Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of In Re: News Item titled "Are missing palm trees causing more lighting deaths in Bihar appearing in ‘The Times of India’ dated 29.05.2025". The original application was registered suo-motu based on the news item titled "Are missing palm trees causing …
The raging row over raising of water level in the Mullaipperiyar dam remains unresolved with the Kerala state government locking horns with the Tamil Nadu (TN) and the Union government. At stake is the Periyar Tiger Reserve which faces inundation if the dam's water level is raised from 41.4 metres …
IS THE world's environment really in crisisor is thecrisis simply in the imagination of environmental groupsresearchers andthe media? In The Skeptical EnvironmentalistBj
At a workshop on groundwater management in Nepal, water experts were unanimous that the lack of policy and control mechanism to limit groundwater extraction could lead the country to an uncertain future.The project manager of Groundwater Project, Suresh Raj Uprety, said that a practical regulatory mechanism must be established in …
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
Quite frankly our friends in government would be right in saying that they are damned if they don't and even more damned if they do. But what can we say. It is truly amazing how our government agencies learn so little about how programmes can be made to work. Every …
It is unfathomable why a civilisation that has worshipped water as part of its tradition should suffer from its scarcity. Mainly, because people today don't know the cost of the water used, and they seldom try to conserve or collect water where it falls. The fact that 1.5 million tanks …
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 …
Decentralisation of the management of water resources can alleviate Pakistan's poverty, states a recent study conducted by water experts. According to the study, the government's irrigation sector reform process has failed because of officials refusing to
For the villagers of Lava ka Baas in Alwar district of Rajasthan, the Ramon Magsaysay award for Rajendra Singh, secretary of the Alwar-based Tarun Bharat Sangh could not have come at a more opportune time. After their face off with the irrigation department, who questioned the safety and the legality …
This is a story of hope and of a major change. For the first time in the last 50 years, several state governments are dealing with drought in a different way
For all the people scripting the success stories, there is a warning: history has seen the death of millions of the country's water structures due to government's apathy. Now, for the first time in the last 50 years governments have really shifted their focus to drought proofing from the adhoc …
Keshubhai Patel Chief minister, Gujarat On overflowing check dams: We needed a permanent solution that not only drought-proofs the state but also provides livelihoods. The effort is to trap every drop of rainwater through check dams. The overflowing dams are a lesson for people to take up more water conservation. …
Digvijay Singh Chief minister, Madhya Pradesh On institutionalisation of structures: They are already public property. They were built according to needs of the people. For example, the farmers themselves have worked on the recharging of wells without any government money. Though loans are given, the wells belong to the people. …
This is not the only hurdle in making water conservation a long sustained movement. To make it a sustainable social movement and to reap its dividend in the form of poverty eradication, the government needs to put in prolonged efforts. Most of India's poverty eradication programmes have failed because they …
Investment in water is an insurance against poverty and drought. Down To Earth reporters visited the eight villages below during the droughts of 2000 and 2001. These villages have several years of experience in water conservation. The inference: the more the years of water conservation, the more the capacity to …
Kalakhoont village's spin out of the poverty cycle began on a rainy day in June this year. Four days of rain filled up to the brim the long-forgotten tank in this nondescript village of Jhabua district in Madhya Pradesh ( mp ). Now almost the entire village is encircled by …
To fight drought, the Madhya Pradesh government embarked on a water conservation drive in February this year with its Pani Roko Abhiyan (Stop Water Campaign). The state administration geared up to reach all its 52,000 villages. It was inspired by an earlier effort of the state to conserve water through …
Traditional water harvesting systems, such as tanks locally called "talabs', are an integral part of every village in Madhya Pradesh. Varying in size from less than an acre to a hundred hectares or more, talabs were built by rulers and communities several hundred years ago using the traditional knowledge of …
Two people died and 40 others were injured during one of Pakistan's worst riots over water on June 10, 2001. The incident took place during a rally organised by a political party called Jiye Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (jsqm) and the Jeay Sindh Students Federation against the severe water shortage in …
