WATER

FLOOD OR SUBMERGENCE
Villages devoured by rising waters
The extent of submergence of villages and farmland in the Narmada valley under the backwaters of Sardar Sarovar dam increases with successive monsoons. Himanshu Upadhyaya stresses the need for a more realistic and effective look at solutions to the woes of the region.
Displacement | Narmada campaign
August 2013

NO TO PRIVATISATION
MP town seeks to reclaim its right to water
An independent committee appointed by the state validates and upholds most of the objections raised by civil society against attempted privatisation of water supply in Khandwa.
Madhya Pradesh
August 2013

CORRUPTION
'Maha' problems over minor irrigation
A tragic accident brings into focus long-simmering questions over the quality of minor irrigation works, and the nexus between engineers and contractors. Parineeta Dandekar reports.
Public funds | Maharashtra
August 2013

WATER WOES
In support of a paradigm shift in water
A recent report by the UNICEF highlights the most critical issues, urging the establishment to break new ground in resource management and utilization.
March 2013
MH POLITICS
White Paper, or whitewash?
The dubious record of MH's irrigation department provides fodder for a proxy NCP-Congress war. The issues, however, demand real attention, writes Shripad Dharmadhikary.
Maharashtra
December 2012

WHOSE WATER?
One state, many demands
Integrated river management is a serious business, and without proper attention can lead to politically difficult situations even within a single state, as seen in Maharashtra this year.
Maharashtra
December 2012

FRACKING
Shallow understanding of deep risks
Shale gas and oil reserves are being eyed hungrily by an industry that is looking at the sunset of conventional reserves. But fracking is full of risks.
Energy
September 2012

WATER POLICY
Better, but needs more work
The latest draft of the Water Policy is a clear improvement over the previous one, and appears to have taken on board many of the objections to earlier provisions.
July 2012

RESERVOIR MANAGEMENT
Going awry with the flow
For the third time in less than a decade, the dams that irrigate much of north-west India have been depleted to critical levels, as their management stumbles without clear policy directions.
July 2012

WATER POLICY
Pushing to privatise
A noteworthy shift in the new Draft Water Policy is the clear preference of the Government to privatise the water sector. This goes against all the evidence so far.
February 2012

TRADING WATER
Back-pedaling the market mantra
The Chawla Committee backs away from recent efforts to create a market for water rights. Still, it doesn't go far enough in recognising the importance of citizens' involvement.
Public finances
July 2011

WATER RIGHTS
Lessons from Chile's Water Code
The government's agenda for water privatisation has relied heavily on the supposed success of the chosen model in Chile. A new book reveals we may be learning the wrong lessons.
June 2011

THE GANGES
Grand plans for the Ganga
The World Bank and the Government have developed an extensive program of redevelopment for the Ganga basin, but thus far the scheme remains devoid of people's participation.
February 2011

BUREAU OF WATER EFFICIENCY
Warding off the water woes
The new Bureau of Water Efficiency should push for Central laws that can be adopted without dilution by the states, and work with specific industry segments to address their water deficits.
January 2011

DISTRICTS AND TALUKS
Greening the smaller towns
What should a town-planning engineer in a district or taluk headquarters know of the Energy Conservation Building Code to get it successfully implemented, without complicating things?
Energy | Cities
December 2010

OPINION
The Protocol of vested interests
The hydropower industry's Protocol is an inside job - developed by the industry, to be administered by its consultants, who will work closely with project promoters.
Human rights
November 2010

RIGHTS
Recognising the human right to water
For millions of people, the law does not explicitly direct that they are entitled to safe water. A United Nations resolution passed in July this year is about to change that.
Human rights
October 2010

AUTONOMOUS UTILITIES
Grid-free, on the horizon
During the last 100 years, the production and consumption of power happened at two different places, miles away from each other. This will change in the future.
Water
August 2010

GREEN HOMES
The bills we pay, and the ones we don't
Our personal choices directly impact the pressure on managing infrastructure support that we all need for energy, water, and waste management.
Energy
July 2010

RELIABLE RAINDROPS
How an ex-lecturer turned around the land
With two decades of continuous research and wise management, this ex-lecturer in Karnataka's Udupi district has made a barren hillock into a model of rain harvesting.
Agriculture | Karnataka
July 2010

DROUGHT IN VIDARBHA
The colour of water
Two years of drought has started to take its toll on the people of Vidarbha, with a failed crop leaving them with no income to tide over the crisis.
P Sainath
May 2010

WATER HARVESTING
How they pulled their farm back from the brink
"Trying to measure the success of water harvesting only with increased water level is not fair. The vegetation improves, so does the soil moisture.?
Karnataka
January 2010

WATER HARVESTING
First in RWH, but not self-reliant yet
Ankola railway station along the rainy Konkan coast is in a heavy rainfall area yet is suffering from water shortages, as water harvesting efforts are half-hearted.
Karnataka
January 2010

BOOK REVIEW
Meandering an important course
Water and the Laws in India is not always consistent or complete, but this does not detract from its usefulness and importance in examining important issues.
Laws | Book Reviews
January 2010

RAINWATER HARVESTING
Where Suvarna Jala fails, schools succeed
The classic headline: "Government-funded rainwater harvesting for public schools goes wrong, money wasted". However in one Karnataka district, it's an altogether different tale.
Karnataka
November 2009

WATER HARVESTING
'Rain pond' to the rescue
This dairy in Palakkad spent over Rs.2 lakhs buying water from outside in 2008. This year they will spend nearly eight-nine times less, thanks to a rain pond.
Kerala
November 2009

RIVER PROJECTS & PEOPLE
The wrecking sand dunes of upper Assam
Farmers in Assam have had to move out of agriculture during the past two years because of sand dunes created over their fertile lands.
Energy | Assam
August 2009

OVERVIEW
Environment Report, 2009
The MoEF's assessment of the environment, which should be the foundation for strategic planning in the ministry, is highly inadequate, and is a poor second to similar efforts by environmentalists.
Reviews
August 2009

ENTITLEMENTS
The right to water: long road ahead
Judging by the 16 years it took for the right to education to be legislated, the right to water and sanitation is a long way off. But there is much to be learned from the efforts of NGOs, meanwhile.
Sanitation
August 2009

RENUKA DAM
Drowning Himachalis, pampering Delhi
Its demand for water is ever-growing, and its usage wasteful. Using its political and economic power, however, Delhi is quenching its thirst for water by extracting it from places near and far.
Himachal Pradesh
July 2009

GODAVARI WATERS
The empire flows again
With the second coming of the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh, Sir Arthur Cotton's legacy on Godavari waters is likely to continue without critical examination.
Andhra Pradesh
June 2009

WATER POLICIES
Stagnant waters: Party manifestos offer little
Water is a big local concern, but at the national level, it does not seem to figure very high up in the considerations of major parties, at least as seen in their pre-election promises.
Elections
April 2009

DEBATING WATER
World Water Forums: Time to end them
Activists and governments alike demand that future deliberations on water issues be brought within the legitimate fold of the UN, and not hosted by private and corporate interests.
March 2009

HERITAGE WATER SUPPLY
The unique water tunnel of Sheni
This 250 metre-long suranga, situated by the side of a school in Kasargod, Kerala, resembles the famed Iranian water system - the qanat - more than its counterparts.
Kerala
January 2009

EARLIER ARTICLES
in this section ...
- Water privatisation: Start again
- Put in water, take out guarantee
- Reforms: Time for a new model
- Softening hard water with rain
- The gift from the sky
- Blessed by water
- Bit by bit, he filled his well
- Water is no pipe dream here
- An uneven, but important journey
- This bank deposits rain
- High growth: In deep waters
- 'Relief' irrigation worries farmers
- One-man-army greens barren land
- Inaction on panel findings
- A two-in-one well
- Shedding the borewell dependency
- Living under threat of eviction
- A 'Gurukula' for surangas
- College saves lakhs on water
- That 'new type' house
- Privatisation, a recipe for conflict
- Percolating young minds
- Stream resumes year-round flow
- Upper catchment, gains in plains
- Here a breach, there a breach
- Water scarcity demands fresh ideas
- Rural water supply in Hebballi
- People's school for water literacy
- Privatisation murkier in K East ward
- Centre absent from water projects
- A flawed model for water regulation
- Going home with more than theerth
- Hope in the season of hopelessness
- A fair price for water
- Meters help consumers, suppliers
- Development without research
- Wake up call on reservoir siltation
- Soft-pedalling the cola ban
- Grinding questions for Authority
- Unreasoned push for large projects
- Hydro-power guidelines flawed
- Farmers' court win boosts morale
- Thirst for profit
- The root of the solution
- In the dam's waters they trust
- Will herders be heard?
- Rain-blessed and short of water
- Privatise, come hell or high water
- Sponge bath future
- Selling piped water or pipe dreams?
- Coke moving out of Plachimada?
- Dissent at home, abroad, for Colas
- Harvesting success amid trouble
- Paddling hard against the flow
- A prescription that suits the doctor!
- Under pressure, Delhi rethinks loan
- Top to bottom, water and soil
- Confusing rights with quotas
- Book on openwell recharging
- Delhi project soaked in controversy
- Rivers and plans off course
- Haryali: Not so green after all
- Drought-proofed by tradition
- Plenty on the roof
- Media campaign brings hope
- Water procession changes mindset
- 1000 year-old tradition binds them
- Coke vs Kerala Panchayat duel
- Advertising mirages to mask reality
- Mining away the river
- Mixed results for municipal reforms
- Was the Bhakra dam worth it?
- Rain or no rain, water for Coke
- Maharashtra's coming water wars
- Chennai sucking up rural water
- Researching turbulent waters
- Water canals, or treasury drains?
- Reviving rural water bodies
- 50 years of mismanaging Kosi
- Soft drinks, hard realities
- Rajasthan's water woes escalate
- PC or PC? Who sets policy?
- Slow progress towards sanitation
- Local water: battle of scales
- Less water, more pumps
- Leaky rural water supplies
- An election-year scarcity
- An eco-friendly Ganesh Utsav
- Water : the hidden export
- Enough of inter-basin politics
- Water - a national conversation
- Rural water, people first
- Unseen waters, subsurface dams
- Saving water to feed the billions
- Unchecked pollution on the Periyar
- More substance, less fizz
- Cauvery delta : a new reality
- Diverting a river, west to east
- Piloting water
- Kalpsar: a lake of wishes?
- Coke case enters decisive phase
- Selling a watery euphoria
- Piped dreams
- The privatization debate
- Growing paddy with less water
- Ending municipal water shortages
- Stopping virtual water trade
- Beyond the cola wars
- Orissa: Different state, same story
- Still looking to the skies
- Tehri Dam - rehabilitation case
- The grey in Haryali
- Coping with the cruel summer
- The ties that bind and grow
- Judicial Recipes falling short
- Thirst below sea level
- Universal appeal, unclear approach
- Series: No to Commodification
- A bleak outlook in Rajasthan
- Little pani, less panchayat in Orissa
- No water? Drink Coke!
- Nafisaben Barot and Utthan
- A flawed National Water Policy
- Rayalseema's water problems

RAINWATER HARVESTING
- Some simple trenches
- 'Water deposit' revives open wells
- He grew a forest only to harvest water
- Well worth the change
- Don't dig down
- Manmade caves for water
- Low-cost, these dams are lifelines
- Top to bottom, water and soil
- Faithfully harvesting the rain
- Plenty on the roof
- IIM Kozhikode runs on rainwater
-
The power of a plastic drum
- Karnataka slow to harvest water
-
Rejuvenation of a hill range
- Deeper resolve brings them water
-
Catch rain in a saree!
- Dying tanks, dwindling water
- Back to the good old ways
- Networked ponds transform drylands
- Managing water, staying afloat
- People's planning for rain-catching
- Model Home for rain harvesting
- Rajendra Singh - Rain Catcher!
- Water harvesting in Chennai

INTERLINKING RIVERS
- President Kalam, please listen
- Not the litmus test for patriotism
- A breach in the interlinking plans
- Cart before the horse
- Doubtful science of interlinking
- Interlinking the Chief Ministers
- Interlinking: Full coverage