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
Mahila Milan's toilets stand out in Wadala
Posted on 07 Jun, 2016 09:27 AM
Mahila Milan collective seeks to ensure proper housing and sanitation in Mumbai slums
Leaders of Mahila Milan collective in Mumbai understand the importance good sanitation and have taken it upon themselves to ensure that women in slums have a hy
Business interests and environmental crisis: A book review
While the environmental crisis threatens to impact the ecology and livelihoods in India, business interests take over sustainable solutions.
Kanchi Kohli and Manju Menon
Posted on 05 Jun, 2016 07:03 AM

A number of Asian countries are going through environmental crisis. Nowhere is the impact felt so seriously than in India, where the crisis threatens to affect survival. It is also impacting biodiversity, ecology and livelihoods. In this context, it becomes important to understand how nature and the current environmental crisis are being addressed in policy discourses.
Business profits and the environmental crisis (Source: India Water Portal)
Kolkata's ponds on shaky ground
About 44 percent of Kolkata city's ponds have disappeared in the last two decades. The importance of preserving these water bodies that serve as a lifeline for people cannot be overemphasised.
Usha Dewani
Posted on 01 Jun, 2016 09:38 PM

Urban water bodies have an important role in the urban ecology. It is not just a source or water collected somewhere but is an integral part of life--a haven for different types of trees, insects, birds and small animals.
College Square tank or Gol Dighi, one of the very old ponds in Kolkata
Young professionals lead the way in water and sanitation
A fellowship placed young people in villages for a year, implementing good water & sanitation practices.
Priya Desai
Posted on 31 May, 2016 12:22 PM

Open drainHirehandigola village in Gadag district of North Karnataka is an unsurprising picture of rural India.
Hirehandigola village, North Karnataka
Breaking the silence: World Menstrual Hygiene Day
Posted on 30 May, 2016 08:43 PM
World Menstrual Hygiene Day - May 28
Aimed at breaking myths and taboos surrounding menstruation, May 28 is celebrated as Menstrual Hygiene Day across the world.
‘Bharat Mata’ weeps in dry Marathwada
Women reel under the dual onslaught of unprecedented drought and failed public policy in Marathwada. The government must wake up to this reality.
Seema Kulkarni
Posted on 30 May, 2016 09:25 AM

The image of a woman walking for miles with a pot of water on her head, another pot in one arm and a frail child clutching on to the other arm does not surprise anyone in Marathwada.
Women wait for water in Latur (Source: Roshan Rathod)
Towards a trash-free period
Posted on 27 May, 2016 08:11 PM
For centuries, women have fashioned receptacles from locally available absorbants to soak up menstrual discharge. Softened papyrus was used by women in ancient Egypt, while in other parts, materials like wool, paper, vegetable fiber, grass, animal skin, and moss were used to create makeshift tampons and pads [1].
Breaching barriers towards better menstrual hygiene
Efforts have been on to spread the message of menstrual hygiene. But we are not even half way into achieving it fully
Seetha Gopalakrishnan
Posted on 27 May, 2016 04:06 PM

The female menstrual cycle is the intricate work of hormones. Usually, girls start their cycle anywhere between 12 and 17 years of age when a series of changes prepare their uterus for child-bearing. The body produces the hormone oestrogen which stimulates the growth of a protective lining inside the uterus to cushion the baby in preparation of pregnancy every month.
An IWP fellow talks to girls about menstrual hygiene at the Nirmal Bharat Yatra in Gorakhpur
Changing seasons and diarrhoeal diseases
This study in urban and rural areas of Vellore, Tamil Nadu found that seasonal fluctuations had an effect on water quality and diarrhoeal disease risk.
Alexandra V. Kulinkina et al
Posted on 19 May, 2016 09:07 AM

Access to safe drinking water and diarrhoeal diseases in India
Water quality, seasonality and diarrhoeal diseases (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Collateral damage: Buffalo herders and privatisation of water
Livestock herders are the unreported victims of unpredictable rainfall, denied access to existing sources of water, and xenophobia. India Water Portal speaks to one such set of refugees.
Chicu Lokgariwar
Posted on 17 May, 2016 11:23 AM

Kishan Yadav has a lot in common with the popular flute-playing god whose namesake he is. They share a name, a caste, a profession, and the land they live on.
Buffaloes huddle in the meagre shade offered by roadside trees in their search for water
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