Voluntary Citizen or Civil Society Sector

Guest post by Ann Feldman

Greetings everyone!

I have so much wonderful news to share with you that I don't know where to begin!  In some way, over the past 20 years, you have been involved with nonprofit artistic circles and our social media projects.  Our current project is the Water Pressures video documentary and educational exchange between India and the U.S.

This website describes the principles and techniques of self-financing, ecological, sustainable local  integrated development projects for the world's poor in detail. In each project area with about 50.000 people social, financial, productive and services are set up in a critical order of sequence to ensure a good quality of life everyone, without exclusion, in each project area. The Model gives full coverage to drinking water structures, rain-water harvesting and recycling of grey water for household level cultivation.

Take your leadership to the next level

This presentation describes the work of WaterAid and Haritika in organising drinking water security through Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) approaches, in Dhasan river sub-basin (part of Bharar river basin), Nowgon block, Chattarpur district of Madhya Pradesh.

Due to emphasis on Environmental Education, the subject is being taught at all levels of education.  It is indeed pleasure to see technology students of all branches are being taught with the subject in first year.  The Environmental issues and law varies from country to country and is unique to India.  Understanding the issues does need lot of research and study ma

A one-day “Action plan workshop for the rejuvenation and sustenance of Arkavathi river basin”, was organised on 25th July 2009, by the Global Academy of Technology and Geological Society of India at Bangalore, to discuss the future of the dying Arkavathi river and Bangalore's precarious water situation, and to develop concurrent implementable action plans to address the problem. The Arkavathi is a tributary of the river Kaveri, originating in Nandi Hills in Chikkaballapur district, that provides about 20% of the total water requirements of Bangalore, with Kaveri providing the remaining 80%.

The satellite township of Navi Mumbai, with a total area of 344 km², was developed in 1972 by CIDCO (City and Industrial Development Corporation) to de-congest the city of Mumbai. Initially a marshy land interspersed with villages, Navi Mumbai has been developed into a planned township, with much of its marshes and freshwater wetlands being converted into urban infrastructure.

Navi Mumbai is a rapidly developing twin city. In the course of development, it was realized that more emphasis needs to be given towards the preservation and sustainable management of the freshwater wetlands it harbours. Given the vulnerability of these wetlands and their resource potential, there is an urgent need to develop a framework for sustainable use of freshwater wetlands. This requires efficient management systems and development of sustainable models, which would help maintain the natural characteristics of wetlands while also exploiting its potential to meet the socio-economic and recreational needs of communities. To tackle this important aspect, TERI conceptualized a pilot project with active support of CIDCO in October 2008. The Khandeshwar Lake was chosen as a model to demonstrate the feasibility as a ‘sustainable wetland’.

The attached presentation is an update on the work taken up and impact achieved since the start of the project, and includes details from the World Wetlands Day celebration organised on 2 February 2010. Details of TERI's wetland management program are here.

This case study is about Samerth's efforts to achieve drinking water security, in participation with local village communities in Rapar, Kachchh (Gujarat). Arghyam has been collaborating with Samerth on this effort since 2007.

The Vand Women of Kachchh: Guest post by Keya Acharya

She gazes unflinchingly with direct eyes into the camera with a feminine mystique and physique that could, be gracing the front cover of a beauty magazine. Her red, mirror-worked blouse, in the traditional Kachchhi style worn by tribal women, is strapped at the back in stringed bows, greatly practical in the dry, wilting heat of that arid expanse of land in hinterland Gujarat called Kachchh. Her skirt is a colourful hue of printed green, and her ‘dupatta’ is a blazing red piece of cloth swept forward from her waist, partially covering her back, brought over her head and tucked back demurely into her waist again. Her name is Ammi.

This case study is about Samerth's efforts to achieve drinking water security, in participation with local village communities in Rapar, Kachchh (Gujarat). Arghyam has been collaborating with Samerth on this effort since 2007.

The Best Part of the Story: Guest post by Keya Acharya

The landscape is barren in parts with just high heat and sun-bleached sand, the hallmarks of wastelands; in other parts there is some semblance of agriculture, with jowar, bajra and sometimes castor growing in small patches of mild green, without the lushness that good watering provides.

And in the middle of this landscape there appears, like an oasis without the accompanying palms, the ‘Tinnavahd talab’, a drinking water pond constructed by the community at Rabarkar vand, near Lakhagarh village in Rapar taluk of Kutch district. Inside the pond there is a dugwell, constructed on the pond bed.

Ground Report India

I recall the day two months before, when I had the opportunity to attend a seminar at the outskirt of Delhi. The hot topics, to be bothered and discussed in the gathering was: “Pollution of River Ganga & its Control and Preservation” (i.e. Ganga ka Pradushan … Ganga Bachao”).

And so, so early reached at the venue ignoring the shivering cold weather. However, it happened so, probably due to the chilly cold situations, that VIPs- honourable guests and invited respected audience reached one by one…. at last to conclude it to be ‘a late affair’!