Central to the achievement of the Agenda for Sustainable Development is an adequate, equitably distributed and fully supported health workforce. Nurses are the largest occupational group and represent an indispensable force with which to combat inequities in access to health services and progress towards health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), while …
In India, there is an inextricable link between water and politics. This was very much in evidence recently when the opposition walked out in the Karnataka assembly over the proposed privatisation of Bangalore’s water supply system. Water tariff had earlier been hiked steeply in the city to pave the way …
Finally, there's incontrovertible evidence to confirm what was always known to be behind the capital's water woes: illegal usage and leakage. Official supplier Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has calculated that the total water lost in the city is about 260 million gallons per day (mgd). Of this, 15 to 20 …
People in Delhi use, on an average, 2.95 billion litres of water every day. About 363 litres per person daily. >> Since 1961 water production has multiplied six times. >> Domestic consumption has increased from 166 litres per capita per day (lpcd) in 1961 to 224 lpcd in 1999-2000. >> …
Taiwan's biggest security threat has brought it relief from a severe drought. For the first time in 50 years, a ship delivered 2,300 metric tonnes of water from China to a tiny Matsu island in Taiwan. The Chinese and Taiwanese officials attended the vessel's flagging off ceremony. To facilitate the …
The passing of away of Vilasrao Salunkhe is not a loss for the state of Maharashtra alone. It is a loss shared by all of India. I am reminded of a lighthouse that guides ships to safety in stormy waters. Vilasrao was that constant lighthouse, giving hope and direction to …
• Kochi has been selected as one of the centres for a major study, undertaken by the US-based Oakridge National Laboratory, to measure the phenomenon of global warming. • An innovative Green Card Yojana has been announced by the Madhya Pradesh government. The scheme is aimed at using foodgrain as …
"I took the responsibility of spreading water harvesting because of two reasons. One, it would have ensured water in the scarce areas," he says. For equally important for him was the "opportunity it gave me to mend my ill-doings". Today, his work has brought about a sea-change in the attitude …
Dada, as a child in a Marathi family, was a witness to the discordant practices. But unlike most people, he couldn't turn a Nelson's eye to existing conventions. Finally in 1958, he founded Swadhyaya (self-learning), an institution where faith, irrespective of religion, matters. From the motley group of 19 people, …
He shares his name with the father of the nation. But that's not where the similarity ends. If an incident in South Africa was to change Mahatma Gandhi's life forever, Gujarat's second Bapu's changed on the trip to the Netherlands in 1979. That's learning home truths in alien lands. Sadhu …
THINK saffron. Think sadhus and sants, communal frenzy, the Gujarat pogrom, of swords raised to the sky and the battle cry of kar sevaks and their adversaries renting a fresh spring morning. Now take a break. Picture a rishi meditating on the edge of a temple tank - say, a …
Modesty could very well be his second name. Seventy-one check dams, 55 percolation tanks, 33 ponds, 22 nullahs and 60 gully plugging - 241 rainwater harvesting projects in just nine months. But Pramukh Swami Maharaj is humility personified. His refrain: "This is not enough. We can do more." The mantle …
Village Hatiyaniki. Fifteen-odd people have gathered to discuss water harvesting activities in the vicinity. But there's just one face among the crowd, which is conspicuous enough to attract attention. Bereft of tact, his often-blunt interjections are received by a smirk from the other like-minded participants. But being unconventional only comes …
in its apparent haste to avoid public debate, the Goa government pushed through its groundwater law recently. Now, doubts have arisen about how effectively the regulation would plug prevalent problems such as rampant commercial exploitation and inequitable distribution of water. The state's villagers have for some time now been complaining …
In a landmark decision, the SC directed the Punjab government to expeditiously construct the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal to give effect to the Eradi Commission Award on sharing of river water between states. The SC ordered the Union government to take steps to construct the canal if the Punjab government …
the land of the mighty Chomolungma (Mt Everest) and the mother of many 8,000-metre-high snow-capped peaks, Nepal has no less than 6,000 odd fast-flowing rivers and a total annual outflow of 150 billion cubic metre (bcm). This "so-called colossal water potential of Nepal' is just a "socio-economic myth', according to …
Two home truths about irrigation departments across India: they are a fountainhead of corruption and run on huge losses. But July 2002 may prove to be a watershed for rural water supply management. Around that time, the Maharashtra government will hand over control of irrigation facilities to the state's farmers
This paper critically examines some narratives of water scarcity in Kutch, western India. It argues that images of dwindling rainfall and increasing drought largely serve to legitimize the controversial Sardar Sarovar dam and manufacture dominant perceptions concerning scarcity. This manufacture has naturalized scarcity in the region and largely benefits powerful …
This paper deals with how urban Indian households obtain water for their daily requirements. The link between economic status and access allows the analysis of issues such as water sharing, sole access, ability to pay, need for improvements, etc. The authors also put forth a strategy for levying user charges …
What does a common person do when confronted with a water shortage? Well B K Roy Burman, an anthropologist from Delhi's Chittaranjan Park, went on a fast for two days to protest against the problem. He demanded a more equitable and transparent pattern for the distribution of water by the …
Sources once considered renewable are diminishing rapidly. Water is one element which, is declining in the face of human onslaught. India's historic billionth baby has not led the government to take concrete measures to control this rapid population growth. Jabalpur is located in the heart of Madhya Pradesh and lies …
