Voluntary Citizen or Civil Society Sector

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August 11, 2024 Even in the face of daunting challenges like climate change, collective action and community engagement can lead to meaningful change
SeasonWatch tree walk at Rupa Rahul Bajaj Centre for Environment and Art (Image: SeasonWatch)
October 8, 2023 While the current push for legal personhood for rivers is facing obstacles and is stalled, it holds potential as a viable long-term strategy for the preservation of India's rivers
River quality deteriorates as demand for hydropower to support economic growth continues to expand. (Image: Yogendra Singh Negi, Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED)
October 6, 2022 In an effort to inform the general public, especially citizen activists, policymakers, researchers, and students, about the current status of the Vrishabhavathi river, Paani.Earth has created the necessary maps, data, analysis, and information to drive conservation awareness and action around the river.
Vrishabhavathi river (Image Source: Paani.Earth)
October 1, 2021 Community videos as a tool to influence behaviour change and adoption in rural communities
Community videos are produced by farmers themselves and feature local participants and agents from the rural communities themselves (Image: Digital Green)
September 17, 2021 Benefits of well-managed commons on livelihoods
Collective efforts revived the canal structure of Bichhiya dam bringing water to the village (Image: Foundation for Ecological Security)
September 4, 2021 Committed to use the power of all forms of communication to bring about behavioral change and transformation at scale
Villagers participating in shramdaan for making watershed structures (Image: Paani Foundation)
World Culture Festival poses threat to the Yamuna
News this week Posted on 07 Mar, 2016 10:11 PM

Activists oppose Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's World Culture Festival along the Yamuna flood plains

Yamuna river in New Delhi (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Bundelkhand women forge friendships for water
Women are not only responsible for water but they also face the brunt of water scarcity. Watch the video to find out what happens when these women become 'Jal Sahelis' (water friends). Posted on 07 Mar, 2016 03:09 PM

Sirkoo, a 39 year old woman in Bundelkhand, Uttar Pradesh, walked 8 km every day to fetch water. As a woman, it was obviously her responsibility to ensure the household's water availability. This put an additional stress on her already depleted health as well as time--until she decided to tackle the issue head on.

Water Literacy campaign for Jal Sahelis (Source: Parmarth Samaj Sevi Sansthan)
Jharkhand's octogenarian water warrior
Simon Oraon, leading a people’s movement to save water and forests in Ranchi, Jharkhand Posted on 28 Feb, 2016 01:39 PM

It was 1961. Simon Oraon, a Class IV school drop-out began his journey against drought in Bedo, a tribal block of Ranchi, Jharkhand. An idealistic young man, he along with his fellow villagers began constructing earthen dams to capture rainwater for recharging groundwater.

A water body revived at Bedo, Ranchi
Water for Profit: Experiences from America and India
Privatisation of water services has resulted in raised costs, poor quality and unreliable service--not just in India but around the world. The film tells India's and America's story. Posted on 27 Feb, 2016 12:15 PM

In January 2016, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) Employees Union and residents of Nagpur yet again protested the privatisation of water services in the city.

NMC Employees Union and residents of Nagpur protest water privatisation
5 crore people cleanse themselves at the cost of 5000
Ujjain's own labourers, farmers and the Kshipra river will bear the brunt of the onslaught of pilgrims at the upcoming Ujjain Simhastha (Kumbh Mela). Posted on 24 Feb, 2016 09:38 PM

The Ujjain Simhastha (Kumbh Mela) in Madhya Pradesh will begin on April 22, 2016 and go on for a month. The event, held once every 12 years, holds religious significance to Hindus, and throngs of people--approximately 5 crore over the month--take a holy dip in the Kshipra river during this time.

Early morning at Ramghat, Ujjain
4 billion global population affected by severe water scarcity: NASA
News this week Posted on 23 Feb, 2016 12:16 PM

Groundwater levels are reducing all over the world: NASA analysis

A tubewell in Rajasthan (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Floating gardens for the landless
Flood affected areas in coastal Odisha have adopted new ways of farming. Called floating gardens, these have the scope to reduce the food insecurities of the landless poor. Posted on 17 Feb, 2016 09:49 PM

The coastal district of Puri in Odisha is infested with water hyacinth. In 1982, 10 million people and 3 million hectares of agricultural land was affected by floods causing the water hyacinth to increase to such an extent that it has affected the lives and livelihood of communities for almost three decades.

Women working on a floating garden (Source: RCDC)
Saved by tanks: The story of Puducherry’s Bahour commune
While the monster floods of 2015 mercilessly gobbled up villages along the coast of Tamil Nadu, settlements in neighbouring Puducherry managed to escape the fury. Miracle, you say? Posted on 16 Feb, 2016 10:13 AM

The East Coast of India is very much unlike its western counterpart both in terms of physiography and climatology.

The Manapet tank in Bahour has an ayacut of around 110 acres, most of which is now urbanised (Image: Seetha Gopalakrishnan, IWP)
Budget needs to protect food security
Budgetary support needs to be upped for the implementation of the public distribution system entitlements under the National Food Security Act. Posted on 15 Feb, 2016 11:01 AM

With the budget 2016-17 round the corner what are the asks from the standpoint of food security? This year’s budget is being prepared in the wake of many parts of the country being affected by drought resulting in greater distress, hunger and starvation for a large number of people.

Children at an anganwadi centre, Mysore waiting for the mid-day meal
Can Budget 2016-17 breathe life into the public health system?
Budget asks include the upping of health spending, passing new health policies and involving civil society among other things. Posted on 15 Feb, 2016 11:00 AM

Per a report by the Planning Commission, India’s burden of water borne diseases remains grossly underestimated. The improvements in access to drinking water has not been matched by a proportionate decline in deaths and illnesses from waterborne diseases.

Measuring for malnutrition in Madhya Pradesh (Source: Russell Watkins, Wikimedia Commons)
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