Water Management

The Purandar lift irrigation scheme in Maharashtra

For the indigenous communities of Tripura, officially recognised as 'tribes,' 'tribal communities,' or 'Scheduled Tribes' under Article 342 of the Indian Constitution, and some specific groups like the Reang tribe classified as 'Primitive Vulnerable Tribal Groups' (PVTG), water holds sacred and spiritual significance.

India is the second-largest cereal exporter globally, making its cereal production vital for both domestic and international food security. Three major states in the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP)—Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal—account for 30% of India's total food production and are considered the food bowl of India.

Field visits are an exciting enterprise, especially as a young student who wishes to understand rural India. But they are also a complicated process of seeing and discerning, trying to figure out what is real and what is not. Hagiographies of local mobilisation are common in such endeavours, which, in some cases, are justified. To give into such tendencies is to pick the easy way out.

In times of crisis and calamity, women have repeatedly been cast, portrayed, and even studied as vulnerable groups, their agency overshadowed by societal perceptions. This characterization extends beyond disasters to encompass human-induced socio-economic upheavals too. While this narrative implies a lack of agency among women, the reality is quite different.

WaterAid India is a non-profit organisation dedicated to transforming lives by improving access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene. The organisation focuses on marginalised and vulnerable communities, striving to ensure that everyone, everywhere, has access to these essential services.

Hailing from Mawtangor village in Meghalaya’s Mawsynram block, Larishisha Pdahsiej has always been keen on supporting her community and being an active participant in the village’s development.

Chennai's reservoirs became empty in the summer of 2019, prompting the government to truck in 10 million litres of water per day.

As I embarked on my agtech and water tour in India, I was surprised to experience such a diverse range of extreme climates in just one month. I travelled from drought-stricken landscapes in North India (early June 2023) to flood-ravaged regions while leaving the country (early July 2023) and encountered uneven weather patterns in between.

The Maralappanahalli community has come a long way since the formation of its Grama Parisara Abhivruddi Samiti in 2017. The livelihood basket of the 40 households here largely comprised agriculture and livestock rearing for the longest time, but the Samiti has been instrumental in helping its people learn about MGNREGS and avail it to support their livelihoods.