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Society, Culture, Religion and History
Blueprint for farm growth
Posted on 28 Dec, 2010 03:12 PM
Since the start of the 11th Five Year Plan, the growth rate in agriculture has virtually remained stagnant. A scene at a paddy field in the outskirts of Hyderabad.
Saltscapes - Dholavira, Gujarat - A guest post by Amitangshu Acharya and Ayan Ghosh
Posted on 27 Dec, 2010 11:41 PMGuest Post: Text by Amitangshu Acharya, Photographs by Ayan Ghosh
Kachchh – a brilliant halfway between a turmeric yellow Rajasthan and the emerald green Sahyadris – offers an upside down version of life. It tells you that seeds of life and civilisation are often hidden beneath the sands of time in inhospitable terrains.
High altitude wetland protected areas in western Arunachal Pradesh - Identification and demarcation using GIS
Posted on 27 Dec, 2010 11:15 PMGuest Post by Shashank Srinivasan
High altitude wetlands in the Indian Himalayas are crucial to the water security of downstream communities. They buffer the flow of glacial meltwater to sustain river flow in the dry season, ensuring that human settlements have access to water when they need it most.
High altitude wetlands are also reservoirs of biodiversity and contribute local livelihood opportunities. Identifying these wetlands and demarcating areas for their protection is thus crucial to any wetland management plan.
In this poster, a method of using topographic data obtained by remote sensing techniques, to identify the catchment areas of these wetlands has been described.
The author suggests that the protection of these catchment areas will ensure the survival of these wetlands, as well as of the communities that depend on them.
Rainfed areas and rice farming Crucial agricultural water issues
Posted on 25 Dec, 2010 08:30 PMJohn Thompson works on power, policy and sustainability issues in food and agriculture, water resource management and rural development. He is a STEPS Centre member, IDS Fellow and joint Co-ordinator of the Future Agricultures Consortium. He presents two crucial agricultural water issues to take priority on World Water Day.
Saving rice - Ambitious plans to increase productivity
Posted on 24 Dec, 2010 10:13 AMEnormous funds are being poured into research aimed at improving seed varieties, with a heavy focus on developing hybrid rice. Is it the right option for millions of small rice farmers who are already battling high input costs and increasingly unpredictable weather? Or does part of the solution lie in efficient methods of cultivation that will cut down water use and improve yield?
Rice intensification for increasing productivity in Koraput, Odisha
Posted on 24 Dec, 2010 10:12 AMPhoto: Muralidhar Adhikari
The economic impacts of inadequate sanitation in India: Rs. 2.4 Trillion equivalent of 6.4 per cent of GDP – A report by WSP
Posted on 24 Dec, 2010 09:27 AMThis study report by the Water and Sanitation Programme (WSP), a global partnership administered by the World Bank suggests that inadequate sanitation causes India considerable economic losses, equivalent to 6.4 per cent of India's GDP in 2006 at Rs. 2.4 Trillion. It analyzed the evidence on the adverse economic impacts of inadequate sanitation, which include costs associated with death and disease, accessing and treating water, and losses in education, productivity, time, and tourism. The findings are based on 2006 figures, although a similar magnitude of losses is likely in later years.
The study focused on the safe management of human excreta and associated hygiene behavior. The methodology adopted by the study included disaggregating the economic impacts of inadequate sanitation into health-related impacts including premature deaths, costs of treating diseases, and productive time lost due to illnesses; domestic water-related impacts including household treatment of water, and money and time costs to obtain safe water; welfare losses including additional time spent by people for accessing toilets or open defecation sites, and girls having to miss school, and women not going to work; and the loss of potential tourism owing to inadequate sanitation.
Data on incidence (e.g. diarrheal diseases, deaths, etc.) were compiled from national sources (National Family Health Survey, WHO Demographic and Health Surveys, and other Govt. of India sources). Based on scientific literature, attribution factors were used to estimate the populations impacted by inadequate sanitation. Economic valuation was carried out using costs/prices based on secondary studies.
Umiam Lake and Shillong's Rivers: In spite of the odds – An advocacy flyer by Arghyam and Peoples Learning Centre
Posted on 22 Dec, 2010 11:01 PMThis advocacy flyer by Arghyam and Peoples Learning Centre (PLC) Shillong highlights some of the main problems, action underway and potential solutions to cleaning up the water bodies of Shillong. It deals with the expanding human habitats and escalating socio-economic activities around the rivers Umkrah and Umshyrpi that flow through Shillong leading to their choking with sewage and pollution. This wastewater eventually enters Lake Umiam, which is a reservoir for hydro-electric power.
PLC is a non-profit organisation that works towards promoting knowledge on equity and rights, and is a platform for facilitating interdisciplinary dialogues between stakeholders in key developmental issues. Arghyam supports PLC in engaging with decision makes as well as citizens in order to create public opinion about river and lake pollution, and promote catchment friendly practices.
Voelkel Industrie Produkte (VIP) GMBH Exhibiting in EA Water, Mumbai
Posted on 21 Dec, 2010 06:13 PMOrganizer: EA Water Private Limited
Access of the poor to water supply and sanitation in India - Salient concepts, issues and cases by the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth
Posted on 20 Dec, 2010 10:04 PMThis paper by the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth deals with access of the poor to water supply and sanitation in India. It argues that economic, technical, institutional as well as social factors constrain access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation in India for both the urban and rural poor, and that coverage figures do not reflect this restricted access. It finds that, increasingly, communities are being required to manage their own water and sanitation schemes, not just in rural areas but in urban ones as well.
The paper deals with domestic water supply and sanitation and presents a historical overview of the phenomenon in rural and urban India. This is followed by a critique of available figures for coverage which, it is contended, seem exaggerated because they do not account for the several constraints to access. It addresses the specific institutional problems faced in the public sector delivery of these two utilities in India apart from dealing with the parallel yet thus far limited presence of the private sector in these twin arenas.