Voluntary Citizen or Civil Society Sector

Numerous small villages dot the Himalayas. These villages obtain water from springs that are in their turn supplied by small aquifers. Due to the complex folded nature of the rocks that make up the mountains, the area from which these aquifers receive their water may be at some distance away from the actual spring.

Can a mobile or an internet connection improve the visibility and prospects of an organization? Will it help create exposure and result in further outreach?

Dilip from Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, has finally rid himself of the itchy, black spots on his skin that bothered him for many years. How did he do it? He cleaned a dug well in his village! Seems a little disconnected, doesn't it? Dilip also failed to see this connection and did not realize that the water he drank was silently causing his own body to turn against him.

Clear blue skies, natural springs and glacial peaks-tranquility. Falling stones, landslides and debris-chaos! Kinnaur, located on  the northeastern side of Himachal Pradesh, lets you experience both. It falls in seismic zones IV and V, which means it runs the the risk of damaging and destructive earthquakes.

Manipal University has a well-thought out, multi-pronged approach towards reducing its environmental footprint. This includes a comprehensive waste management policy and a programme to reduce energy consumption.

Pastoralist communities are those that depend primarily on livestock (domesticated animals in an agricultural setting) for their living. India has the world’s highest livestock population with 440 million livestock heads distributed over 100 million households (1) but in recent years, pastoralists have been facing threats to their way of life.

The 200 odd residents of Didakhedi, a sleepy village just 13 kms from Sehore town in Madhya Pradesh, never had adequate water. Two decades ago, most of the farming in the village was done during the monsoons. The village had no electricity and a lone diesel pump operated the shallow dug wells to irrigate some lands during the winter.

 Every year, we have about 76 disasters in the Himalayas, some 36,000 people are killed and over a million affected by disasters. The loss of life and damage does not need to occur. How people manage the situation can relieve the situation much better.

About a third of these disasters are from floods. In the Himalaya, there are two broad kinds of flooding:

Can we really address the special needs of mountain states by allocating them more money? Isn't it essential that we leave the 'one size fits all' approach and recognise the exclusive challenges and opportunities which mountain farmers face as compared to farmers in the plains?