Citizens' Rights and Duties

Uttarakhand is blessed with an immense amount of natural resources such as forests, wildlife and water, but if you are looking for some research-based information that quantifies, classifies and organizes this information, there isn’t much out there.

Green pastures and meadows, tall trees, lakes, wells and the river…those are my memories of Delhi. It wasn’t too long ago that one woke up early to the sounds of lawns being watered, children running off to school and people walking in the parks. A flurry of activity but quite different from what it is today.

The Catch Every Drop campaign, which created awareness about water conservation, spun off a few other events in Bangalore. Save Our Lakes, which focused on protecting B

Ufrenkhal – the village
Driving towards Ufrenkhal, a village in Pauri Garhwal (Uttarakhand), I see a lush, green mountain covered with deodar, banj and utees trees. Little did I realize that this diverse and dense forest, which is alive with wildlife, is very new. 40 years ago, this vast area was a firing range!

The organisation

India is heavily dependent on groundwater use. Domestic use, agriculture and industry all rely on groundwater extracted by means of pumps, wells and tanks. This  dependence is illustrated by falling groundwater levels. Frequently, this overuse and consequent decline trigger conflicts.

Bottled drinks are commonplace and we often reach for them without a thought. We may even feel good about our purchase as we read about the companies' commitment to water security' printed on the label. 

What does 'being water positive' really mean for the villages where manufacturing plants are situated ? This article examines the case of one such plant in Mehdiganj, PO Benipur, Arajiline block, Dist Varanasi and its effect on the groundwater levels in the area. The village has led an agitation against 4 specific negative impacts of the plant, acheiving moderate but measurable success.

This year, the movement comes to a crisis point as despite a warning by the Central Groundwater Development Board, the plant applies for a four-fold expansion.  

Pure and beautiful, mountain springs confer lives. With change in climate conditions and rainfall patterns, rural habitations in Sikkim face drinking water shortages. Many of these springs are drying up or their discharge declining. But there is hope at the end of an endeavour, where science, government and community come together to revive springs of their local region.

Water rights are being discussed today as a possibility. This will lead to civil war in this country. Rights are meaningless without paying attention to duties. It is our constitutional duty to preserve and heal our environment. 

If we pay attention to freeing our waters:

Kosi, one of the most vibrant rivers of North Bihar begins its journey at a height of about 7000 m in the Himalayan range. After entering the plains, the bed of the Kosi widens drastically and it spreads over 6 to 10 km.