/sub-categories/research-papers
Research Papers
Why do people choose to defecate in the open than use toilets in rural coastal Odisha?
Posted on 19 Nov, 2015 04:45 PMOf the one billion defecating in the open globally 66% live in India, of which 92% live in rural areas. Despite concerted government efforts for the last three decades to promote sanitation, India continues to lag behind in terms of access to basic sanitation facilities.
![Sociocultural factors affecting toilet use (Source: Sourabh Phadke)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/toilets_6.jpg?itok=u4bz7tnY)
The effects of continuous versus intermittent piped water supply
Posted on 18 Nov, 2015 02:40 PMPiped water supply has often been referred to as a gold standard while evaluating access to water supply.
![Type of water supply and waterborne illnesses, the connection (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/water_1_5.jpg?itok=1yRJLEl_)
Intersectoral water allocation and conflicts
Posted on 17 Nov, 2015 05:28 PMBesides water scarcity, allocation of water has become an important concern in India over the last few decades.
![Water must be equitably distributed (Source: India Water Portal)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/img_0941.jpg?itok=ubxsfkkX)
Right to water and sanitation: Looking beyond legal and policy frameworks to sites of entitlement
Posted on 16 Nov, 2015 03:09 PMIncreasing concerns over the consequences of inadequate urban sanitation and water with regard to poverty, health, livelihoods, and education have spurred global declarations on the human right to sanitation and water. However, the social and spatial heterogeneity of urban poverty is often missing in global policy debates.
![An illegal settlement (Source: Wikimedia Commons)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/slum_1.jpg?itok=alLNln4W)
Scarcity amidst plenty: Kerala's drinking water paradox
Posted on 14 Nov, 2015 02:48 PMKerala, flanked on the west by the Arabian Sea and on the east by the Western Ghats is bestowed with enviable natural resources. It has 44 rivers spanning its lush green landscape and rainfall that averages as high as 3000 mm a year.
![The Karamana river in Thiruvanathapuram, Kerala (Source: India Water Portal)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/karamana_1_1.jpg?itok=6cP9Vu4g)
Do decentralised community water treatment plants improve quality and access?
Posted on 08 Nov, 2015 01:10 PMHighly advanced community level drinking water treatment facilities are increasingly being contemplated as good quality water supply solutions in locations where water sources are unreliable, and not available inside or near households.
![Safe drinking water, a scarce resource (Source: Wikimedia Commons)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/water_1_4.jpg?itok=SmRRpx35)
Communal versus neighbour-shared latrines: Which is better?
Posted on 31 Oct, 2015 07:58 PMAs many as 2.4 billion people lack access to improved sanitation globally. 710 million of these people live in urban areas. In India alone, 769 million people lack access to improved sanitation and as high as 597 million people defecate in the open.
Shared sanitation facilities in India
![Sanitation and health outcomes (Source: Sourabh Phadke)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/toilets_and_social_netwroks.jpg?itok=yLt57jxb)
Moving from the Kyoto protocol to INDCs: India's plan to address climate change
Posted on 30 Oct, 2015 10:57 PMFour years ago, the international community at the Durban climate summit agreed to establish an international binding climate agreement as the current Kyoto protocol is set to expire in 2020. Closer to the Paris summit, countries were to prepare a post-2020 action plan on climate change mitigation and adaptation.
![Climate Change (Source: Sourabh Phadke on IWP Flickr Photo)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/8357660792_7a1400afb9_z_1.jpg?itok=-mFmcqGl)
How much water should flow in the Yamuna?
Posted on 26 Oct, 2015 05:17 PMRivers are the not just the lifeline of our country, but life itself. We may revere them, even worship them but we continue to pollute, choke, and poison their waters. A river, its catchment area, and its floodplains have evolved over millions of years, and once damaged, may not be easy to reclaim.
![For a river to be healthy & maintain all its associated functions, free flow must be close to 50-60% of the total flow all year round (Source: Wikimedia)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/yamuna1.jpg?itok=XaaQE0VA)