Storage and Supply

This working paper by the University of Bonn attempts to give a spatial and temporal overview of water management in India. It traces how people and the successive regimes made choices across space and time from a wide range of water control and distribution technologies. The paper divides the water management in India into four periods –

• the traditional system of water management before colonial times;
• response from the colonial rulers to manage the complex socio-ecological system;
• large scale surface water development after independence; and
• finally, the small-scale community and market-led revolution.

This report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) deals with the economics of wastewater use in agriculture. It presents an economic framework for the assessment of the use of reclaimed water in agriculture, as part of a comprehensive planning process in water resource allocation strategies to provide for a more economically efficient and sustainable water utilization. 

This work on water footprint assessments represents a pioneering effort on documenting the water consumption in Jain Irrigation Systems Limited’s (JISL) production of dehydrated onions and of micro-irrigation systems. It also assesses the sustainability of this water consumption and formulate response strategies. 

This report of the Working Group to advise Water Quality Assessment Authority (WQAA) on the minimum flows in the rivers outlines the principles behind environmental flow assessments, provides a description of methods that have been used to assist with such assessments, and highlights the features that will increase the chance of successful implementation of environmental flows. 

Ecological Sanitation is a new approaching sanitation where there is minimal water use and where human waste can be used as fertilizer. It is a truly sustainable approach.

Article and Image Courtesy: Everything About Water

The November edition of Droplets e-newsletter published by the Everything About Water had the following highlights:

• India: The country facing a water deficit of 50% by 2030
• India: New national water policy in pipeline
• Rajasthan: Rs. 149.59 crore plant to clean river waters
• Madhya Pradesh: State to sign 6 MoUs for water projects
• Tamil Nadu: Habitat for Humanity brings clean drinking water
• Mumbai: MMRDA plans Rs. 1200 crore water conveyance system plan

Sanitation/Wastewater

• India tops the list of nations lacking toilets
• India hunts for a Rural Toilet Design, 1000 Euros up for grabs
• 82% of rural India deprived of three basic necessities of life — tapped drinking water, electricity connection and sanitation
• There are 700 million cell phone connections in India, but only half this number of Indians have access to private toilets, says a UN study

This is a status report of Arghyam's sponsored efforts to develop and showcase community managed water and sanitation systems in 17 schools of 7 districts of Karnataka.

The Government of Karnataka through its Suvarna Jala Yojana aims at providing drinking water in 23,683 rural government schools. This was funded to the tune of Rs 7735 lakh. Arghyam conducted a survey of this scheme in 2007 in 7 districts to ascertain the status of the scheme.  The survey found out that out of the 1269 rainwater harvesting structures completed by November 2006 only 140 structures were  functional.

As part of the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC), the Ministry of Rural Development under the Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission and UNICEF have brought out a compedium that details the various sanitation technologies available to above and below poverty line households .

The authors have divided the report into three subjects - the first being the need for household sanitation and the extent of the problem in rural India. The second section looks at sanitation technology in general with a focus on rural areas and technologies for different conditions. The third part deals with operation and maintenance of  such technologies  and  includes a chapter on components of a toilet.

This study by the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO) assesses the status of water supply, sanitation and solid waste management in selected 300 cities and towns of India including all metropolitan cities and selected Class I and Class II urban centres. It estimates the requirement of funds for full coverage of population by these services in the urban areas of the country from 1999 to 2022 (at five yearly intervals). Overall, the study confirms the normal notion that the metropolitan cities are better provided for than the other size class of urban centres.