of physiography and climatology.

The Manapet tank in Bahour has an ayacut of around 110 acres, most of which is now urbanised (Image: Seetha Gopalakrishnan, IWP)
National Water Commission in place of CWC and CGWB
Policy matters this week Posted on 16 Feb, 2016 09:28 AM

Government proposes to set up a National Water Commission

The Upper Lake, Bhopal (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Karnataka first state to witness rabi crop loss
News this week Posted on 16 Feb, 2016 09:16 AM

Karanataka records failure of winter crops, seeks Rs 1,417 crore Central assistance 

Barren fields owing to poor rains (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Is traditional wisdom key to combating climate change?
Farmers have been known to observe the movement of ants and butterflies to forecast rainfall. Do such indigenous practices hold the key to addressing climate change issues? Posted on 15 Feb, 2016 09:55 PM

Erratic rainfall, heavy storms, extreme weather and droughts are some of the major impacts of climate changes. Though it affects everyone, certain sections of society, like indigenous people who live closer to the natural environment, are in fact more vulnerable to these variations.

A woman draws water from a 'taanka' in Rajasthan (Source: Wikipedia)
Budget needs to protect food security
Budgetary support needs to be upped for the implementation of the public distribution system entitlements under the National Food Security Act. Posted on 15 Feb, 2016 11:01 AM

With the budget 2016-17 round the corner what are the asks from the standpoint of food security? This year’s budget is being prepared in the wake of many parts of the country being affected by drought resulting in greater distress, hunger and starvation for a large number of people.

Children at an anganwadi centre, Mysore waiting for the mid-day meal
Can Budget 2016-17 breathe life into the public health system?
Budget asks include the upping of health spending, passing new health policies and involving civil society among other things. Posted on 15 Feb, 2016 11:00 AM

Per a report by the Planning Commission, India’s burden of water borne diseases remains grossly underestimated. The improvements in access to drinking water has not been matched by a proportionate decline in deaths and illnesses from waterborne diseases.

Measuring for malnutrition in Madhya Pradesh (Source: Russell Watkins, Wikimedia Commons)
Is Pumpkart streamlining an unorganised sector?
An e-commerce platform selling water pumps has big plans for India but will they be able to buck the trend of incurring heavy losses that other online stores face? Posted on 11 Feb, 2016 12:03 PM

The increasing gap in water availability in India has encouraged the growth of the water industry. Be it the bottling sector, filtration or wastewater recycling, all segments related to water are seeing a phenomenal upsurge.

Agriculture is the biggest segment for pumping industry.
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