Lifestyle

Imagine there's no water
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to cook or clean with
And no flushing too!
Imagine all the people
Living life in vain

This report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) presents strategies for inclusive rural development embodying the principles of environmental sustainability. It recommends measures needed to achieve green, including measuring and tracking, the use incentives and the building of capacities. It also contains a number of case studies showing how green results can be achieved.

Land use changes  hydrologic system and have potentially large impacts on water resources. An assessment in an area with seasonally limited water availability and which is subject to rapid socio- economic development and population growth will provide an exemplary view on the local impacts of major recent developments in India. In this backdrop this paper analyzes past land use changes between 1989 and 2009 and their impacts on the water balance in the Mula and Mutha Rivers catchment upstream of Pune. The aim of the paper is:

• assess the land use changes between 1989/1990 and 2009/2010
• analyze the impacts of these changes on the long-term water balance components in the Mula and Mutha Rivers catchment upstream of the city of Pune.

Groundwater contamination is a serious, but relatively ignored issue in the country. This contamination occurs in either through geogenic or anthropogenic means. Fluoride contamination is one such example of geogenic contamination that is widely found in the Kolar district of Karnataka. However, the fluoride levels in the town of Mulbagal are lower than those in the surroundings. Earlier, a study was conducted on the impact of pit toilets on the groundwater in the area. The present paper investigates the presence of any link between these two phenomena.

Venue

Hosa Jeevana Dari Farm, Melukote, Karnataka

Melukote is around 70km from Mysore and around 140km from Bangalore. Hosa Jeevana Daari centre is 7 Kms away from Melkote. Situated in a serene atmosphere on the Melkote – Chinakuruli road with 25 acres of land. Once at Melukote, you may take an auto to reach the farm.

Organizers

This paper by Vandana Asthana in the Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) examines the lived experiences of displaced women based on the empirical findings of research that looks at women displaced by the construction of the Tehri Dam and their relocation elsewhere.

This paper in Indian Journal of Public Health sheds light on the specific impact of arsenic on health of children based on the review of literature on the subject. The effects of chronic arsenic toxicity under the following aspects:

• Psychological
• Skin abnormalities
• Lung diseases
• Defect in intellectual function
• Genetic issues

About the National Foundation for India

Organiser: Toxics Link and India International Centre

Venue: India International Centre
       #40, Max Mueller Marg
       New Delhi

Toxics Link is an information outreach and environmental advocacy organization set up in 1996. It has special emphasis on reaching out to grassroots groups and community based organizations. The areas of its engagements include research, outreach and policy advocacy on issues of communities and urban waste, toxics free healthcare, hazardous wastes, and pesticides. Toxics Link communicates with all stakeholders, from a civil society perspective. Its networks and partners are national, regional as well as international.

India International Centre is a non-government institution widely regarded as a place where statesmen, diplomats, policy makers, intellectuals, scientists, jurists, writers, artists and members of civil society meet to initiate the exchange of new ideas and knowledge in the spirit of international cooperation. Its purpose, stated in its charter, was ‘to promote understanding and amity between the different communities of the world’. In short, the Centre stands for a vision that looks at India as a place where it is possible to initiate dialogues in an atmosphere of amity and understanding.