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Governance
Closing the loop
Posted on 09 Jan, 2017 03:58 PMWith a total population of 1200, Sonnahallipura village in Hoskote taluk of Bangalore Rural district has 250 homes. This village was chosen by the Rotary Club of Bangalore, Indiranagar to start a micro-credit programme for 10 women’s self-help groups (SHG) and a low-cost sanitary napkin manufacturing unit.
![The RO plant in Sonnahallipura village.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/img-20160811-wa0030.jpg?itok=eHn_w5xw)
Maharashtra gears up for irrigation projects
Posted on 09 Jan, 2017 10:14 AMMaharashtra approves cost overrun in irrigation projects, set to complete Gosikhurd project
![Irrigation canal from the Bhima dam, Maharashtra (Source: Nvvchar on Wikipedia)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/irrigation_canal_taking_off_from_the_dam_0_1.jpg?itok=Q_jAYiNI)
States fail to tackle groundwater crisis
Posted on 09 Jan, 2017 09:52 AMA majority of states fail to stop overexploitation of groundwater
![A well in Rajasthan (Source: IWP Flickr photos)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/27560459605_dd7aeae4a2_z_0.jpg?itok=1_nCY7wm)
Curious case of disappearing fish
Posted on 07 Jan, 2017 09:41 PMJaman Ram, a resident of Bhikia Sain, a tehsil in Uttarakhand, remembers fishing with his father in the Ramganga. “We could catch 80-100 kilograms of fish a day. That is no longer possible,” he says. Shafiq of Haldwani shares an unsettling memory of the Ramganga. As a young man on a holiday, he was paddling in the river near Marchula when the rock he was standing on shifted.
![Mahseer swim in the bracing waters of the Ganga in Uttarakhand.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/mahseer_cover.jpg?itok=nP3lGpGC)
A water worried year in a nutshell
Posted on 07 Jan, 2017 08:13 AMThe year 2016 was eventful, to say the least when it comes to the water scenario in the country. The year saw severe droughts affecting 33 crore people across 10 states.
![The Cauvery river at Hogenakkal, Karnataka](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/2330822341_1b4aa606c2_z_1.jpg?itok=yNoFIWde)
Changing coast affects livelihood
Posted on 07 Jan, 2017 07:05 AMGoing by the statistics from the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Tamil Nadu’s coastline is densely populated with 573 fishing villages along 13 coastal districts. The story is slightly different around the urban and peri-urban coastline, thanks to the ongoing gentrification of the coastline in most parts of urban India.
![Chennai coast on a busy day.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/32005696281_54bd33c028_z_1.jpg?itok=abpN0Mke)
The sea mouths crisis
Posted on 06 Jan, 2017 11:21 PMLingaraj Jena is a worried man. At 86, he is one of the older fishermen in Berhampura village, an island on the Chilika lake in Odisha. Though he no longer goes for fishing due to old age, he is worried about the opening of new sea mouths; he knows it is not good news for the fishing communities he is a part of that depend on the Chilika for their livelihood.
![A view of the Chilika in the evening.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/30347858053_a6bb48c3f4_o.jpg?itok=6KFn0RE8)
Ecologists challenge Bharti's remark on Ken-Betwa
Posted on 05 Jan, 2017 11:20 AMNo final approval for Ken-Betwa river link as claimed by Centre
![The Ken-Betwa river link shown on a map. (Source: Shannon via Wikipedia)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/yamunarivermap_2_0_0.jpg?itok=jy3tCri5)
When riverbed becomes real estate
Posted on 02 Jan, 2017 08:17 PMShalu’s household was evicted from Koyla Basti of the Yamuna pushta (embankment), a massive slum cluster on the banks of the Yamuna river in the year 2004. Earthmoving machines bulldozed thousands of homes at the site which was to host the Commonwealth Games of 2010.
![Forced evictions before the Commonwealth Games. (Source: Housing and Land Rights Network)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/yamuna-eviction-hrln.jpg?itok=qUyG5488)
A book every city needs
Posted on 01 Jan, 2017 07:46 PMA scarcity of something makes it special. That’s the reason why Rajasthan has always sanctified water much more than any other place in India. Low rainfall and saline groundwater turned people into great conservers who not only built beautiful and durable structures but also developed sustainable practices around them.
![One of the ponds in Bikaner.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/bikaner.jpg?itok=8_plP1ep)