seetha@indiawaterportal.org

Champions of cleanliness

As part of the Gandhi Jayanti celebration, organisations, district administrations and schools were felicitated for achieving cleanliness targets. seetha@indiawaterportal.org posted 7 years 8 months ago

Farmers think tanks, fight to save water

While the villagers fight to save Puducherry’s cascading tank systems, corrupt authorities come in the way of their efforts. seetha@indiawaterportal.org posted 7 years 9 months ago

Villagers offer their prayers to the guardian of the Bahour tank, Ayyanar (Image: Seetha Gopalakrishnan, IWP)

Who gives a sh*t?

Skin irritations, respiratory distresses and sometimes even death, it is a life of suffering for the cleaners of human filth. seetha@indiawaterportal.org posted 7 years 9 months ago

Despite the ban, manual scavenging continues. (Image courtesy: The Hindu)

Accept refuse: A lesson in wastewater management

There is a new technology available now to reuse domestic and industrial refuse. This could just be the solution to India’s increasing water problem. seetha@indiawaterportal.org posted 7 years 10 months ago

Constructed wetland at ICRISAT's Patancheru campus.

Water at a click: Pictures to tell the story

Pondy ART’s photo biennale PondyPHOTO has water as its theme this year. Internationally acclaimed photographers are expected to exhibit their work at the event. seetha@indiawaterportal.org posted 7 years 10 months ago

Bio-loos on track, Railways to clean up its act

Dumping excreta on the rail tracks is not just an abhorrent practice, it also corrodes the tracks. With bio-toilets underway, the Railways hopes to fix it. seetha@indiawaterportal.org posted 7 years 11 months ago

A rail coach fitted with bio-toilet. (Courtesy: India Railway Info)

App way to track toilet demand

The mDemand mobile application pilot seeks to make tracking sanitation needs in rural India easy for the government. It is expected to take us a step closer to Swachh Bharat. seetha@indiawaterportal.org posted 7 years 11 months ago

Understanding sanitation

Building toilets alone does not solve India’s sanitation issues. A research paper says what more can be done. seetha@indiawaterportal.org posted 7 years 11 months ago

The overall strategy of behaviour change must be open to and address barriers influenced by caste, gender and other local variables. (Source: India WASH Forum)

Breaching barriers towards better menstrual hygiene

Efforts have been on to spread the message of menstrual hygiene. But we are not even half way into achieving it fully seetha@indiawaterportal.org posted 8 years 1 month ago

An IWP fellow talks to girls about menstrual hygiene at the Nirmal Bharat Yatra in Gorakhpur

Sanitation must go beyond shame and stigma

India needs to answer the important question of whether rural India can and will embrace toilet culture, and that must drive its colossal plan to rid the country of open defecation. seetha@indiawaterportal.org posted 8 years 2 months ago

Courting catastrophe: Unplanned urbanisation and flooding

Urban floods and pervasive environmental pollution are living testimonies of unplanned and hurried urbanisation. With cities already stretched to their limits, how much more can they endure? seetha@indiawaterportal.org posted 8 years 3 months ago

Houses constructed on the fringes of the Ambattur eri in Chennai

Saved by tanks: The story of Puducherry’s Bahour commune

While the monster floods of 2015 mercilessly gobbled up villages along the coast of Tamil Nadu, settlements in neighbouring Puducherry managed to escape the fury. Miracle, you say? seetha@indiawaterportal.org posted 8 years 4 months ago

The Manapet tank in Bahour has an ayacut of around 110 acres, most of which is now urbanised (Image: Seetha Gopalakrishnan, IWP)

Lounging by Laknavaram Cheruvu in Telangana

Tucked away in the middle of picturesque paddy fields and the rolling hills of Govindaraopet, Laknavaram cheruvu is the perfect spot for a idyllic weekend getaway. seetha@indiawaterportal.org posted 8 years 6 months ago

Laknavaram Cheruvu in Warangal, Telangana

Braving the deluge: Chennai's worst December

Chennai's limp back to normalcy will be slow and painful, especially for low-lying Velachery, Urapakkam, Kotturpuram and Saidapet which remain flooded even two days after the rain has let up. seetha@indiawaterportal.org posted 8 years 6 months ago

Rescue efforts underway in Kotturpuram, one of the Chennai's worst affected areas

Monsoon 2015: Chinks in Chennai's infrastructure exposed

Yet to recover from the torrential lashing, the low-lying city of Chennai is slowly piecing its life back together. How ironic for a state that was a pioneer in rainwater harvesting. seetha@indiawaterportal.org posted 8 years 7 months ago

Can Madurai's dying tanks be revived?

Yes, say the authors, but not before these tanks are recognized in a manner befitting their past glory: as prized resources that provided water to the city even though it had no perennial rivers. seetha@indiawaterportal.org posted 9 years 3 months ago

A tank on the outskirts of Madurai, Tamil Nadu

Coliform contamination and cholera: Deciphering the connection

Cholera, a possibly life threatening infection, spreads through water and food contaminated with feces. So, how hard is it to contain or prevent the infection? seetha@indiawaterportal.org posted 9 years 4 months ago

Water contaminated with plastics and more