The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
for years, Dewas district in the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh, has been facing the grim prospect of desertification following the unregulated use of groundwater in the region. But it seems a people's movement launched by M Mohan Rao, district magistrate, may yet manage to avert such a fate. Say …
the Bharathapuzha, also known as the Nila in Kerala, is just another river that is gradually dying out. Originating in the Annamalai hills of the Western Ghats, it is the life-line for almost one-eighth of Kerala's population. However, according to a study conducted by the Zoology department of N S …
About three million hectares of irrigated land has been adversely affected by waterlogging and salinity, causing an overall annual economic loss of us $2 billion to Pakistan. This was stated by a report based on a study conducted by LEAD-Pakistan, a non-profit organisation. The study, titled Institutions and Leadership in …
At least three farmers, who died recently in Falla village 28 kilometres from Jamnagar town, felt this way. They were not alone. With them were almost half a thousand others. The farmers were unhappy because the authorities had taken a decision to tap a water source, in this case the …
The story echoes the fable of the industrious ant that stocks foodstuff for winter and the lazy grasshopper that is left without food. Women and children dig the dry bed of the Sukhi river near Dahod town of Gujarat. Sitting aside one-metre-deep holes, they wait for life to seep into …
The people of this small village of Bhil tribals in Dahod district had been facing a serious water crisis. About 78 per cent of them used to migrate for at least 10 months. There were no wells in the village. The farmlands were of no use; there was no water. …
About 20 km away from the district headquarters of Rajkot, this village shows how environmental management can bring about a socio-economic turnaround. According to Narayanbhai Limbasia, a 70-year-old farmer: "Around 15 years ago, people were unwilling to marry their daughters to grooms in this village due to the water crisis." …
The credit for the socio-economic turnaround of Raj-Samadhiyala village in Rajkot district of Gujarat goes to Hardevsinh Balwantsinh Jadeja, the 48-year-old head ( sarpanch ) of the village council. He thinks that rainwater harvesting is the only solution to deal with the grave water crisis in the Saurashtra region of …
This village in Mandvi taluka of Gujarat's Kachchh district has embarked on rainwater harvesting and wm quite recently. For the past 10-12 years, the residents have been facing a drinking water crisis. "Even officials of the Geological Survey of India failed to get water from a borewell a few years …
In the past six years, the 3,500-odd residents of this village in Rajkot district, which falls in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, have come a long way. After a prolonged water crisis, the village is well on its way to solve the problem through recharging of wells. Shamjibhai Antala of …
A micro-watershed management project was launched under the Rajiv Gandhi Mission for Watershed Development in this village of Jhabua district in 1996. Since then, a lot has changed. The underground aquifers have been recharged and all the eight handpumps in the village yield water throughout the year, says Bhurji Bhawar …
Some really serious issues face Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh today, and the present drought has highlighted them. "Water-related disputes are gradually increasing in rural areas. They are expected to surpass land disputes in the next 10 years," Rajora fears. And it is quite clear that the government cannot supply water …
The government of Gujarat has launched a project worth Rs 70 crore to dig 120 bores in the Wankaner taluka of Rajkot district to supply drinking water to Rajkot city. At present, the city is supplied water for 20 miniutes every two days. According to P V Trivedi, district magistrate …
Water harvesting systems have certainly benefited a large section of society in the Saurashtra and Kachchh regions. There is no way better than such systems to optimally tap water resources," says R C Trivedi, former chairperson of Gujarat Pollution Control Board, who lives in Ahmedabad. Manibhai Padmabhai Patel of Dhoraji …
HERE is something for those who would not believe that the wars of this century will be fought over water-related issues. Three people died and 20 were injured on December 14 in Falla village, 28 km from Jamnagar town of Gujarat, when the police opened fire on a mob of …
delhiites once again faced a severe round of water shortage in the first week of November. The Delhi Jal Board (djb), however, had no clue about when the situation would improve. The crisis began soon after the Uttar Pradesh irrigation department commenced maintenance work at the Upper Ganga Canal, which …
the Saurashtra-Kachchh region of Gujarat is facing a severe water crisis. The situation is particularly acute in Rajkot, Jamnagar, Surendranagar and Amreli. Rajkot residents get water on alternate days for half an hour and a bucket costs anywhere between Rs 4 to Rs 10. Villagers scour the countryside to tap …
four villages in the Khurda tehsil in Orissa , are facing a severe drinking water crisis. The water, according to reports, contains toxins. The residents of Singpur, Balasing, Balasinghpatna and Pallibalasingh are struggling against the onslaught of a number of diseases but the state government is yet to take corrective …
A study by the a Sri Lankan-based International Water Management Institute said that nearly 1.4 billion people or a quarter of the world's population lives in regions that would face severe water shortages in the first quarter of the new millennium. The study on the water supply and demand of …
