Aarti Kelkar Khambete

India faces superbugs

Superbugs can not only render antibiotics useless but lead to prolonged suffering and death in humans. Focus on better sanitation and public awareness is the need of the hour. Aarti Kelkar Khambete posted 6 years 7 months ago

Highly polluted rivers such as the Yamuna can breed superbugs. (Source: IWP Flickr Photo)

Toilet use in Uttarakhand: A mountainous issue

A study from remote villages in rural Uttarakhand finds that toilet use is influenced by geography, accessibility, availability of infrastructure and occupation of villagers. Aarti Kelkar Khambete posted 6 years 7 months ago

Tanks and canals form the water supply system in a remote Uttarakhand village. (Image source: Chicu Lokgariwar)

Drinking water: Access does not mean safety

A study from rural Maharashtra finds piped water supply does not guarantee safe drinking water. Water treatment, storage and WASH practices influence water quality. Aarti Kelkar Khambete posted 6 years 8 months ago

Better drinking water access does not always mean that the water is safe to drink. (Image source: India Water Portal)

Bee in safe hands

Amit Godse is on a quest to save bees by relocating them and motivating people to keep bees for honey in their gardens. Aarti Kelkar Khambete posted 6 years 8 months ago

Amit with a bee box installed in a garden at a house in Pune. (Image source: Amit Godse)

Romancing the Ganga

The Ganga has now been transformed into a water machine with millions of tube wells and canals sucking its waters at frightening rates. What are its implications? Aarti Kelkar Khambete posted 6 years 9 months ago

The Ganga (Image source: Anthony Acciavatti)

Threatened by urbanisation, doomed by restoration

It is not just mindless urbanisation, but flawed restoration efforts by authorities too are responsible for the gradual deterioration of Pashan lake in Pune. Aarti Kelkar Khambete posted 6 years 9 months ago

Pashan lake cries for help. (Image Source: Dharmaraj Patil)

Tackling encephalitis: The sanitation connect

Recent encephalitis deaths in Gorakhpur put the spotlight back on the disease and the importance of better sanitation as a preventive measure. Aarti Kelkar Khambete posted 6 years 10 months ago

Sanitation plays an important part in preventing encephalitis. (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

What do rural women say about sanitation?

Women, who need safe sanitation the most, are often left out of crucial sanitation-related decisions at households, a study says. Aarti Kelkar Khambete posted 6 years 11 months ago

Women and their unvoiced sanitation needs. (Women in Deogarh morning, Orissa, India. Source: Simon Williams / Ekta Parishad)

What ails Indian farmers

A study finds faulty agricultural policies and practices and not just indebtedness to blame for rising suicides among farmers. Aarti Kelkar Khambete posted 6 years 11 months ago

Loans are not the only reason for farmers' distress. (Source: India Water Portal)

What we should know about National Water Commission

Mihir Shah Committee report suggests restructuring CWC and CGWB and setting up an apex body for water management. Experts, while welcoming the idea, raise some concerns. Aarti Kelkar Khambete posted 7 years ago

Restructuring water governance. (Source: India Water Portal)

Ken-Betwa river link approved

Policy matters this week Aarti Kelkar Khambete posted 7 years 1 month ago

Ken-Betwa river link shown on a map. (Source: Shannon via Wikipedia)

Nainital lake drying up, human activities to blame

News this week Aarti Kelkar Khambete posted 7 years 1 month ago

A view of the Nainital lake. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Their will, their way

Pune citizens come together to save their water resources, show ways to use water sustainably. Aarti Kelkar Khambete posted 7 years 1 month ago

Dr Vishram Rajhans and Mr Ravindra Sinha

Well, as unique as this

A stepwell in Maharashtra stands for the spectacular architecture of a time when the importance of water conservation was acknowledged and water was stored and used with ingenuity. Aarti Kelkar Khambete posted 7 years 3 months ago

A view of the stepwell. (Source: India Water Portal)

Can Sewri get back in the pink?

Sewri wetland is known for many winged visitors including flamingos that come for blue green algae annually. It is under threat, thanks to rapid urbanisation. Aarti Kelkar Khambete posted 7 years 3 months ago

The pink guests of Sewri. (Source: India Water Portal)

What's conservation without local hand?

A study from the Sundarbans shows that conserving biodiversity by excluding indigenous populations has threatened not only the survival of the forest but also the sustainability of the region. Aarti Kelkar Khambete posted 7 years 3 months ago

Mangroves of the Sundarbans. (Source: Nature Environment & Wildlife Society - NEWS)

Unsafe drinking water burdens poor

A study finds poor water quality behind high incidence of waterborne diseases among households in Ludhiana. The poor suffer the most from it. Aarti Kelkar Khambete posted 7 years 4 months ago

Unsafe drinking water affects health. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Water strategy: Ponds need pondering

Unregulated construction and use of farm ponds in Maharashtra have further aggravated the drinking water situation in water-scarce areas in the state. Aarti Kelkar Khambete posted 7 years 4 months ago

A farm pond (Source: Renie Thomas, WOTR, Pune)

Telangana’s groundwater crisis

A study from Telangana finds faulty power subsidy policies of the state and the resultant increase in tube wells with electric pumps as reasons for depleting groundwater levels. Aarti Kelkar Khambete posted 7 years 5 months ago

Declining groundwater levels and the impending crisis. (Source: India Water Portal)

Cleanliness broom: A village keeps its water clean

Sangrun village near Pune sets an example to all upstream villages by keeping its rivers pollution free. Aarti Kelkar Khambete posted 7 years 5 months ago

Women get together for the cleaning drive at Sangrun. (Source: India Water Portal)