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
One river, two names and a 14-year-long dispute
Goa and Karnataka have been fighting over the Mhadei since 2002. How does this affect the extensive cooperation expected from the states for the interlinking plan?
Chicu Lokgariwar
Posted on 10 Mar, 2016 07:09 PM

The Mandovi river is picture perfect. She is the wide, placid river fringed by the coconut palms and dotted by the boats that we think of when we think of Goa.
The serene Mandovi is the focus of a bitter dispute between Karnataka and Goa
Jharkhand's octogenarian water warrior
Simon Oraon, leading a people’s movement to save water and forests in Ranchi, Jharkhand
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 28 Feb, 2016 01:39 PM

It was 1961. Simon Oraon, a Class IV school drop-out began his journey against drought in Bedo, a tribal block of Ranchi, Jharkhand. An idealistic young man, he along with his fellow villagers began constructing earthen dams to capture rainwater for recharging groundwater.
A water body revived at Bedo, Ranchi
Water for Profit: Experiences from America and India
Privatisation of water services has resulted in raised costs, poor quality and unreliable service--not just in India but around the world. The film tells India's and America's story.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 27 Feb, 2016 12:15 PM

In January 2016, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) Employees Union and residents of Nagpur yet again protested the privatisation of water services in the city.
NMC Employees Union and residents of Nagpur protest water privatisation
5 crore people cleanse themselves at the cost of 5000
Ujjain's own labourers, farmers and the Kshipra river will bear the brunt of the onslaught of pilgrims at the upcoming Ujjain Simhastha (Kumbh Mela).
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 24 Feb, 2016 09:38 PM

The Ujjain Simhastha (Kumbh Mela) in Madhya Pradesh will begin on April 22, 2016 and go on for a month. The event, held once every 12 years, holds religious significance to Hindus, and throngs of people--approximately 5 crore over the month--take a holy dip in the Kshipra river during this time.
Early morning at Ramghat, Ujjain
Preparing for the Ujjain Simhastha Kumbh Mela
How is the MP government going to handle the water, sanitation and solid waste issues at the Mela? Diwakar Natu, Chairman of the Mela Authority talks to India Water Portal.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 24 Feb, 2016 09:37 PM

The Ujjain Simhastha Kumbh Mahaparva is one of the four Kumbha Melas, which is held once in 12 years.
Diwakar Natu, Chairman of Simhastha Fair Authority
Art of killing a river
Manoj Misra speaks on the much neglected area of the Yamuna river and its floodplains and why its mere clean-up is not enough--especially as the World Culture Festival approaches.
Manoj Misra
Posted on 22 Feb, 2016 01:19 PM

Recent permission granted to the Art of Living to hold the World Culture Festival in the Yamuna floodplains points fingers yet again at the fact that not much has been done to assure its safety. The rapid encroachment of the Yamuna floodplain has raised a few questions. Can the river sustain the rampant commercialisation of its floodplains?
NGT had in July 2015 slapped a fine on the Akshardham temple management for carrying out expansion without prior environmental clearance and without examining whether the expanded portion fell on the Yamuna’s floodplains (Source: Ramesh N G, Wikimedia Commons)
Saved by tanks: The story of Puducherry’s Bahour commune
While the monster floods of 2015 mercilessly gobbled up villages along the coast of Tamil Nadu, settlements in neighbouring Puducherry managed to escape the fury. Miracle, you say?
Seetha Gopalakrishnan
Posted on 16 Feb, 2016 10:13 AM

The East Coast of India is very much unlike its western counterpart both in terms of physiography and climatology.
The Manapet tank in Bahour has an ayacut of around 110 acres, most of which is now urbanised (Image: Seetha Gopalakrishnan, IWP)
Landfills galore, our cities choke on their own garbage
Posted on 16 Feb, 2016 08:28 AM
December floods expose Chennai's poorly designed waste management processes
The floods of December 2015 exposed flaws in Chennai's overall town planning and civic infrastructure management, bringing the city's archaic waste management system again to the forefront.
Is traditional wisdom key to combating climate change?
Farmers have been known to observe the movement of ants and butterflies to forecast rainfall. Do such indigenous practices hold the key to addressing climate change issues?
Sujit Sarkar
RN Padaria
K Vijayragavan
Himanshu Pathak
Pramod Kumar & GK Jha
Posted on 15 Feb, 2016 09:55 PM

Erratic rainfall, heavy storms, extreme weather and droughts are some of the major impacts of climate changes. Though it affects everyone, certain sections of society, like indigenous people who live closer to the natural environment, are in fact more vulnerable to these variations.
A woman draws water from a 'taanka' in Rajasthan (Source: Wikipedia)
Budget needs to protect food security
Budgetary support needs to be upped for the implementation of the public distribution system entitlements under the National Food Security Act.
Right to Food Campaign
Posted on 15 Feb, 2016 11:01 AM

With the budget 2016-17 round the corner what are the asks from the standpoint of food security? This year’s budget is being prepared in the wake of many parts of the country being affected by drought resulting in greater distress, hunger and starvation for a large number of people.
Children at an anganwadi centre, Mysore waiting for the mid-day meal
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