Success Stories and Case Studies

The Western Ghats, known for its biodiversity, is one of India's most sought after ecological hotspots. One of its stark features is the basalt rocks, often referred to as water buckets indicating the water retention capacity of the rock, found there.

As a run up to World Water Day 2014, India Water Portal conducted a Grassroots Comics workshop with Field Facilitators, Barefoot Engineers and other field workers of the Dhara Vikas Programme.

The Western Ghats are made of up basalt rocks, which were formed from lava flows. These rocks are also known as water buckets as they are able to retain a lot of water. This unique feature helps create springs. At an event organised by IIT Mumbai and India Water Portal to mark World Water Day, Dr. Jared Buono talked about how springs were revived in Panchgani with the help of spring boxes.

This was my first time here. I had heard of this festival, perhaps the only existing one in India, where barter takes place at such a scale. Jon Beel mela in Jon Beel, Jagiroad Assam- a historic festival where people from the hills and plains come together for a unique exchange of goods and agricultural produce near a moon-shaped wetland.

Pophala is a dry land farming village with 73 families that cultivate 290 acres. The people would spend as many as 5 hours to go to another village and get water. In the year 2013, the Gram Sabha in Pophala village, decided on something unique. They decided to figure out a way to get and keep water in their village so as to not be dependent on anyone else. 

Sea Line Co-operative Society, is a residential complex with 25 apartments in Bandra-a suburb in Mumbai. The 70 residents required 6000 kilolitres (KL) water per year but they managed to procure just about 5000 KL while paying through their noses - Rs. 20,000 per month, to be exact.

In 2003, President Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam visited a small village in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab. Kharaudi had done something he thought others could emulate.

Mewat, a historical region comprising of the present Mewat district of Haryana and parts of Alwar, Bharatpur and Dholpur districts of Rajasthan, lies in a semi-arid belt. It experiences variable rainfall annually and receives, on average, 336 mm to 540 mm, as per the Mewat Development Agency.

Shifting cultivation, locally called 'Jhum', is a widely practiced system of crop cultivation among the indigenous communities of Northeast India. While it is generally contested as a destructive method of farming, it is also argued that the system lends itself as much more than just a farming practice.

Looking through that peephole where the future seems dark and bleak conjures up discomfort. We would all rather envision a better, happier tomorrow but anticipating a possible bleak future is crucial for communities to plan in the context of changes, says Dr. Petra Tschakert, Professor of Geography at Pennsylvania State University, USA.