Urban Water

This link on the CAG website provides the details of an international conference that was held on 15-16 March 2010, in the backdrop of the environmental audit proposed by the the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, for management and conservation of the environment .

The purpose of this conference was to deliberate on the causes of pollution, action taken by governments and civil society to address this and environmental, management and legal interventions needed to put lakes, rivers and ground water on the path of sustainability.

More than 20 experts on water and water pollution issues were invited to share their views as panelists during the conference. Apart from these distinguished panelists, the heads of supreme audit institutions from countries like Austria, Maldives, Bangladesh and Bhutan were also present to share their experiences regarding audit of water pollution in their countries.

This report by ACWADAM is a synopsis of the hydrogeological study carried out for BIRD-K in Pavagada, Sira and Bagepalli areas of Tumkur District, Karnataka. The study aimed at an impact analysis of recharge through borewells as well as suggesting new sites for the same.

The principle objectives of the study were:

•  Impact analysis of aquifer recharge through borewells done by BIRD-K in Pavagada and Sira Clusters
• Suggest new sites for aquifer recharge through borewells in Bagepalli cluster.

The methodology used a background study of the area through images from Google Earth. A detailed geological fieldwork in the area was carried out. Various structural and hydrogeological measurements were made to map out the aquifer systems within the area. Water levels in borewells and dug wells were measured. The study area included seven watersheds and falls in two clusters namely Pavagada and Sira. Both these clusters are located in the Tumkur district of Karnataka.

This paper by AR Shivakumar of the Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology (KSCST), presented at a national seminar organised by ISRO at NIAS Bangalore in 2010, begins by highlighting the increasing problem of scarcity of water that the city of Bangalore has been experiencing in recent years and suggests a required plan of action for a sustainable water supply system in the city.

Organizer:  Voices from the Waters

Venue:  Era Organic, #348, Dollars Colony, R.M.V Club Double Road. R.M.V. II Stage, Bangalore 560 094

The screening will be followed by an interaction with Film Maker  Ms. Swathi Dandekar.

Floods: lessons to be learnt from the massive flooding in Surat city

A report by IIM criticises the way in which dams are managed in the country and calls for the need to apply Management Science / Operations Research techniques and information technology to improve dam management and prevention of floods

Flood fury: are we ready to face such an event?

This link on the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO) website, presents data related to the status of the urban water, sanitation and solid waste management in India. The data includes information on:

• Status of water supply (physical)
• Status of urban water supply (financial)
• Status of urban sewerage/sanitation system
• Status of low cost sanitation
• Status of solid waste management

Data is included from different states in India namely Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Pondicherry, Sikkim and Tamilnadu respectively.

We see this newsletter as a platform for independent credible voice in the water and sanitation sector. Our emphasis is on bringing together critical news and information with analysis. In this issue we share news and analysis on topical issues and developments.

The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation(DDWS) has simultaneously invited inputs to Discussion Papers on Drinking Water and Sanitation, circulated on Solution Exchange. Inputs given by India WASH Forum, on this, is enclosed in this Update. We have pointed out the missing elements of sanitation improvement strategy that include, criticality of providing water as an inseparable component to household sanitation, the tendency to see behavior change as a lifestyle issue and not linked to the hardware components, peoples livelihoods and living conditions. Suggestions for what needs to be done to strengthen the implementation mechanism of the flagship sanitation programme(TSC) and partnerships.

This paper discusses the relevance of the process of decentralisation in water resources management. The paper argues that decentralisation is not about formulating a top-down reform package to transfer power from central government to other actors to manage water resources, nor is it about emphasising the existence of the bottom up agency.

Rather, the paper draws on "New Institutionalism" and argues that decentralisation is a complex adaptive process that involves natural as well as political actions of actors and agents who draw on existing structures to negotiate and renegotiate the existing unequal power relations to manage water.

The report presents the evaluation of water supply system of Kakinada town in Andhra Pradesh. The neglect of hydrology of a region, while undertaking planning and development works in an urban environment, has serious consequences, the most notable being non-availability of enough potable drinking water to citizens. Water budget studies can be undertaken with all the available records to improve the functioning of such systems and to identify additional alternate resources.