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
Water treated royally in Mandu's Jahaz Mahal (Ship Palace)
It was not enough for the Mughals to just harvest rainwater but the structure needed to form a lilting backdrop to life in their palaces as exemplified by the Jahaz Mahal. What can we learn from it? Posted on 12 Aug, 2015 07:56 PM

Ghiyas-ud-din-khilji is a man about whom history is confused. Contemporary records speak of 'a lover of peace, particular in his daily prayers'.

An intricate set of curlicues set in the floor leads rainwater from the roofs to a tank in Jahaz Mahal, Mandu
The nonexistent bridge in Punjab
At Punjab's Mand island, not many children go to school and pregnant women deliver at the river bank -- all because there is no bridge connecting it to the mainland. Posted on 10 Aug, 2015 12:14 PM

Bakshish Singh once had 13 acres of farmland; now he only has one. He lost the rest in 2013 when the Beas river changed its course and started flowing near his house. Bakshish lives at Rampur Gaura village in Kapurthala district of Punjab, the state generally known for good roads, urbanised villages and wealthy farmers.

The only connection of the island with mainland is through a pontoon bridge which the Public Works Department removes as the water level rises during monsoon.
The menses monologues: Of dignity, awareness and acceptance
Posted on 08 Aug, 2015 01:43 AM

India’s communal fabric is one characterized by immense diversity of practices and belief systems. Local history, environment and culture sculp the way people behave, both as individuals as well as a community as a whole.

From abandonment to water abundance: Is it possible?
People know that water is crucial, and yet apathy abounds. Dr. Indira Khurana talks candidly on the issues concerning water and how this precious resource can be better managed. Posted on 06 Aug, 2015 05:39 PM

Dr.

The earth is water rich, but water is still scarce (Source:India Water Portal)
India set to become water scarce in 10 years
News this week Posted on 04 Aug, 2015 10:20 PM

India set to become water scarce in 10 years time: Govt tells Parliament

Water scarcity: A reality in 2025? (Source: Wikipedia)
Shivaji and Sardar Vallabhai Patel: Bigger than their proposed statues
Two statues of two great leaders are to be built inside the Narmada river and the Arabian sea. While we know how much they will cost the exchequer, how much will they cost the environment? Posted on 31 Jul, 2015 09:05 AM

What do these two iconic figures -- Shivaji, the great Maratha leader and Sardar Vallabhai Patel, the ‘Iron Man of India’ -- have most in common? While one might think that it was their fight for the freedom of their motherland, albeit at different times, that is not all.

Shivaji & Sardar Patel to be immortalised as statues (Source: Wikipedia & www.statueofunity.in)
Water and the Missile Man
What did the late president Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam's think about water conservation, interlinking of rivers and the future of a world without water? Read on. Posted on 28 Jul, 2015 01:32 PM

Dr. Kalam is no more but he lives on in the hearts of many through his quotes, beliefs, speeches and his acclaimed book India 2020: A Vision for the New Millenium among many others. 

The late APJ Abdul Kalam at the International Book Fair, Trivandrum, 2014
Do not rush through with TSR committee's proposals on green laws: Parliamentary Panel
Policy matters this week Posted on 28 Jul, 2015 08:55 AM

Panel suggests that the Govt not rush through with changes in green laws

Ufrenkhal forest that gives water to Gad Ganga
Flawed embankment strategy converts Bihar into a watery grave
The engineering solutions put in place to tackle the issue of floods has created more problems than solutions in Bihar, says Dinesh Mishra in an interview. Posted on 27 Jul, 2015 02:31 PM

Dr. Dinesh Kumar Mishra of Barh Mukti Abhiyaan, an authority on the river network of North Bihar speaks to India Water Portal about the flood problems, the skewed flood control policy of the Government, the Kosi breach of 2008 and the gargantuan interlinking of rivers project.

Floods in Bihar (Source: Usha Dewani, IWP)
Hindon clean-up, a prerequisite to cleaning the Ganga
The pollution rates of the river Hindon are alarming. Despite work by conservation groups, the efforts on the part of the government to fix the problem remain uncertain. Posted on 22 Jul, 2015 11:17 AM

Come monsoon and the situation in the Hindon river is truly troubling. Large stretches of the river continue to suffer toxic contamination.

The polluted Hindon (Source: Hindi Water Portal)
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