-The Indian Express As it completes 10 years, there is enough evidence to show that India needs the MGNREGA Nearly a year ago, the prime minister made a statement in Parliament about the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). He said: “My political understanding tells me, don’t ever stop MNREGA… because MNREGA is a living monument to your [the Congress’s] failures. After 60 years of independence, you had to...

-PTI NEW DELHI: The pre-monsoon groundwater level has declined in 46 per cent of wells assessed by the government across the country, as compared to the five-year average, Rajya Sabha was informed today. Union Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Sanwar Lal Jat said this in Rajya Sabha while responding to questions on ground water levels in plains and drying waterfalls in hilly regions. "Assessment of groundwater-level monitoring...

Varanasi, which is known as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency during 2014, has hit the headlines recently due to people's struggle for water rights. Altogether 18 village councils (Gram Panchayats) of Varanasi have written recently to Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board to stop overexploitation of groundwater by the Coca-Cola bottling plant, which is situated in Mehdiganj (please click here to access their letters).   The village councils, which have...

-TheWire.in New Delhi: Major beverage companies and other industries involved in excessive and destructive exploitation of groundwater are expected to be hit hard by the new guidelines issued by the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) – the national groundwater regulatory agency – that come into effect this week. However, experts in the field have noted with concern that by allowing the industrial use of groundwater in water stressed areas with the quantum...

-The Hindu Business Line One small check dam helps stem migration in Khohar, Haryana Every year, nearly all the 150 households of village Khohar, in Haryana’s Mewat district, pack their bags in September and embark on a journey to Gujarat. Hired to pick cotton, they spend the next 4-5 months in pitched tents, working from dawn to dusk. “We return with around ₹50,000 earned between everyone in the family. This sees us through...