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Challenges for achieving conservation and development - A presentation by Elinor Ostrom at the Khoshoo memorial lecture, ATREE
The 2012 Khoshoo Memorial Lecture was delivered by 2009 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, Dr Elinor Ostrom. In this presentation, she explains the need for a framework to assess complex socio-ecological systems. Posted on 22 Feb, 2012 06:52 PM

Portrait of Dr.Ostrom

"In search of old ideas" - A discussion of the draft national water policy 2012, by Jayanta Bandopadhyay in The Telegraph
In this article published in the Telegraph Jayanta Bandopadhyay discusses the draft national water policy 2012. Posted on 22 Feb, 2012 05:05 PM

Author: Jayanta Bandopadhyay

Article and image courtesy: The Telegraph

New water policy more contentious; least helpful in tackling existing issues
The new water policy (NWP) draft 2012 is reportedly replete with more contentious issues and least helpful in tackling existing issues. The formulation of new draft policy has been facilitated in an undemocratic way sans participation of all stakeholders. Undoubtedly the draft explicitly states that water needs to be managed as a community resource held by the state under public trust doctrine, but concurrently it underscores the need to treat water as an “economic good”. Instead of treating water as ‘economic good’, it should be treated as sustainable development instrument. Posted on 22 Feb, 2012 12:34 PM

Author : Dr. Arvind Kumar

Rural water access: Governance and contestation in a semi-arid watershed in Udaipur, Rajasthan: A paper in EPW
Recent policy has encouraged a shift towards community management of water infrastructure through the creation of decentralised institutions.This also implies a shift from large to small structures and institutions. This however presumes the existence of a homogeneous 'community', and does not necessarily acknowledge the effect of various separate groups within such a community on these institutions. This paper published in Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) examines the impacts of this shift towards decentralised irrigation management on different groups residing in six villages in Rajasthan. Posted on 21 Feb, 2012 05:19 PM

Study area

This study is carried out in micro-watershed No.19, which comprises six villages in Jhadol tehsil of Udaipur district in Rajasthan. A minor irrigation project completed in 1980 serves these six villages

Rainfall, storage levels in reservoir and groundwater use

An ecological quantification of the relationships between water, sanitation and infant, child, and maternal mortality - Paper published in the Journal Environmental Health
This paper discusses the findings of a study that aimed at quantifying the relationship between water and sanitation and infant, child, and maternal mortality. Posted on 21 Feb, 2012 03:30 PM

A number of studies have made associations between prevention of disease burden among populations by improving water supply, sanitation, hygiene and management of water resources and between poor water quality and disease burden.

Understanding governance in WASH sector in Andhra Pradesh - A study by WASSAN
The paper examines the issue of water governance- its key elements, applicability, and influence on service levels. Posted on 18 Feb, 2012 03:38 PM

Problems in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector have their roots in socio-political issues rather than in technology. This paper presents the report of a survey in 107 villages in rural Andhra Pradesh to illustrate the influence of governance systems.

contrasting pictures of a well maintained hand pump and one that is standing in a pool of dirty water

Social exclusion in watershed development: Evidence from the Indo-German watershed development project in Maharashtra - A LEAD paper
This paper examines social exclusion of resource-poor groups in developmental programmes targeted at them through the lens of watershed programmes. Posted on 18 Feb, 2012 03:08 PM

Marginalized communities are excluded from a say in the creation of policies. 

A bar chart illustrating level of participation in SHGs against landholding status

Climate change risk - An adaptation and mitigation agenda for Indian cities - A paper published in the journal Environment and Urbanisation
This paper outlines the much needed adaptation and mitigation agenda for cities in India where the urban population is likely to grow by around 500 million over the next 50 years. Posted on 18 Feb, 2012 01:33 PM

The paper dwells on the likely changes that climate change is expected to bring in temperature, precipitation and extreme rainfall, drought, river and inland flooding, storms/storm surges/coastal flooding, sea-level rise and environmental health risks, and who within urban populations will be at risk.

The status of glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region - A report by the ICIMOD
This study by ICIMOD provides a comprehensive account of the number and status of glaciers across the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region. Posted on 17 Feb, 2012 03:00 PM

The HKH region is one of the most dynamic, fragile, and complex mountain systems in the world as a result of tectonic activity and the rich diversity of climates, hydrology, and ecology. The high Himalayan region is the freshwater tower of South Asia and has the highest concentration of snow and glaciers outside the polar regions giving it the name Third Pole.

Balati glacier at sunset

Balati glacier, Pithoragarh district, Uttarakhand (Source: Uttarakhand and I)

Multi-stakeholder dialogue is messy, but necessary
Presentations made at the workshop on "Understanding and resolving water conflicts in the North East India", organised in January 2012. Posted on 16 Feb, 2012 01:32 PM

A workshop on ‘Understanding and resolving water conflicts in the North East India', was organized by Forum for Policy Dialogue on Water Conflicts in India (Forum), in collaboration with Aaranyak (Guwahati), Centre for the Environment, IIT (Guwahati), Arghyam (Bangalore), SaciWATERs-CapNet Network (SCaN) and Cap-Net to discuss emerging issues related to water conflicts and their resolution in the region. This workshop was held in Guwahati on January 23-26, 2012. It aimed at presenting concepts and theory related water conflicts as well as issues especially relevant to the North East Region.

Conflict flow chart