-The Hindu If drought is making many in Osmanabad struggle for survival, it is also boosting a 24-hour trade that thrives on scarcity Bharat Raut spends around Rs.800 a month on petrol — just to fetch Water that belongs to him. So do a lot of others in Takwiki village in Osmanabad district in Marathwada. Almost every household in Takwiki (and other villages) has one member locked into a single task each...

-The Hindu As Marathwada’s groundWater table plummets to 500 ft, farmers here, as in other districts, are freely violating the law in a frantic bid to strike Water. Mahadeo Mule has invested Rs. 1 lakh during the past five months to save his crops and livestock, drilling at five different points on his land, despite already having a borewell. He has also spent close to Rs. 35,000 on Water from private...

-The Times of India Is urban India drowning in its own excreta? Nearly 80% of the sewage generated in India flows untreated into its rivers, lakes and ponds, turning the Water sources too polluted to use. The end result: groundWater in almost the entire country has nitrate levels higher than the prescribed levels - a result of sewage leaching into India's groundWater aquifers. These grave figures were revealed at a meeting of...

-The Hindu Expose comes close on the heels of arresting two BIS scientists Chennai: A joint surprise check conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has revealed shocking violations of basic safety parameters in packaged drinking Water units in and around Chennai. A special team comprising CBI investigators and BIS scientists conducted simultaneous checks on the units at random last week and found that the...

-The Economic Times The government plans to revive cultivation of crops that make Punjab's iconic "makki ki roti and sarson ka saag" -- maize and mustard -- along with horticulture and fodder to breathe life into the stressed soil and the rapidly depleting Water table in the green-revolution state. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is pushing hard for crop diversification in Punjab and has appointed an inter-ministerial panel on crop diversification led by Agriculture...