- Scroll.in India prohibited manual scavenging in 1993. But it took another 20 years to expand its legal definition to include the manual cleaning of drains, sewers and septic tanks. Mumbai, with the richest municipal corporation in India, was among the worst offenders when it came to the implementation of the 2013 law. Records maintained by the Safai Karamchari Andolan, a national organisation working for the rights of sanitation workers, show 19...

-Press release by World Bank dated November 14, 2022 NEW DELHI: A new World Bank report estimates that India will need to invest $840 billion over the next 15 years—or an average of $55 billion per annum—into urban infrastructure if it is to effectively meet the needs of its fast-growing urban population. The report, titled “Financing India’s Urban Infrastructure Needs: Constraints to Commercial Financing and Prospects for Policy Action” underlines the...

-Down to Earth The United Nations declared 2021-2030 the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration In this Anthropocene era, human interference can be seen in every component of Earth’s ecosystem. Due to such human-mediated changes, the loss of freshwater habitats such as lakes, ponds and wetlands, as well as their aquatic biodiversity and water quality are becoming a major concern.  Freshwater ecosystems are of enormous ecological importance and human need (such as drinking water and...

-Outlook India Experts say flooding in urban and peri-urban areas are happening due to unplanned waste dumping and continuous disregard for natural recharge structures like ponds, wetlands, and tanks. The Safdarjung Observatory, one of Delhi's primary weather stations, recorded 189.6 mm of rainfall between June 1 and July 22, which is less than normal (201 mm). But it didn’t change the picture. Every time it rains, water-logging and subsequent traffic snarl for...

-TheNewsMinute.com TNM looks at five water bodies in Hyderabad — Durgam Cheruvu, Gurram Cheruvu, Mir Alam Tank, Shah Hatim talab and the Ramanthapur Cheruvu and how they have shrunk over the years. This story is among several stories from TNM that will highlight the inundation, flooding and other consequences of heavy rains in Hyderabad. TNM hopes to draw attention to these issues, which have now become perennial in many areas of the...