-Down to Earth Advent of modern Water Conservation systems and unequal distribution of labour work in Karnataka, Kerala districts have pushed them into decline   'Kattas' — temporary check dams built across streams and rivulets — used to be a common sight in the districts of Kerala and Karnataka till two decades ago. These traditional structures were constructed every year to conserve water for summer irrigation. Thousands of these structures were prominently found...

-IdeasforIndia.in Usharmukti, a project of the Government of West Bengal, is being carried out in collaboration with civil society organisations in the western part of the state, to carry out watershed activities under MNREGA to conserve soil and water. In this note, Ashwini Kulkarni describes the main idea behind and working of the innovative project from her visit to the project area. When a farmer says that with potato in Rabi season...

-The Hindu In the absence of scientific planning and implementation, measures like Jal Shakti Abhiyan may not be successful Following the massive water crisis across India in the summer of 2019, the Central government hurriedly launched the Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA), a time-bound, mission-mode Water Conservation campaign to be carried out in two phases, across the 255 districts having critical and over-exploited groundwater levels. This campaign, however, was not intended to be...

  Air quality in North India in general and Delhi National Capital Region (Delhi NCR) in particular plunged to its lowest point in recent years during October-November thanks to a variety of factors. Through media reports one comes to know that stubble burning (also called paddy straw burning/ crop residue burning) is chiefly responsible for the public health crisis in India's capital and its nearby regions. Data accessed from the website...

-IndiaWaterPortal.org In this interview, Joy talks about his work as an activist working in rural Maharashtra, and how he came to work on water conflicts in India. To many in the water sector, K. J. Joy needs no introduction. An activist at heart, Joy is known for his untiring rights based work in mobilising communities in rural Maharashtra, and for his research work on water and water related conflicts including inter-state...