Rainwater Harvesting

This draft discussion paper by the Department of Drinking Water Supply (Ministry of Rural Development) deals with the preparation of strategic plan for rural drinking water sector in India. The Government of India introduced the Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP) in 1972–73 to support States and UTs with financial and technical assistance to implement drinking water supply schemes in order to accelerate the pace of coverage across rural India.

This paper presents the results of a survey of WATSAN systems implemented under an Integrated Domestic Water Management (IDWM) project supported by Arghyam and implemented by MYRADA and MYKAPS in Bangarpet and H D Kote blocks of Kolar district of Karnataka. Arghyam has promoted Roof-top Rain Water Harvesting (RRWH) and eco-sanitation systems in its various project areas through its partner organizations.

This project aimed at developing an integrated approach to domestic water management. It focused on construction of RRWH and eco-sanitation toilets in four villages in the project area in Kolar with the aim of creating models of integrated management of domestic water and sanitation in a rural set-up.

Content Courtesy: Solution Exchange and Nitya Jacob
Author: Nitya Jacob

India’s arteries are choking. Her rivers, the lifeline of hundreds of millions, are over-taxed, polluted and encroached. They are being mined, dammed and emptied of water. Save for the four monsoon months, most rivers are streams of drains, depending on how many cities they pass through. This year people gaped in awe at the River Yamuna (I am sure they were over-awed by other rivers elsewhere too) as for the first time since 1978 looked like a river and not a drain.

This working paper by the University of Bonn attempts to give a spatial and temporal overview of water management in India. It traces how people and the successive regimes made choices across space and time from a wide range of water control and distribution technologies. The paper divides the water management in India into four periods –

• the traditional system of water management before colonial times;
• response from the colonial rulers to manage the complex socio-ecological system;
• large scale surface water development after independence; and
• finally, the small-scale community and market-led revolution.

This approach paper by the CGWB on water quality issues in islands  (Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep) includes a detailed and comprehensive account of the basic information pertaining to each group of islands separately such as administrative set-up, population, climate and also the technical aspects like geomorphology, geological and hydrogeological conditions.

Article and Image Courtesy: International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance (IRHA)

Sanitation/Wastewater

• India tops the list of nations lacking toilets
• India hunts for a Rural Toilet Design, 1000 Euros up for grabs
• 82% of rural India deprived of three basic necessities of life — tapped drinking water, electricity connection and sanitation
• There are 700 million cell phone connections in India, but only half this number of Indians have access to private toilets, says a UN study

Organizer: Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)

Content and Image Courtesy: Indian Water Works Association

Organizer: Indian Water Works Association

Venue: Conference hall of IWWA at –IWWA head quarters building

Climate Change

• India to release climate change report on Tuesday

 Environment

• India proposes a new emission check system
• Call for declaring soil as national resource: Soil Conservation Society of India