Sustainability

Organizers: Indian Chamber of Commerce

Venue: Hotel Hyatt Regency, New Delhi

Kashmir was originally home to an elaborate network of farmer owned and managed canal based irrigation systems. Gradually, with the increase in planned development, several irrigation canals were taken under the control of the irrigation department. This paper compares the management of irrigation systems by farmers and government. 

This article in Marathi from the magazine Anubhav titled 'Thembe thembe samruddhi' meaning 'Prosperity with every drop' highlights the situation of acute scarcity of water in the state of Maharashtra and argues that this has been a barrier to the progress of the state leading to dire poverty and deprivation. 

This workshop organised by the DHAN Foundation in the Gingee Town Panchayat (GTP) in Tamil Nadu on the 18th of November 2011, aimed at initiating a scientific study titled “Strategy for increasing per capita availability of water for Gingee town, Tamilnadu". Elected representatives of the town panchayat along with the general public and government officials participated in this workshop.

Guest Post: Nitin Rai, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)

Drawing upon his experience working with the Soligas who live within the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary, Nitin Rai talks about the ‘wilderness’ myth and explores the origins and impacts of the belief that people and animals cannot co-exist. 

The camera wanders through the states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra and records the profound traditional science of the people. “Harvest of Rain” analyses a wide variety of water harvesting systems as a function of differing ecological terrains

Content and Media Courtesy: International Union for Conservation of Nature

This 116,500 hectare brackish lagoon separated from the Bay of Bengal by a long sandy ridge was added to the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance in 1981.This was because the lagoon was facing serious degradation due to siltation and choking of the seawater inlet channel, resulting in the proliferation of invasive freshwater species, the decrease in fish productivity, and an overall loss of biodiversity [1].

Content and photo courtesy: Environment Support Group  

On the contentious policy relating to privatization of lakes, the Justice N K Patil Committee appointed by the Karnataka High Court has recommended that private sector participation solely based on commercial interest is not desirable.

In a significant development, the Committee appointed under the Chairmanship of Justice Mr. N. K. Patil, Judge of the Karnataka High Court and Chairman High Court Legal Services Committee, in response to the Public Interest Litigation by Environment Support Group challenging the privatisation of management and rehabilitation of lakes in Bangalore (WP 817/2008), has strongly recommended that ““private sector participation solely based on consequential commercial interest” is not a desirable model” (Emphasis in original).

This document  by the Central Pollution and Control Board (CPCB) describes the findings of a study that evaluated water treatment plants located across the country, for prevailing raw water quality, water treatment technologies, operational practices, chemical consumptio

The workshop was hosted by Government of Kerala and the Water and Sanitation Program, South Asia with the Government of India, The World Bank Institute and the World Bank was held at Cochin, Kerala from December 7th to December 8th, 1999.