Lifestyle

Kashmir was originally home to an elaborate network of farmer owned and managed canal based irrigation systems. Gradually, with the increase in planned development, several irrigation canals were taken under the control of the irrigation department. This paper compares the management of irrigation systems by farmers and government. 

A large part of the state of Maharashtra continues to face acute scarcity of water due to scanty rainfall, which has had a serious impact on the livelihoods of people who live in these areas. This article "Ajuni Kordech Aad" meaning "The wells are still dry" published in the magazine Anubhav highlights the extreme hardships, lack of employment opportunities, forced migration due to negative impact on agriculture and livestock, and poverty and deprivation that people living in these areas have to face due to this water scarcity.

Guest post by : Aarti Kelkar-Khambete

Guest Post: Nitin Rai, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)

Drawing upon his experience working with the Soligas who live within the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary, Nitin Rai talks about the ‘wilderness’ myth and explores the origins and impacts of the belief that people and animals cannot co-exist. 

The camera wanders through the states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra and records the profound traditional science of the people. “Harvest of Rain” analyses a wide variety of water harvesting systems as a function of differing ecological terrains

Content and Media Courtesy: International Union for Conservation of Nature

This 116,500 hectare brackish lagoon separated from the Bay of Bengal by a long sandy ridge was added to the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance in 1981.This was because the lagoon was facing serious degradation due to siltation and choking of the seawater inlet channel, resulting in the proliferation of invasive freshwater species, the decrease in fish productivity, and an overall loss of biodiversity [1].

Organizers: IIHS

The Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) is a national education institution committed to the equitable, sustainable and efficient transformation of Indian settlements. IIHS is India’s first prospective independently funded and managed national university for Innovation that focuses on its ongoing urban and development transformation. It is a first-of-its-kind, practice and innovation-oriented knowledge institution that seeks to bridge the conventional excellence, scale and inclusion divide.

Guest post by – Rahul Bakare, Arghyam

 This article details an example where local knowledge has been used to develop access to safe water in the tribal areas of the Eastern Ghats in Andhra Pradesh

It deals with issues around capital raising, policy framework, efficiency and sustainability and provides a way forward for strategic acceleration of the benefits.

Article and media courtesy: International Rivers