Success Stories and Case Studies

The report highlights how traditionally, local communities exercised rights of ownership, use and management over their natural resources in the Himalayan states. They devised a variety of management systems suited to their own specific situation. Sanskar (precepts and rites), sanskriti (culture and customary practices) and niti (state policy and administration) were the bases of water harvesting traditions and their longevity. Individual dharma and social customs were the necessary conditions for sustaining these traditions, while local autonomy in resource management was the critical sufficient condition.

A story from NGO MASS on successfully reviving an open well in Padiabadmal village in Orissa, that had been neglected for two decades. In a tube-well dependent drinking water supply system, an initiative by people of Padiabadmal, a tribal inhabited village in Western Orissa, has come as a refreshing fresh water splash.

This article published in Current Science discusses the nature of arsenic pollutants in the groundwater of Bengal basin.

A model for rainwater harvesting- the Melukote system

This brief on the International Lake Environment Committee site discusses the situation of lakes in the South East Asian region in the context of the growing water crisis and the gradual degradation o

This Whitman Direct Action water book examines the socio-political and technological obstacles to water development in India and has become a transparent resource for other NGOs, the government sector, academics, and interested individuals to glean the expertise of their contemporaries in the fields of water development and water purification technology.

"Kokkarni, saviour of paddy", is a case study written by Shree Padre, in Apr 2009, on the revival / restoration of traditional water bodies called Kokkarni (dug-out farm ponds) in Palakkad, Kerala, which benefits paddy cultivators whose farms are situated in rocky hills, not ideal for catchment.

This paper by Carewater highlights the emerging groundwater pollution problems and the increasing incidences of aquifer contamination in the state of Gujarat and describes the drinking water problems arising because of the conta

This paper on the GIS Development site discusses the approach adopted for establishing ground water information system (GWIS) of the Upper Barakar Basin using geographic informati