Contamination, Pollution and Quality

This report by the Centre for Media Studies, New Delhi presents an assessment of the Jalamani programme of the Department of Drinking Water Supply, Government of India. The centrally sponsored programme commenced in 2008-09 aimed at installing simple Stand Alone Water Purification Systems (SAWPS) in rural schools to enable school children to have access to safe and clean water. The focus was on tackling bacteriological contamination and turbidity in ongoing rural drinking water supply programme.

The assessment study used both qualitative and quantitative techniques such as focus group discussions and in-depth interviews besides structured questionnaire for a variety of stakeholders and research questions. Another important aspect of the quantitative tools was testing of the raw and treated water samples. The study was undertaken in 320 schools spread across 20 districts and six states.

Solid waste is increasing in the city due to growth of population, urbanization, higher per capita income and standard of living, changing lifestyle and food habits.

The first section of the paper explains about the structure of the solid waste in the city. The solid waste according to its constituents is presented in the second section. The third section of the paper explains about the regression result. The last section deals with the policy implication and conclusion.

 It provides an analytical framework that policy makers and water professionals can use to bring greater clarity to the issue of social equity in their local context.

This case study in National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR) by the Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CIMFR), Dhanbad and the Geo-Environment Division (Environment Management Group) deals with groundwater quality assessment of Jharia coalfield area of West Bengal. The physiochemical characteristics of groundwater of the upper catchments of the coalfield were studied to evaluate the water quality.

This thesis by Christina Tang for the Center of Environmental Studies, Brown University deals with a study of water quality and attempts to ascertain the net benefits or costs from rainwater harvesting under a variety of scenarios for households in various water supply conditions.

Eighty percent of the 7,00,000 citizens of Kuttanad, a region in the coastal State of Kerala have no access to clean water. In Kuttanad, intensive untreated human sewage and agricultural activities have caused severe surface water contaminations. At the same time, other sources of freshwater are unreliable for drinking: groundwater is acidic due to the soil conditions and iron leaching; freshwater from public tap is infrequent; and water supply from private vendors is extremely expensive.

It investigates the difficulties they face and emphasizes the need for better integration of groundwater in the planning and management of urban water resources.

This report by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) reviews the importance of inland fisheries as an ecosystem service, the pressures upon them, and management approaches to sustain them and thus helps inform future approaches to conservation and management of freshwater ecosystems.

There is an urgent need for major investment in policy and management approaches that address the direct and indirect drivers of aquatic ecosystem degradation and loss of inland fisheries taking into account their role in sustainable development and human well being. The UNEP Ecosystem Management Programme (UNEP-EMP) provides an effective framework for pursuing this challenge.