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
Angry, swirling waters
When the twisted model of Uttarakhand’s development goes wrong, a river lashes out killing many. A new book tries to shed light on what went wrong to cause the great Kedarnath disaster.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 07 Nov, 2016 09:55 PM

“The gravity of the Kedarnath disaster in June 2013, which killed thousands of people, shocked the public almost to the point of numbness”... begins the forward by Bill Aitken in Hridayesh Joshi’s account of the disaster Rage of the river: The untold story of the Kedarnath disaster. It’s a sentence which will whirl in your mind while you read Joshi’s book.
Gori floods (Source: Chicu Lokgariwar, India Water Portal)
Should wildlife suffer in the name of water?
Ken-Betwa river-linking project, if realised, will wipe out a portion of the Panna Tiger Reserve with its flora and fauna. The government, however, is adamant about its plan.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 06 Nov, 2016 09:47 PM

Set in India-ka-dil, Madhya Pradesh, is the unending expanse of Panna.
Ken river flows through Panna tiger reserve. (Source: K Gagan, Wikimedia Commons)
Reviving pond naturally
One of the temple ponds of Kooram, neglected for years, has been revived by well-meaning citizens.
Seetha Gopalakrishnan
Posted on 03 Nov, 2016 09:51 PM

For hundreds of years, tanks, both big and small, served people and cattle alike in Tamil Nadu. Chennai’s neighbouring district of Kancheepuram was the the wealthiest when it came to water through these means.
The renovated Samathamman temple pond in Kooram.
Maha battle over water
The Mahanadi’s water is important for both the farmers and industries of Odisha and Chhattisgarh. Instead of squabbling over it, the states need to come up with a plan to use the water judiciously.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 03 Nov, 2016 12:07 PM

It’s a battle that dates back to 1957. Two states of India--Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Odisha--have fought fiercely over the water of the Mahanadi they share. When Chhattisgarh was carved out of MP in 2000, it inherited both the Mahanadi and the conflict with Odisha over its water.
Mahanadi river
Saving inland fisherfolk
Inland fishermen are fast disappearing. With inshore fishing picking up pace in India, this community needs to be saved.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 03 Nov, 2016 06:07 AM

In his late 30s, Nilesh Heda is a renowned expert on issues related to fishing communities and wetland ecology. While doing his PhD on fish diversity, he worked with the fishing communities in Vidarbha in Maharashtra.
Dr Nilesh Heda
Yettinahole project clearance hits a roadblock
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 31 Oct, 2016 10:46 PM

Forest clearance to Yettinahole project gets challenged
River Nethravathi (Source: Parineeta Dandekar via SANDRP)
Get your facts right, get them to act right
Compliance with environmental laws has been a matter between the company and the government. It is changing with a group of people urging communities to participate in the process.
Chicu Lokgariwar
Posted on 31 Oct, 2016 05:37 PM

Hasdeo Arand illustrates all that is wrong with the coal mining industry today. This ancient and dense forest in Chattisgarh, inhabited by several tribes, was once famous for being an elephant corridor. Since 2013, the area has worn a different face.
People attend public hearing late into the night at New Anaya, Arunachal Pradesh.
Those invisible farm hands
Farm women are often overworked and have several health issues. With no claim on their land or decision-making power, this gender-based discrimination needs redressal at the policy level.
Aarti Kelkar Khambete
Posted on 28 Oct, 2016 09:43 PM

Parvati, aged 40, is an agricultural labourer working on the outskirts of Pune. The sole breadwinner of her family, she has not been going for work for three days because of severe pain in the lower back. She asks me for some pills or ointments that could relieve her of her backache.
Women at work on a farm. (Source: India Water Portal)
When neighbours fight for water
As conflict over sharing of river Brahmaputra threatens to raise its ugly head again, cooperation, not competition between China, India and Bangladesh alone can solve the issue
Nilanthi Samaranayake
Satu Limaye
Joel Wuthnow
Posted on 25 Oct, 2016 02:12 PM

With recent reports of China blocking a tributary of the Brahmaputra in Tibet to construct its most expensive hydro project, the Assam government has been worried.
The river Brahmaputra (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Funds sanctioned for irrigation projects
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 24 Oct, 2016 07:00 AM

NABARD sanctions loan to NWDA for irrigation projects
Irrigation canal from the Bhima dam. (Source: Nvvchar on Wikipedia)
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