/topics/public-infrastructure-and-services
Public Infrastructure and Services
Swachh Bharat Mission: It’s all about numbers
Posted on 02 Oct, 2018 11:06 PMWe have just a year to go for Swachh Bharat Mission’s (SBM) deadline of making India open-defecation free (ODF). In the last four years, the government has built 86.08 million toilets (as on September 26, 2018) throughout the country as a part of this flagship programme on providing safe sanitation to all by October 2019.
![Sanitation is not just about constructing toilets. (Image: India Water Portal)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/toilet1_2_0.jpg?itok=KLv3wh45)
Kerala floods and after
Posted on 27 Sep, 2018 05:11 PMEvery time there is a huge flood in India with massive loss of lives and extensive physical damage, there is a hue and cry. Especially, if this takes place in an area not normally prone to such floods. Assam and Bihar, for instance, are regularly laid waste by floods and so, there is not much agitation over that anymore.
![The floods in Kerala have taken nearly 400 lives and have displaced around 1.2 million people. (Image: Ranjith Siji via Wikimedia Commons)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/800px-kerala_flood_2018_-_angamaly-_img_20180818_084500_0.jpg?itok=-ARq7XxK)
Jaundice grips Raipur
Posted on 20 Sep, 2018 04:09 PMThe family of Somesh Manikpuri of Amasivani colony in Raipur is still in shock of his sudden demise from jaundice in May this year. Six similar deaths have been reported from Raipur since April 2018. Memsingh Chandrakar, a resident of Naharpara, another locality in Raipur, was also affected by jaundice in May.
![A view of the Shakti Nagar slum area in Raipur. (Source: India Water Portal)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/13892294904_3c6caa28c1_z.jpg?itok=-KvA0O71)
India has 45 critically polluted river stretches: CPCB
Posted on 19 Sep, 2018 01:47 PMPolluted river stretches increases to 351, as against 302 in 2015
![Solid waste on the banks of the Mithi river. (Image source: Rohit Sharma, Arpita Bhagat)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/image_7_0_0.jpg?itok=QCHzoKXQ)
Kerala battles the worst flood since 1924
Posted on 25 Aug, 2018 05:34 PMWhen the five overflow gates of the Cheruthoni dam, a part of the Idukki reservoir comprising Cheruthoni, Kulamavu and Idukki arch dam were opened one by one on August 9, 2018, a torrent of water and mud gushed out. Heavy, unceasing rains had led to the dam reaching close to its maximum capacity, forcing the dam authorities to open all its gates.
![The floods in Kerala have taken nearly 400 lives and have displaced around 1.2 million people. (Image: Ranjith Siji, Wikimedia Commons: CC BY-SA 4.0)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/800px-kerala_flood_2018_-_angamaly-_img_20180818_084500.jpg?itok=snwGpfV4)
Delhi stands up for its trees
Posted on 20 Aug, 2018 11:28 AMRecently, Delhi saw an urban Chipko movement of sorts with the people coming out in large numbers with a single agenda—save the last of the trees left in the city. In the famous Chipko movement of 1973, local communities in Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand emblematically embraced trees to demand an end to deforestation through forest exploiting contractors.
![People of Delhi came out in large numbers recently and kick-started a movement to save trees. (Image: Delhi Trees SOS)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/delhi_trees_sos_group_1.jpg?itok=q4-HQ0ei)
The Mahanadi tussle: Why Chhattisgarh and Odisha spar
Posted on 08 Aug, 2018 05:08 PMThe interstate dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh over the Mahanadi's water is an ongoing one and it looks like both the state governments have no interest in finding a long-term solution.
![The Hirakud dam on the Mahanadi (Source: India Water Portal)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/14075678201_097f9dcec5_z_4.jpg?itok=AMvouM06)
Trash out: People get together to clean the Himalayas
Posted on 06 Aug, 2018 10:50 AMMy first trek in the Himalayas was a transcendental experience. Even a decade after, I remember the intense beauty of every vignette I came across. That’s why I was excited about the Himalayan Cleanup, held on May 26 this year.
![Volunteers sort plastic trash during the cleanup. (Pic courtesy: Zero Waste Himalaya)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/img_2744.jpg?itok=cNfwJ7eA)
In the business of transformation
Posted on 02 Aug, 2018 04:11 PMPramod Kumar Singh, the caretaker of a community toilet complex in northwest Delhi’s Sultanpuri area is proud about its upkeep. The complex, built by the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) and inaugurated in 2016, is well maintained with beautiful landscaping, posters and wall art.
![Delhi Street Art has painted cartoons and caricatures on the walls to attract people to the community toilet complex at Sultanpuri. (Image: Project Raahat, Enactus)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/children-enactus.jpg?itok=6bm6lG0n)
Challenges of being a ‘Prerak’
Posted on 27 Jul, 2018 01:35 PMMost of Etawah, a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in Uttar Pradesh, has plenty of stories to share about their favourite leader Daddaji or Mulayam Singh Yadav, one of the former chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh. The area bordering the ravines near Chambal, on the other hand, resounds with tales of dacoits like Phoolan Devi, Seema Parihar and Nirbhay Gujjar.
![Divyanshu Seth and Aishwarya Mishra (second and third from left in the first row) during a menstrual hygiene management session. (Pic courtesy: Divyanshu Seth)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/padman_challenge_completed_by_district_etawah_by_sessions_on_mhm_across_villages.jpg?itok=QzWbZuJL)