Society, Culture, Religion and History

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Featured Articles
October 8, 2023
India's rivers: From conservation movements to legal personhood
While the current push for legal personhood for rivers is facing obstacles and is stalled, it holds potential as a viable long-term strategy for the preservation of India's rivers
River quality deteriorates as demand for hydropower to support economic growth continues to expand. (Image: Yogendra Singh Negi, Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED)
June 16, 2023
Majuli Island: A tapestry of resilience and environmental harmony
Majuli serves as a symbol of both the delicate balance between human activity and the environment and the tenacity of its residents
Addressing various aspects of women's lives to enhance their social, economic, and political status (Image: Rebuild India Fund)
January 13, 2022
Water management in the times of Gonds of Central India
The water structures constructed during the Gond period continue to survive the test of time and provide evidence of the water wisdom of our ancestors.
Kundeshwar lake, Kundam in Jabalpur (Image Source: K G Vyas)
January 2, 2021
The fast disappearing traditional water harvesting structures of Rajasthan
Lack of community ownership and local governance are spelling doom for the once royal and resilient traditional water harvesting structures of Rajasthan.
Toorji Ka Jhalara, Jodhpur (Image Source: Rituja Mitra)
December 7, 2020
Not in the interest of women farmers!
The new farm related bills will spell doom for women workers who form the bulk of small and marginal sections of Indian agriculture, warns Mahila Kisan Adhikaar Manch (MAKAAM).
Farm women, overworked and underpaid (Image Source: India Water Portal)
December 11, 2019
Scientists intervene to save dry toilets
Dry toilets have long been hailed as a sustainable solution to the sanitation and waste management crisis facing India today, but have been overshadowed by more modern toilet designs.
A traditional dry toilet. Image: India Science Wire
Springing back to life
CHIRAG in Uttarakhand works with communities to revive local springs to achieve water security.
Aditi Sajwan
Water Practitioners Network
Posted on 25 Jul, 2019 12:48 PM

In popular imagination, steeped in consumer culture, the hills are exotic and aesthetically sublime places to find solace away from busy urban life. This kind of imagination conveniently ignores and de-contextualizes the hills and the problems they face today. The Himalayas, often known as the Water Tower of Asia, are revered because many of the world's important rivers originate from them.
Image source: Water Practitioners Network
Gender in hydropower development: A long way to go
A study finds that hydropower organisations in India continue to maintain a culture of hierarchy, follow masculine norms and are insensitive to the needs of women and the marginalised.
Gitta Shreshta
Deepa Joshi
Florian Clement
Posted on 22 Jul, 2019 04:44 PM

Large dams, back in the game?
Hirakud, India's oldest dam (Image source: India Water Portal on Flickr)
Rajasthan's ancient yet ever-evolving water heritage
A book documents the enormous range of water harvesting systems still in use in Rajasthan.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 21 Jul, 2019 11:10 AM

The state of Rajasthan has an immense range of ancient and ingenious water harvesting systems, like the famous johads or step wells managed by communities in the arid Thar desert, which receives very low rainfall.
The design of Chand baodi (stepwell) in Abhaneri village, Rajasthan, was intended to conserve as much water as possible (Image: Unseen Horizons, Flickr Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0)
One-day pre-conference workshop: Introduction to Water Ethics
Posted on 19 Jul, 2019 06:12 PM

One-day Pre-conference Workshop

Introduction to Water Ethics

The many facets to the fluoride problem in Chikkaballapur, Karnataka
INREM Foundation and The Fluoride Network have worked in Chikkaballapur extensively, to battle the problem of fluoride contamination in groundwater.
Priya Desai
Posted on 11 Jul, 2019 03:26 PM

Chikkaballapur is a district in the state of Karnataka, just north of the capital Bengaluru. A peri-urban area that was once an agricultural centre for this region, today Chikkaballapur is facing a unique problem. 
A can of 20 litres of RO filtered water costs around Rs. 20 in Chikballapur. Image credit: Karthik Seshan
Budget 2019 talks big on water
But have the crucial schemes received more money than last year? We talk to some experts in the water sector to find out.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 10 Jul, 2019 02:04 PM

Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister alluded to gaon, garib and kisan as the centre of all policies of this government, while announcing a clutch of schemes aimed at the rural and urban poor.
Indian children tapping water (Image: Global Water Partnership, Flickr Commons, CC BY NC-SA 2.0)
Is it all downhill from here for Leh?
Rapid urban growth, scarce water resources and a high risk of natural disasters pose serious challenges for Leh's urban planning and governance.
Juliane Dame
Susanne Schmidt
Judith Müller
Marcus Nüsser
Posted on 09 Jul, 2019 02:05 PM

Across South Asia, small and medium-sized towns are rapidly expanding. Urbanisation has made inroads into the entire Himalayan region. Mountain urbanisation poses a need for assessments of emerging risks and vulnerabilities in environmentally sensitive regions.
The main bazaar of Leh (Image: Christopher Michel, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0)
Go green this Van Mahotsava
The major cause of insufficient forest cover in India seems to be ruthless cutting of trees in the name of urbanization and development.
Anita Sharma
Posted on 08 Jul, 2019 12:44 PM

Van Mahotsava is an annual tree planting festival which was initiated by Shri Kulapati Kanaiyalal Munshi, the Union Minister for Agriculture and Food, Government of India, in 1950 to create awareness about the importance of trees and conservation of forests.
Chilepata core forest area in Buxa, Alipurduar district of West Bengal (Image: Tridib Choudhury, Wikimedia Commons, CC-SA 4.0 International)
The need for survival edge technology
Decentralised communitarian technology can mitigate the water crises facing us today.
Subhadra Khaperde
Posted on 02 Jul, 2019 08:58 PM

Decentralised and communitarian efforts in soil and water conservation, sustainable agriculture, afforestation and renewable energy need extensive investment, if the human race is to survive the deepening water, food, energy and climate crises.
Digging an open well that had some water at lesser depths ranging from 5-10 m using local technology in which a motor run winch draws up the dug up mud from the well bottom. (Image: Rahul Banerjee)
Nal se Jal: hit or miss?
An analysis of the new Nal se Jal scheme, promising drinking water to every household in India by 2024.
Mitul Baruah
Posted on 28 Jun, 2019 02:52 PM

Water scarcity has a history … and that history is nothing less than the history of government. – Alatout, 2008.

Image for representational purposes only. Image credit: India Water Portal on Flickr
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