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Constructed wetlands as a cost effective cleaning option
Water treated using constructed wetlands before being used for irrigation can be a suitable and cost effective option to prevent possible human health risks Posted on 25 Mar, 2015 01:18 PM

Hyderabad, which is India's fourth largest city, has a population of almost 7 million. The Musi river, originating from the Anantagiri hills, divides the city into north and south. The River flows through the city and joins the Krishna in Nalgonda.

Musi river (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Drought and the desert: They don't go hand in hand here
With its low rainfall, western Rajasthan might seem like a prime candidate for drought, but the combination of old age wisdom and new age techniques have helped Barmer access fresh water continuously. Posted on 23 Mar, 2015 09:15 PM

Women in bright, colourful clothes carrying pots on their heads -- this is how popular media often depicts the women of rural Rajasthan. This is what I expected to see in the Bakhasar region of Barmer district, which borders the famous salt desert, the Rann of Kutch. The groundwater is often saline and rainfall does not exceed 250 mm.

Beris serve both people and their livestock.
Punjab's groundwater crisis: A bye product of the govt's short sighted policies?
As long as electricity is improperly priced and farmers get the MSP for rice, they will not take up maize cultivation. This will lead to further deterioration of groundwater. Posted on 23 Mar, 2015 05:26 PM

Punjab has made great progress in grain production following the technological revolution in agriculture in the 1960s. The state achieved this through subsidised use of high yielding variety seeds, fertilisers and irrigation.

Farmer in Punjab (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Cursed by greed: The Falgu river
The Falgu river, supposedly cursed by Sita to run below the ground, is today threatened by encroachment and pollution. Can she be saved by her defenders? Posted on 23 Mar, 2015 04:32 PM

The story of the Falgu is one of greed. Unlike most other rivers, the Falgu is not just a victim of greed, but also an oppressor -- she oppressed none other than Sita herself as she flowed through Gaya in Bihar.

The story

People gather around a chua in the Falgu
More than just 'a' day for water
The theme for World Water Day 2015 is 'Water and Sustainable Development'. The stories compiled here highlight the efforts of people and organisations who focus on this theme everyday. Posted on 22 Mar, 2015 10:48 AM

Come March and it's that time of the year again -- spring cleaning! On March 22, 2015, this takes on a slightly different meaning to some as it becomes a day to spring clean our attitudes towards water for yet another year. World Water Day looms large and with it, the current year's focus.

World Water Day 2015
A speed limit on river use
"People tend to ask what (revenue in dollars) water for environmental flows is going to generate. That's not the question you should be asking", says Professor Jay O'Keeffe in an interview with IWP. Posted on 21 Mar, 2015 01:08 PM

Professor Jay O'Keeffe is well-known to all those who are interested in the concept of environmental flow releases. The Professor has been involved in this, all over the world, since the seventies.

The Ganga at sunset
Righting an insanitary wrong
Indian citizens are campaigning for a justiciable right to water and sanitation. Mamata Dash of WaterAid speaks to IWP about the right and its importance. Posted on 20 Mar, 2015 10:25 AM

SOPPECOM and Water Aid have been working for the last three years on the right to water and sanitation. They have engaged in consultations with people across the nation, and used these discussions to articulate their campaign demands. The campaign has also come up with a wealth of resources on the topic but what does this right to sanitation entail? Mamata Dash explains.

A ragpicker sorts through garbage
Can Madurai's dying tanks be revived?
Yes, say the authors, but not before these tanks are recognized in a manner befitting their past glory: as prized resources that provided water to the city even though it had no perennial rivers. Posted on 19 Mar, 2015 09:34 PM

Madurai, Tamil Nadu's second largest city, is now filled with buildings and roads which are eating into its age old network of tanks and canals. This change did not happen overnight. It began in the late 19th century by the British when they merged several hamlets to establish their headquarters in the region.

A tank on the outskirts of Madurai, Tamil Nadu
Slow poisoning of the Harike wetland
Considered a Ramsar site since 1990, the Harike wetland in Punjab is on the verge of a serious crisis, as contamination of its waters from effluents has reached critical levels. Posted on 09 Mar, 2015 09:58 PM

Known as "Hari-ke-Pattan", this wetland is the largest in the Tarn Taran Sahib district of the Punjab in northern India and has the Harike Lake in its deeper part [1]. Its rich biodiversity plays an important role in maintaining the hydrological balance in the catchment area. It also supports a vast range of migratory birds including a number of globally threatened species [1].

Harike wetland (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
World's only floating freshwater lake under threat
Evidence shows that the Loktak lake in Manipur, famous for its floating heterogenous masses of vegetation, is getting more and more polluted. Posted on 06 Mar, 2015 11:02 PM

The Loktak lake in Manipur is the largest freshwater lake in Northeast India. It is famous for the phumdis, which are isolated collections of heterogenous masses of vegetation, soil, and organic matter at various stages of decomposition, floating over it [1]. It is referred to as the only floating lake in the world because of the phumdis [2].

View of Loktak lake (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
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