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
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) – Wetlands
What are wetlands and why are they so important? A simple Q&A answers pertinent questions related to wetlands in India.
Sabita Kaushal
Posted on 21 Oct, 2016 06:27 AM

This is a simple guide that lists out the most popular questions related to wetlands, to understand what they are and their importance a little better. Please click on a topic for detailed information 
Maguri Beel, a wetland area in the Tinsukia district of Upper Assam.
Save rivers with traditional knowledge
Winner of the 2016 Emerging River Professional Award, Tero Mustonen talks in length about how utilising traditional knowledge can help in dealing with the challenges rivers face.
Swati Bansal
Posted on 19 Oct, 2016 10:53 PM

The Emerging River Professional Award is an initiative of the International RiverFoundation. The award recognises and fosters early career professionals who have demonstrated innovation, excellence and leadership in the areas of rivers, basins or river-dependent communities. The winner receives a cash prize of AU$5,000. 
Tero Mustonen receives the 2016 Emerging River Professional Award. (Image source: International RiverFoundation)
Water not for profit
Water privatisation has a history of failure in India. Why are we still engaging private operators to manage our waters?
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 16 Oct, 2016 08:58 PM

In August 2016, the Karnataka government gave Abu Dhabi-based businessman B.R. Shetty permission to privatise the iconic Jog Falls to make it a perennial waterfall and to develop it into a tourism hotspot.
NMC employees union and residents of Nagpur protest water privatisation.
Health check up for the rivers
While the health of the rivers needs to be comprehensively assessed to bring the contamination down, public participation remains crucial in keeping the rivers alive.
Ipsita Nandi
Ananya Tewari and Kavita Shah
Posted on 14 Oct, 2016 06:16 PM

A severe crisis is plaguing the rivers in India.
The Krishna river, Wai, Maharashtra. (Source: India Water Portal)
New Supreme Court bench to hear Cauvery dispute
Policy matters this week
Sabita Kaushal
Posted on 11 Oct, 2016 02:38 PM

Cauvery dispute: New Supreme Court bench constituted
Cauvery river (Source: India Water Portal)
Karnataka not to release water to TN
Policy matters this week
Sabita Kaushal
Posted on 03 Oct, 2016 02:13 PM

No water to TN till a special state legislature session takes a call: Karnataka 
Cauvery river. (Source: India Water Portal)
Farmers think tanks, fight to save water
While the villagers fight to save Puducherry’s cascading tank systems, corrupt authorities come in the way of their efforts.
Seetha Gopalakrishnan
Posted on 29 Sep, 2016 05:57 PM

The union territory (UT) Of Puducherry is, for the most part, enveloped on three sides by the state of Tamil Nadu with the Bay of Bengal framing its eastern face. A total of 84 irrigation tanks--part of the Gingee and Pennaiyar river systems--dot the territory’s landscape. 
Villagers offer their prayers to the guardian of the Bahour tank, Ayyanar (Image: Seetha Gopalakrishnan, IWP)
No fish in water, fishermen at sea
A film on the decline of traditional, sustainable way of fishing puts forth pertinent questions on the future of the marine life and the fishermen who are dependent on it.
Manu Moudgil
Posted on 29 Sep, 2016 01:24 PM

What makes a good fisherman? His tools like boats and intricate nets, the ability to make deep dives or the tenacity to stand the elements? For most of the fishers, it’s about having a deep understanding of the ecosystem and the wisdom to make it work for them. The fishing community at Palk Bay is a good example for this.
Fishers of Palk Bay out for a catch. Image by: Umeed Mistry
Of broken pots and dreams
With much of Salmora lost to the insatiable Brahmaputra river, the potters of Majuli stand at a crossroad, uncertain how long they can continue their unique craft.
Usha Dewani
Posted on 24 Sep, 2016 11:25 PM

Women in Salmora area of Majuli, the world’s largest riverine island and India’s first island district, practise their traditional form of pottery--the one that does not use a wheel but is hand beaten to shape and uses a viscid kind of clay. As the Brahmaputra eats away huge swathes of land year after year, the clay that these potters use is being taken away by the river. 
Majuli: A hungry river and a succumbing island
Erosion in Majuli, a large island on the Brahmaputra, has left scores of people bereft of livelihoods and hope. While the government has spent crores on anti-erosion measures, it hasn't helped much.
Usha Dewani Das
Posted on 24 Sep, 2016 08:30 PM

Brahmaputra is the highest siltation-carrying river in the world, and controlling erosion is not easy. Because of its characteristics, it does not have a parallel with any other river in the world. Mythologically also, the Brahmaputra has always been a disturbed river, highly meandering, says Gunajeet Kashyap (ACS), Election Officer, Majuli.
A boatman looks at the vast and furious Brahmaputra
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