Society, Culture, Religion and History

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October 8, 2023 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 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 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 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 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 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
SC orders forced eviction of tribals, forest dwellers
Policy matters this week Posted on 27 Feb, 2019 01:31 PM

Forced eviction ordered for more than one million tribals and forest-dwellers

Tribal women in Chhattisgarh (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
River basin governance: Learnings from Cauvery conflict
While the recent ruling of the Supreme court on the Cauvery conflict opens up new possibilities, a push for holistic and interdisciplinary river basin governance is required. Posted on 15 Feb, 2019 01:38 PM

The river Cauvery—an inter-state river shared by the southern states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, as well as the Union Territory of Pondicherry—has often been in the news for the fight over its waters between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. What dominates the issue is the conflicting demands for irrigation from the plateau region of Karnataka and the delta region in Tamil Nadu.

Cauvery river at Hogenakal, Karnataka. (Source: IWP Flickr Photos via Claire Arni and Oriole Henri)
Urban Water Challenge Workshop
Do you have an innovative solution that will address the Urban Water Challenges in Bangalore?
Posted on 13 Feb, 2019 10:59 AM

Are you ready to apply the collective brain power of multinationals, startups, innovators and entrepreneurial ecosystem builders to make sustainable change for urban water in India?

Can we gain from changing rains?
While changing rainfall patterns, increased frequency of cyclones, droughts and floods threaten food and water security in India, adaptation strategies to cope with these changes are crucial. Posted on 07 Feb, 2019 12:30 PM

India is undergoing a major transition with changes in rainfall patterns leading to increased frequency of droughts, floods, heat waves amidst fear of a major water crisis in the years to come. Why are these threats increasing?

Changing rainfall patterns in India (Image Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Leading a movement to revive a river
The work of river conservationist Mustaquim Mallah with help from local people to revive the Katha river is a good example that river conservation is possible through local participation. Posted on 30 Jan, 2019 04:21 PM

People of Ramra, a village in the Kairana block of Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh have warm recollections of river Katha that joins the Yamuna below Ramra. Mustaquim Mallah, a 30-year old river conservationist recalls how his grandfather held many pleasant childhood memories of the river. "My great grandfather fished in this river.

A “one house, one pot” symbolic water donation movement was conducted over the years for river Katha. (Image: Mustaquim Mallah)
Green gold on fire
The film Green Gold on Fire provides insights into the impacts of forest fire on communities and environment in Jammu and Kashmir. Posted on 15 Dec, 2018 05:54 PM

Jammu and Kashmir is the only state in India where forest fires are reported almost every season. As per Indian state of forest report 2017, India saw a 46 percent increase in the number of forest fires in the last 16 years. Forest fires not only affect the flora and fauna of the region but they also pollute the environment and lead to climate change by increasing greenhouse gases.

Forest fire (Source: Abdul Rashid)
Dealing with droughts
There are many reasons why we see more droughts in India these days. Here is all the information that you need to know droughts better. Posted on 13 Dec, 2018 04:20 PM

Droughts are one of the most feared natural calamities in India impacting food production, the economy as well as the morale of millions of farmers in a cou

Droughts are predicted to rise in India (Image Source: Gaurav Bhosale via Wikimedia Commons)
A future without water?
Once abundant with water, Sikri village is fighting a losing battle to meet its water needs. Posted on 11 Dec, 2018 01:17 PM

Sikri is a small village that lies 65 km north-west of Bharatpur on the Alwar road. The village used to depend on a traditional irrigation system that assured water throughout the year. A local saying related to the water availability at Sikri goes thus: Lakh daal le chittri, jay rahoongi Sikri (You may put lakhs of fetters to stop it, but the waters will still reach Sikri).

An off-taking canal that promoted flow irrigation. The system has become a relic of the past. There is a demand to revive this colonial irrigation system whose bund is over 17-km long and has 28 distributaries. (Image: India Water Portal)
Human activities reduce catchments’ climate resilience
A study finds that only over a third of human-dominated catchments in India are resilient to climate warming. Posted on 10 Dec, 2018 01:04 PM

The impact of global warming on the hydrological cycle should be of paramount concern to all because global warming affects rainfall patterns in various ways like triggering more extreme rainfall events. Unpredictable changes in runoff make it difficult to plan infrastructure to manage water resources such as dams.

River Krishna at Wai, Maharashtra (Image Source: India Water Portal)
Mekedatu project: CWC okays, TN objects
Policy matters this week Posted on 04 Dec, 2018 03:09 PM

CWC allows preparation of DPR while TN objects to the Mekedatu project on the Cauvery river

Cauvery river at Hogenakal, Karnataka (Source: IWP Flickr Photos via Claire Arni and Oriole Henri)
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