Policies, Laws and Regulations

The year 2009 was an exceptionally dry year for Maharashtra. There was an acute shortage of water. The farmlands went dry. The farmers, unable to pay their debts, were a worried lot. Lakshman Ambilkar of Kinni village in the Yavatmal district of Maharashtra was one such farmer who could not take it anymore. He killed himself, leaving a young, distraught wife to fend for herself.

Forest panel clears Ken-Betwa river link

Nainital lake is drying up, environmentalists concerned

Rs 5000 fine on those dumping waste on Yamuna floodplains

Centre urges states to gear up for possible monsoon failure

Kokapet, one of the study villages for the project ‘Ensuring Water Security in Metropolitan Hyderabad’, was the first village that we visited for field work. Even though we refer to them as ‘villages’, there was very little that we found village-like here.

In Hyderabad, water tankers are the dominant source of daily water supply. Research for the project Ensuring Water Security in Hyderabad Municipal Area gave us some insights into the quality of water carried by these tankers. When the water is pumped from borewells in villages, it is not always transferred to tankers immediately.

Mallampet is a village in Quthbullapur Mandal. It is located about 5–6 km from the municipal boundaries of the Hyderabad city. Like many other villages, Mallampet too has witnessed the disappearance of its lakes, but not all of them are from natural causes. A close study of the political nexus has revealed the interesting case of lake encroachment.

Following Ganga and Yamuna, Narmada river also gets living entity status

After becoming a human entity, Ganga river receives first legal notice