Equity

A committee has been constituted to draft a new National Water Policy (NWP) and make key changes in the water governance structure and regulatory framework. It is chaired by Mihir Shah, who is a former Planning Commission member and a water expert. The committee is expected to produce a report within six months.

Kerala retains the top slot with a score of 70, followed closely by Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana in the latest edition of NITI Aayog’s annual assessment of progress made by states in achieving the sustainable development goals (SDG).

The Department of Aquatic Biology & Fisheries, University of Kerala, is organizing an International Conference “Rivers for Future” (RFF-2020). Rivers, the lifeline of people all over the world, are facing increasing threats in Anthropocene, which not only impacts the supply of freshwater, but also threatens the livelihood of millions of people, jeopardizing economic and ecosystem services.

Maheen Mirza’s film ‘Agar wo desh banati/ If she built a country’ looks at the widespread displacement on an unprecedented scale for mines and industries in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh.

This compendium by Mihir Kumar Maitra is a valuable resource for all practitioners engaged in watershed management activities in the field.

While climate activists and world leaders were gathering in Paris in the first week of December 2015 to discuss the impact of climate change, the metropolis Chennai in the southern corner of India was inundated with floods.

Water, its use, availability, and impact on people has been on the public policy debate centerstage for the past several years. In India, a growing water crisis driven by climate change, inefficiency, and water pollution is slowly moving to a near-permanent state that will harm the country’s people, economy and environment.  

“It is a lack of (institutional) capacity which is leading to public woes on water. We are not in a position to give you quality services because of two things – one, manpower, and two, finances,” said BWSSB Chairman Tushar Girinath, speaking at a panel discussion on ‘Sustainable, Equitable Access to Water’.

Socially constructed notions of the different roles and responsibilities of men and women have a huge bearing on access to and control over resources, and subsequently on their vulnerabilities. More often than not, this leads to vulnerabilities that are skewed towards women, more than men.