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)
A hard look at the strategy of fighting open defecation
Does reducing open defecation have any significant improvement in health outcomes? Sumeet Patil of NEERMAN discusses this in an interview with India Water Portal. Posted on 05 Mar, 2015 10:31 PM

With over 620 million defecating in the open in India, do we need a new approach to curb this practice? The force of habit is such that even households with toilets have around forty percent of adults defecating in the open. But, does curbing open defecation necessarily lead to significant improvements in child health outcomes like diarrhoea, anaemia, parasite infection and growth?

School sanitation at Mysore
Water, science and us
The science behind groundwater isn't well understood but how can this be changed so that people manage their water better? Posted on 02 Mar, 2015 10:11 PM

Groundwater isn't understood very well, especially in hilly areas where springs seem to appear and vanish of their own accord. However, as science tells us, there's no effect without a cause, and understanding the reason why water flows where it does can ensure optimal use of this natural resource to support life and livelihood. 

Testing is one of the components of workshop.
Are there solutions to epidemics from water-borne diseases?
The recent jaundice outbreak in Sambalpur, Odisha has again unfolded several questions related to rise of water-borne diseases in urban areas in India. This film explores these problems. Posted on 02 Mar, 2015 10:06 PM

Between May and December 2014, 17 deaths were registered in Sambalpur due to jaundice but residents say that the death toll due to water-borne diseases is much more than that. In January 2015, the Odisha High Court issued a notice to the state government asking it to furnish details on the steps taken to check the Jaundice outbreak in Sambalpur. 

What is Jaundice?

Polluted water in Sambalpur, Odisha
Budget cuts for Water and Environment Ministry
Policy matters this week Posted on 02 Mar, 2015 09:29 PM

Union Budget 2015-16 reduces funds for Water and Environment Ministry 

Budget allocation and planning
Budget 'asks' for food and nutrition security
With the budget round the corner what are the asks from the standpoint of food sovereignty? A Convention on Budget 2015-16 by the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability looks at these. Posted on 24 Feb, 2015 04:19 PM

Children at an anganwadi centre at Mysore
A way to minimise agricultural problems in India
The concepts of System of Rice Intensification help farmers adopt practices based on their local conditions. Farmers, and an SRI expert in Chhattisgarh, show how it has worked for them. Posted on 24 Feb, 2015 10:10 AM

Muneswar and more than 170 farmers in Ambikapur, Chhattisgarh have no regrets after shifting over from traditional agricultural methods of farming to the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) method. Why would they? Most of them have been overwhelmed by the kind of returns they have got compared to their investments.

SRI beneficiaries in Ambikapur
Small farming needs a budget boost
The asks of the Agriculture sector are many but what all must the budget focus on? A National Convention on Budget 2015-16 by the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability looks at these. Posted on 24 Feb, 2015 10:02 AM

The agriculture sector has been playing a significant role in shaping India’s overall growth trajectory. What promising initiatives should the Budget 2015-16 come up with? Should it extend timely credit facilities to farmers belonging to all the farming categories? Should it extend crop insurance facilities to all farmers and for all crops? 

Farmer in Palamau; Image: VSK, Palamau
Lake Alive: The Puttenahalli Kere Habba 2015
This event in Bangalore brought together children, people, photographers and cartoonists -- all for the love of their lake! Posted on 23 Feb, 2015 09:09 PM
The morning of the Kere Habba on February 21, 2015, saw over 30 volunteers coming in as early as 7 a.m. and setting to work stringing festoons and paper lanterns between trees, sticking event posters, and more. Almost all the decorative items were home made by the children and adults.
Pied kingfishers squabbling for the catch
Water Untouched: A film on Dalits' lack of access
Forming 17% of India's popultion, Dalits still have to depend on the goodwill of dominant castes for many things including access to basics. Why? Posted on 19 Feb, 2015 08:59 AM

“The Dalits of this country get access to water on the goodwill of the dominant caste. Water to untouchables is still miles away,” says Goldy M George, a Dalit activist and an expert on Dalit rights.

A Dalit woman in Ekta Nagar, Raipur
India ranked 12th in mismanaging plastic waste
News this week Posted on 17 Feb, 2015 08:28 PM

8 million tonnes of plastic waste dumped into world's oceans in 2010: Study

Two oceans meeting at Dhanushkodi, Tamil Nadu
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