Society, Culture, Religion and History

This workshop organised by the DHAN Foundation in the Gingee Town Panchayat (GTP) in Tamil Nadu on the 18th of November 2011, aimed at initiating a scientific study titled “Strategy for increasing per capita availability of water for Gingee town, Tamilnadu". Elected representatives of the town panchayat along with the general public and government officials participated in this workshop.

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

National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) is the country’s apex body for undertaking training, research, action research and consultancy functions in the rural development sector. It works as an autonomous organization supported by the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. Integrated rural development through holistic approach is a national commitment. The mission of NIRD is to facilitate rural development vigorously through government and non-governmental initiatives.