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Groundwater
DEWATS Newsletter: Volume 1|Issue 5|December 2008
Posted on 27 Dec, 2008 10:13 AMThe DEWATS Newsletter, published bi-monthly by BORDA in Bremen, constitutes a compilation of links to articles about dewats and sanitation from the BNS N
Ecosan calculations & urine as a fertilizer!
Posted on 08 Dec, 2008 12:33 PMVishwanath calls on all to set aside the "yuck" factor and take a rational view of the use of urine as a fertilizer. From a open discussion he goes on to list out the advantages of using plant nutrient rich urine as fertilizer and provides the maths behind his validation!! Write in with your take in the comments!
Old wells at the Konark Sun Temple, Orissa
Posted on 08 Dec, 2008 09:21 AMBoth Mohenjo daro and Harappa reported wells in every household and also community wells. They are perhaps the oldest in the subcontinent. Here is one open well from the Konark temple in Orissa. These must have been the sole providers of good clean water during that time and one of them continues to provide water for the repair work underway.
Groundwater map of India & farmer suicides
Posted on 03 Dec, 2008 11:48 AMSuvrat Kher from the What's With The Climate? blog has an interesting post about the correlation between the groundwater map of India & the incidence of farmer suicides in India. The post takes a look at the incidence of groundwater, the lack of proper management of available resources & the resulting socio - economic losses.
National Urban Sanitation Policy
Posted on 01 Dec, 2008 01:16 PMThe Government of India, Ministry of Urban Development recently released the National Urban Sanitation Policy. We attach the document below, as well as key excerpts. We request you to add your comments below regarding the provisions of the Sanitation Policy. Click here to view the National Urban Sanitation Policy The document is quite comprehensive and detailed. It lays out a vision for urban sanitation in India. It instructs states to come up with their own detailed state-level urban sanitation strategies and City Sanitation Plans. It moots the idea of totally sanitised and open-defecation cities as a target and the setting up of a multi-stakeholder City Sanitation Task Force to achieve this. Environmental considerations, public health implications and reaching the unserved and urban poor are given significant emphasis in the policy. Funding options are laid out including direct central and state support including through existing schemes, public-private partnerships, and external funding agencies. It directs that atleast 20% of the funds should be earmarked towards servicing the urban poor. The Center also plans to institute awards to the best performing cities, reminiscent of the Nirmal Gram Puraskar awards for villages. Important Excerpts from the Policy:
Rainbow Drive Layout -- A model for urban water management ?
Posted on 10 Nov, 2008 10:10 AMBangalore's sprawling expansion outpaces the public utility's ability to accommodate skyrocketing demand for water and sanitation services, and it is increasingly common for new residential communities to assume total management for their own water and sanitation services through their resident welfare associations.
UNESCO Publishes First World Map of Underground Transboundary Aquifers
Posted on 02 Nov, 2008 11:29 AMForwarded to the Portal by: Anuradha The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will publish the first-ever world map of underground aquifers, which account for some 96 per cent of global freshwater resources, the agency announced in a press release today. Despite their strategic importance, no global inventory of aquifers , most of which straddle international boundaries , had been compiled before UNESCO started work on its online map, which will be launched to coincide with the submission to the General Assembly of a draft Convention on Transboundary Aquifers next week. The UNESCO is presenting a detailed map identifying underground water resources that are shared by at least two countries, using data compiled since 2000 by UNESCO's International Hydrological Programme for a groundwater database. The map will include information about the quality of water and rate of replenishment of the 273 transboundary aquifers , 68 in the American continent, 38 in Africa, 65 in Eastern Europe, 90 in Western Europe and 12 in Asia.
Blog action day -- Water and poverty
Posted on 15 Oct, 2008 10:24 PMToday is Blog Action Day 2008, where blogs all over the world are writing about poverty. We thought we would use this opportunity to talk about water and poverty.
KRAPAVIS:Reviving "Orans" physically and conceptually
Posted on 13 Aug, 2008 04:39 AMOrans are local micro bio-diversity reserves- community conserved areas (CCAs) harboring the shrine of a local goddess or deity. Also known as Dev-banis, these local forests vary in size from a hundred to five hundred bighas (about hundred hectares). Most Orans have sources of water, either small springs or rivulets running through them or a variety of ponds and nadis in their midst.