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Increasing adoption of rainwater harvesting technologies in rural India
What needs to be done to increase the adoption of rainwater harvesting technologies in rural areas? This study shows the way. Posted on 24 Oct, 2023 10:56 PM

Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) technology continues to be highly recommended as a potential solution to deal with water scarcity in developed as well as developing countries such as India and includes various methods such as Rooftop rainwater harvesting (RRWH), surface runoff collection, flood runoff harvesting, and in-situ RWH.

Catch the rain where it falls (Image Source: IWP flicker photos)
Beneath the surface: A journey into Kolar’s water management
Kolar's water saga: A quest for access, equity, and sustainability Posted on 23 Oct, 2023 09:42 PM

Field visits are an exciting enterprise, especially as a young student who wishes to understand rural India. But they are also a complicated process of seeing and discerning, trying to figure out what is real and what is not. Hagiographies of local mobilisation are common in such endeavours, which, in some cases, are justified. To give into such tendencies is to pick the easy way out.

Catchment and bed area of the tank (Image: Anshul Rai Sharma)
Indian coasts and the threat of invasive species
Coastal ecosystems in India are highly productive and biodiverse. Urgent efforts to protect them from invasive species are needed. Posted on 23 Oct, 2023 07:46 PM

Coastal habitats in India are especially prone to invasion by alien species, and the major avenues for the invasion are through ballast water, natural calamities or through accidental introduction/escape during unscientific coastal aquaculture and seaweed culture informs this report titled 'A review on the impacts of invas

Coral reefs in the Andaman Islands (Image Source: Ritiks via Wikimedia Commons)
Women: The harbingers of change, not silent sufferers
Women have often led the acts of resilience, and transformation, batting two warfronts at once, calamities and gendered social restrictions. It becomes important to explore, highlight, and reiterate their accomplishments as the changemakers, and not as the passive recipients. Posted on 21 Oct, 2023 05:03 PM

In times of crisis and calamity, women have repeatedly been cast, portrayed, and even studied as vulnerable groups, their agency overshadowed by societal perceptions. This characterization extends beyond disasters to encompass human-induced socio-economic upheavals too. While this narrative implies a lack of agency amongst women, the reality is quite different.

Women as trailblazers: Resilience, transformation, and breaking barriers on dual fronts (Image: ILRI/Mann; CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 DEED)
Building community expertise in planning, designing, and overseeing WASH systems
A holistic approach to Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) initiatives Posted on 20 Oct, 2023 04:10 PM

WaterAid India is a non-profit organisation dedicated to transforming lives by improving access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene. The organisation focuses on marginalised and vulnerable communities, striving to ensure that everyone, everywhere has access to these essential services.

Shantilata uses a cloth to filter out the high iron content in the salty water, filled from a hand pump, in the village Sitapur on the outskirts of Bhadrak, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha (Image: WaterAid/ Anindito Mukherjee)
Climate change coping mechanism discovered in humble algae  
A breakthrough in ocean life's response to climate change and its potential impact on biotechnology Posted on 18 Oct, 2023 09:14 AM

One of the building blocks of ocean life can adapt to cope with the effects of climate change, according to new research from the University of East Anglia (UEA).  

Kelp makes a beautiful canopy over an understory of calcareous red algae beneath the waves at Cape Solander in southern Sydney (Image: John Turnbull; Flickr Commons, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 DEED)
Sustainable solutions in focus
10 policy briefs launched at a workshop by TATA Trust and The Nature Conservancy Centre based on a series of on-groundwork across environmental and developmental issues Posted on 18 Oct, 2023 07:12 AM

A day-long workshop convened by The Nature Conservancy Centre (TNCC) and backed by TATA Trusts, 'The Indian Collaborative for Applied Sustainable Solutions' (ICASS) initiative brought together a diverse group of sustainability practitioners to address critical gaps in the science-policy-practice interface, ensuring effective sustainability implementation.

The Nature Conservancy is working to protect ecologically important areas across boundaries—so that they can be preserved for future generations (Image: Gayatri Priyadarshini; Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED)
Waterways can disrupt riverine ecosystems 
How does barge trafficking/movement affect the ecology and biodiversity of riverine ecosystems? A study explains. Posted on 17 Oct, 2023 04:33 PM

Rivers, as waterways

River Hooghly at Kolkata (Image Source: Yercaud-elango via Wikimedia Commons)
Shaping the future of clean energy manufacturing
India’s clean energy manufacturing sector performing well in terms of supplier ecosystem, collaborations and partnerships: KPMG study Posted on 11 Oct, 2023 07:55 PM

Whether the world and India needs an energy transition is no longer in question. Rather, the question is how to achieve it, and how soon. The answer to both of those questions could depend on how India gets the manufacturing and supply chain story right, as it will be not just India that benefits, but the world stands to gain as well.

Woman barefoot solar technician (Image: Abbie Trayler-Smith/Panos Pictures/Department for International Development; CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 DEED)
Interlinking rivers can influence the dynamics of the Indian summer monsoon
Recent study highlights the need for careful consideration of ecological sustainability and water demands in large-scale hydrological projects Posted on 10 Oct, 2023 05:20 PM

India is dealing with a growing water stress crisis brought on by things like climate change, population growth, pollution, and changes in land use. Currently, there are about 1400 cubic meters of water available per person, but by 2050, that number is predicted to fall to 1200 cubic meters. Already, a large portion of India is deemed to be water-stressed.

River in India (Image: Rishav Saha, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED)
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