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Karnataka not to release water to TN
Policy matters this week Posted on 03 Oct, 2016 02:13 PM

No water to TN till a special state legislature session takes a call: Karnataka 

Cauvery river. (Source: India Water Portal)
Farmers think tanks, fight to save water
While the villagers fight to save Puducherry’s cascading tank systems, corrupt authorities come in the way of their efforts. Posted on 29 Sep, 2016 05:57 PM

The union territory (UT) Of Puducherry is, for the most part, enveloped on three sides by the state of Tamil Nadu with the Bay of Bengal framing its eastern face. A total of 84 irrigation tanks--part of the Gingee and Pennaiyar river systems--dot the territory’s landscape. 

Villagers offer their prayers to the guardian of the Bahour tank, Ayyanar (Image: Seetha Gopalakrishnan, IWP)
No fish in water, fishermen at sea
A film on the decline of traditional, sustainable way of fishing puts forth pertinent questions on the future of the marine life and the fishermen who are dependent on it. Posted on 29 Sep, 2016 01:24 PM

What makes a good fisherman? His tools like boats and intricate nets, the ability to make deep dives or the tenacity to stand the elements? For most of the fishers, it’s about having a deep understanding of the ecosystem and the wisdom to make it work for them. The fishing community at Palk Bay is a good example for this.

Fishers of Palk Bay out for a catch. Image by: Umeed Mistry
Monsoon 2016: Rains create havoc
News this week Posted on 25 Sep, 2016 09:51 PM

Rains cause havoc in Hyderabad while Mumbai lakes, dams overflow with water

Powai Lake, Mumbai. (Source: Wikipedia)
Cauvery crisis: Karnataka to move SC for more time
Policy matters this week Posted on 25 Sep, 2016 09:40 PM

Karnataka to seek more time to release Cauvery water

Cauvery river, Karnataka. (Source: Ashwin Kumar via Wikimedia Commons)
Of broken pots and dreams
With much of Salmora lost to the insatiable Brahmaputra river, the potters of Majuli stand at a crossroad, uncertain how long they can continue their unique craft. Posted on 24 Sep, 2016 11:25 PM

Women in Salmora area of Majuli, the world’s largest riverine island and India’s first island district, practise their traditional form of pottery--the one that does not use a wheel but is hand beaten to shape and uses a viscid kind of clay. As the Brahmaputra eats away huge swathes of land year after year, the clay that these potters use is being taken away by the river. 

Why is Lukha feeling blue?
Heavily polluted and poisoned at its confluence with the Lunar river, the Lukha turns mysteriously blue as it flows downstream. The studies are on to know the cause. Posted on 24 Sep, 2016 09:07 PM

Meghalaya in the northeast of India is richly endowed with natural resources such as streams and rivers as well as mineral resources such as coal, limestone, clay, sillimanite, uranium, and more. The estimated coal reserve in Meghalaya is around 576.48 million tonnes while limestone reserves are around 15,100 million tonnes.

The Lukha river in Meghalaya. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Majuli: A hungry river and a succumbing island
Erosion in Majuli, a large island on the Brahmaputra, has left scores of people bereft of livelihoods and hope. While the government has spent crores on anti-erosion measures, it hasn't helped much. Posted on 24 Sep, 2016 08:30 PM

Brahmaputra is the highest siltation-carrying river in the world, and controlling erosion is not easy. Because of its characteristics, it does not have a parallel with any other river in the world. Mythologically also, the Brahmaputra has always been a disturbed river, highly meandering, says Gunajeet Kashyap (ACS), Election Officer, Majuli.

A boatman looks at the vast and furious Brahmaputra
MGNREGA demands makeover
A decade after its implementation, MGNREGA is in shambles. Taking Jharkhand as an example, a paper analyses what went wrong and how to rectify the mistakes. Posted on 23 Sep, 2016 09:04 PM

The article, The MGNREGA crisis: Insights from Jharkhand, published in the Economic and Political Weekly dated May 28, 2016, provides an overview of the status of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act or MGNREGA in India.

Labourers build check dams under MGNREGA. (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Who gives a sh*t?
Skin irritations, respiratory distresses and sometimes even death, it is a life of suffering for the cleaners of human filth. Posted on 20 Sep, 2016 05:47 PM

“My mother used to head out with a basket full of ash every day. She would visit dry latrines in the area one by one, sprinkle the ash on the night soil, scoop it up and carry the excreta-filled basket on her head to dump the contents into a small tanker. This was almost 40 years back in our 'Singara (beautiful) Chennai',” recounts Ravanaiah.

Despite the ban, manual scavenging continues. (Image courtesy: The Hindu)
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