Water Management

Forwarded to the portal by IISD
Content and Image Courtesy: International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives

The United Nations Office to Support the International Decade for Action “Water for Life” 2005-2015/UN-Water Decade Programme on Advocacy and Communication (UNW-DPAC) and the UN World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) are pleased to invite you to submit your Best Practice for the 1st edition of the “Water for Life” Best Practices Award.

Transforming Municipal and Industrial Water Landscape

Organizer: Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)

Venue: Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

This paper discusses the reasons for building tanks in ancient India and mentions ancient texts like 'Samarangan Sutradhar' to indicate how wells and other water bodies were constructed.

These water storage systems indicate the knowledge of geology, soil engineering, construction engineering and structural engineering in ancient times.

Guest Post: Text by Amitangshu Acharya, Photographs by Ayan Ghosh

Kachchh – a brilliant halfway between a turmeric yellow Rajasthan and the emerald green Sahyadris – offers an upside down version of life. It tells you that seeds of life and civilisation are often hidden beneath the sands of time in inhospitable terrains.

This advocacy flyer by Arghyam and Peoples Learning Centre (PLC) Shillong highlights some of the main problems, action underway and potential solutions to cleaning up the water bodies of Shillong. It deals with the expanding human habitats and escalating socio-economic activities around the rivers Umkrah and Umshyrpi that flow through Shillong leading to their choking with sewage and pollution. This wastewater eventually enters Lake Umiam, which is a reservoir for hydro-electric power.

PLC is a non-profit organisation that works towards promoting knowledge on equity and rights, and is a platform for facilitating interdisciplinary dialogues between stakeholders in key developmental issues. Arghyam supports PLC in engaging with decision makes as well as citizens in order to create public opinion about river and lake pollution, and promote catchment friendly practices.

This study by Geospatial World attempts to collect and analyse data concerning the catchment characteristics that affect direct runoff such as soil type, land cover and rainfall for the catchment of Lokapavani river in Karnataka using remote sensing and GIS techniques. An attempt has been made to determine the weighted average Curve Number (CN) for different land use, land cover and soil types in Lokapavani catchment in order to estimate the runoff.

This paper presents the results of a survey of WATSAN systems implemented under an Integrated Domestic Water Management (IDWM) project supported by Arghyam and implemented by MYRADA and MYKAPS in Bangarpet and H D Kote blocks of Kolar district of Karnataka. Arghyam has promoted Roof-top Rain Water Harvesting (RRWH) and eco-sanitation systems in its various project areas through its partner organizations.

This project aimed at developing an integrated approach to domestic water management. It focused on construction of RRWH and eco-sanitation toilets in four villages in the project area in Kolar with the aim of creating models of integrated management of domestic water and sanitation in a rural set-up.

Content and Image Courtesy: Stockholm Industry Water Award (SIWA)

The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) is a policy institute whose diverse Stockholm-based, internationally-oriented programmes and activities contribute to finding sustainable solutions to the world’s escalating water crisis. SIWI manages projects, synthesises research and publishes findings and recommendations on current and future water, environment, governance and human development issues.

Forwarded to the portal by: Manshi Asher
Content Courtesy: Himvani
Author: Renuka Bandh Sangharsh Samiti

Despite protest against forced acquisition of land, Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL) and revenue administration today notified Section 9 of the Land Acquisition Act 1894, for approximately 680 big has (about 57 hectares) of land of Panaar Village for the Renuka Dam Project. In a letter to the Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court sent today, activists appealed for a stay on land acquisition for the project, considering the uncertainty surrounding the project.

This paper by the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth deals with access of the poor to water supply and sanitation in India. It argues that economic, technical, institutional as well as social factors constrain access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation in India for both the urban and rural poor, and that coverage figures do not reflect this restricted access. It finds that, increasingly, communities are being required to manage their own water and sanitation schemes, not just in rural areas but in urban ones as well.

The paper deals with domestic water supply and sanitation and presents a historical overview of the phenomenon in rural and urban India. This is followed by a critique of available figures for coverage which, it is contended, seem exaggerated because they do not account for the several constraints to access. It addresses the specific institutional problems faced in the public sector delivery of these two utilities in India apart from dealing with the parallel yet thus far limited presence of the private sector in these twin arenas.