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Surface Water
Ancient water and soil conservation ecosystems of Sri Lanka – Some aspects - Paper presented at the National Seminar on Water and Culture (2007)
Posted on 31 Jan, 2011 02:57 AMThis paper presents the ancient water and soil conservation eco-systems of Sri Lanka, based on ancient texts and their modern interpretations, and highlights the use of these water systems in ancient Sri Lanka and their present condition.
Suranga: A sustainable water resource - Paper presented at the National Seminar on Water and Culture (2007)
Posted on 30 Jan, 2011 02:18 PMThis paper explores Surangas, which are an ancient water system based on tunnels bored horizontally on the slopes of hills to get drinking water. These structures are mainly found in the laterite soils of Dakshina Kannada region and some parts of Kerala and Goa.
Preservation of Mysore urban water bodies - Paper presented at the National Seminar on Water and Culture (2007)
Posted on 30 Jan, 2011 04:00 AMThis paper presents the status of lakes in Mysore. It gives emphasis to the Socio-Economic Natural Complex - Lake Ecosystems (SENCLE) model of lake preservation and management which includes socio-technical aspects of lake care.
Glimpses of the historical water bodies in the Vijaynagar dynasty - Paper presented at the National Seminar on Water and Culture (2007)
Posted on 30 Jan, 2011 03:44 AMThis paper uses secondary data to showcase the water bodies that were built in the Vijayanagar Empire. The author states that there were 88 such water bodies and these were used for irrigation purposes and also for consumption.
The need for creating a River Act - Anupam Saraph
Posted on 28 Jan, 2011 06:30 PMRivers, streams and lakes are the vital link in the water cycle that ensure that life as we know it can continue to flourish on earth. Unfortunately, as Dr Rajendra Singh points out, there is no river in India that has been spared from encroachment and pollution. The massive Ganga Action Plan has failed to clean the Ganges.
We are not doing a true cost-benefit analysis of hydropower dams in India - Interview with Dr. Bharat Jhunjhunwala
Posted on 28 Jan, 2011 05:46 PM Dr. Bharat Jhunjhunwala, past faculty at IIM, Bangalore, holds a doctorate in Economics. He has been working persistently on economic impacts of hydropower dams, applying the concepts of environmental economics to arrive at some interesting results.
His latest book, ‘Economics of River Flows: Lessons from Dam Removals from America’ analyses dam decommissioning examples from the United States and raises some pertinent questions about costs benefit analysis of dams in India. His earlier book, ‘Economics of Hydropower’ raised questions about economic efficiency, viability and sustainability of Hydropower Dams in India.
Parineeta Dandekar, IWP, talks with him on some of these issues.
Dr. Bharat Jhunjhunwala can be contacted at: bharatjj@gmail.com
Regenerating natural resources and rural livelihoods in rainfed areas of India: A civil society consultation by WASSAN to discuss priorities for the twelfth five year plan
Posted on 26 Jan, 2011 09:13 PMA civil society consultation was held on “Regenerating natural resources and rural livelihoods in rainfed areas of India” by WASSAN at Hyderabad in December 2010 to discuss priorities for the twelfth five year plan. The Planning Commission, Government of India has been steering the process of development in India by conceptualizing five year plans and had sought inputs from civil society organizations, activists groups, networks of CBOs / NGOs, donors and others for preparing an approach paper for twelfth plan.
The objective of the consultation workshop was to contribute to the process of defining broad contours of twelfth plan with a focus on rural livelihoods the thrust area being policy framework, funding support, institutional arrangements etc., by -
- Consolidating the lessons from good practices in promoting and protecting rural livelihoods in the country, that could be integrated in twelfth five year plan.
- Systematically articulating issues and concerns (bottlenecks) in promoting and protecting rural livelihoods, which could be addressed in the twelfth five year plan.
Towards adopting nanotechnology in irrigation: Micro irrigation systems
Posted on 21 Jan, 2011 07:36 PMIndia is predominantly an agricultural country and even with current orientation towards services, still agriculture contributes ¼th of total GDP of the country, 15 percent of total export and 65 % of total population’s livelihood.
Sustainable water management initiatives in Konkan under threat - A report
Posted on 21 Jan, 2011 02:09 PMGuest Post by: Parineeta Dandekar
At the first sight, Daarche Paani (‘water at the doors’) appears unreal.. on a small flat plateau called ‘Sadaa’ in konkan, an elegant cobbled walkway leads a puzzled visitor to stairs carved in stone, which go down to an ancient grove, and here is an intricate system of tanks, channels and falls which supplies water to the Panderi village and goes down as a free flowing stream, to irrigate a plantation of arecanut, pepper and mangoes in a village called Gudaghe. When I visited the place, I could see three eminent visitors, a silent lady washing her load of clothes, a fairy bluebird splashing at a tank and a huge moonmoth in one of the trees.
Stone walkway and ancient mango trees leading to Daarche Paani.
Photo: Parineeta Dandekar