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Sustainability
Mining - An increasing threat to our rivers - Article by Nitya Jacob
Posted on 20 Dec, 2010 12:29 AMContent Courtesy: Solution Exchange and Nitya Jacob
Author: Nitya Jacob
India’s arteries are choking. Her rivers, the lifeline of hundreds of millions, are over-taxed, polluted and encroached. They are being mined, dammed and emptied of water. Save for the four monsoon months, most rivers are streams of drains, depending on how many cities they pass through. This year people gaped in awe at the River Yamuna (I am sure they were over-awed by other rivers elsewhere too) as for the first time since 1978 looked like a river and not a drain.
Water poverty in the northeastern hill region of India: Potential alleviation through multiple-use water systems - A report by IWMI
Posted on 20 Dec, 2010 12:07 AMThis study by IWMI maps the household water poverty in a typical remote village of the northeast, understands the causes for such a scenario and reflects on the past efforts. Local water resource-based multiple-use water systems that provide water supply both for household and livestock needs and for small high-value agriculture are understood.
The per capita and per hectare availability of water in India is highest in this region but the societal (both productive and consumptive) water use is less than five per cent of the existing potential. The unutilised and excessive water supplies during the rainy season create a mayhem of devastations almost every year with ravaging floods, landslides, soil erosion and other infrastructural failures and miseries and unrest in large parts.
Mine the gap: Connecting water risks and disclosure in the mining sector – A report by the World Resources Institute
Posted on 17 Dec, 2010 10:43 PMThis paper by the World Resources Institute outlines potential water-related risks facing the mining industry and highlights important gaps in water-related disclosure. The purpose is to provide information, questions, and tools to help the financial community better evaluate water-related risks facing mining companies.
Water management across space and time in India – A working paper by the University of Bonn
Posted on 17 Dec, 2010 10:09 PMThis 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.
The wealth of waste: The economics of wastewater use in agriculture - A report by FAO
Posted on 17 Dec, 2010 07:36 PMThis 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.
Development of an area based Energy Service Company (ESCO) model for solar water heating (SWH) in India
Posted on 17 Dec, 2010 08:05 AMThis report for the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) deals with the development of an area based Energy Service Company (ESCO) model for solar water heating in India. Internationally, Solar Water Heating (SWH) has been identified as one of the most promising decentralized solar applications, having significant potential to reduce electricity consumption and consequent emissions reduction. Several schemes for promotion of solar water heaters have been in operation in the country.
Heavy rainfall, floods and drought affect life, agriculture and economy of the country - News Roundup (8-15 December 2010)
Posted on 17 Dec, 2010 12:22 AMReports over the last week indicate heavy rains and loss of lives and property in the state of Tamil Nadu, which has faced the maximum brunt of the rains followed by Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and some parts of Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh. Reports also indicate that there have been massive losses to agricultural produce due to heavy rains in parts of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and because of droughts in the state of Orissa. At the same time, reports also indicate good news that there has been a rise in the water levels in the country and of attempts being made in different parts of the country to cope with floods and excessive rains in the future.
Rainfall
Tamil Nadu
- Tamil Nadu: The north-east monsoon, 50 per cent in excess in the State, claims over 200 lives and destroys crops and infrastructure
- After the deluge: Chennai has received 71 cm of rain during this year's northeast monsoon, leaving the roads in the Chennai Metropolitan Area in shambles
- The rain-hit north and south Chennai, Tamil Nadu get some respite even as several areas, including Velachery and Taramani, remained under a sheet of water, affecting hundreds of people
- Rain stops, but no end to woes for people from Chennai, Tamil Nadu
- Rain pours non-stop misery in Tamil Nadu
- 2,000 people rescued from low-lying areas along river Tamirabarani, in Kanyakumari district
- Torrential rain kills over 200 in Tamil Nadu
- 70 % excess rainfall in Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu
National Rural Livelihoods Mission – Framework for implementation by Ministry of Rural Development
Posted on 16 Dec, 2010 07:46 PMThis document prepared by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) presents the framework for implementation of National Rural Livelihoods Mission. The key challenge, in India is to ensure that the economic growth is inclusive and leads to significant reduction of rural poverty.
Drought 2009: Overview and management – A report by the Ministry of Agriculture
Posted on 16 Dec, 2010 09:39 AMThis document on the management of drought during 2009 published by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation of the Ministry of Agriculture presents the deficiency and erratic behavior of rainfall, impact of drought, mitigation efforts initiated and their results. During the deficient and erratic rainfall of South-West monsoon 2009, fourteen States declared drought/ drought like situation/ scarcity in 338 districts of the country.
Immediate moratorium sought on clearances for large dams in northeast India - Press release by Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (Assam)
Posted on 14 Dec, 2010 10:56 PM23rd November 2010, New Delhi
- Seeking a moratorium on clearances for large dams in Northeast India
- Withdrawal of clearances granted to 2000 MW Lower Subansiri, 1750 MW Demwe Lower & 1500 MW Tipaimukh dams
- Future steps on hydropower projects and dams only after full, prior and informed consent of people in the region
- Protect the Brahmaputra river basin as a cultural and ecological endowment