Society, Culture, Religion and History

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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
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.
Dinesh Mishra
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.
Amita Bhaduri
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)
For the community, led by the community: CLTS experiments in Bihar
Posted on 21 Jul, 2015 08:37 PM

The Swachh Bharat Mission’s baseline survey report of 2012 named Odisha and Bihar as the states having the worst sanitation figures in the entire nation. While 88% of households in Odisha had no toilets, the figure stood at 78% for the state of Bihar.
The sacred springs of Sikkim
Devithans are shrouded in rituals and myths but serve as an important institution to preserve springs. While religious sentiments sometimes get in the way, development around them continues.
Usha Dewani Das
Posted on 16 Jul, 2015 09:31 AM

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase". - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Devithan at Kolbung village, Namthang
What are the odds of a dam burst?
The recent earthquake in Nepal has pointed fingers yet again at the much neglected area of dam safety. Will that push India to put in place a comprehensive law that addresses this?
Latha Anantha
Posted on 11 Jul, 2015 10:48 AM

One of history’s worst dam bursts took place in Gujarat in 1979 when the four-kilometer long Machhu Dam II on the Machhu River collapsed. This led to a deluge in the industrial city of Morbi located five kilometers downstream as well as surrounding rural areas destroying thousands of homes and lives. While this was a tragedy, it was by no means an isolated one.
Sardar Sarovar Dam (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Living rivers, dying rivers: Ganga and the river systems of Bihar
The first lecture was on the Ganges by Rama Rauta and K C Sivaramakrishnan, and the third on the river systems of Bihar--Kosi and Bagmati--by Dr. Dinesh Mishra.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 10 Jul, 2015 11:11 AM

Introduction: The Ganges

The first discussion was on June 4 2011, in which Rama Rauta and K C Sivaramakrishnan shared their experiences of working with the government and people’s organisations to save the Ganga.
Kosi river, Bihar (Source:Wikipedia)
WHO & UNICEF Report ranks India worst in eradicating open defecation
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 07 Jul, 2015 11:15 PM

India's poor sanitation facilities have a direct correlation with stunting in children
A defunt toilet in a tribal village in Odisha (Source: Vishwanath Srikantaiah)
Why use a refrigerator to store water when you can use a clay pot?
Decreasing demand in India for earthen pots to store drinking water has affected thousands of potters' livelihoods. The film 'Vanishing Potters' provides a closer look.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 04 Jul, 2015 10:06 PM

What's not to like about clay pots? "They cool water naturally due to the tiny air pores present in them, are affordable, save energy and are eco-friendly when compared to refrigerators", says Gautam Bandhopadhaya, a water expert in Chhattisgarh.
A potter making a clay pot in Jevra Sirsa village in Durg district
Do more toilets mean a 'Swachh Bharat'? These 6 graphs tell it all.
How many toilets have been built? Which state leads the pack? Which type of toilet is most popular? All of this and more in our visual analysis of Census 'toilet' data.
Sabita Kaushal
Posted on 01 Jul, 2015 10:35 PM

Every 10 years, the government gears up to capture colossal amounts of data through its Census.
What does the increase in toilet numbers really mean?
Enter ‘leg first’ in water-bound Kangra Fort
Also known as Nagarkot and Kot Kangra, this fort in Himachal Pradesh barely survived the deadly earthquake of 1905. It's broken stones still whisper stories of its water-rich heritage.
Sabita Kaushal
Posted on 25 Jun, 2015 11:41 AM

"Kangra Fort was so well guarded that it was safer to enter ‘leg first’", says the present scion of the erstwhile Katoch family ( Kat means sword,

Ruins of the Kangra fort whisper the story of a bygone era
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