-Down to Earth Some househoulds have started reusing grey water and maintaining kitchen gardens Sustainable drinking water connection would have been a distant dream for the 105 households in Lahan Jhadadar village, Dang district, Gujarat, had it not been for the concerted efforts of the residents. The villagers, mostly members from the Bheel, Warli, Kunbi and Konkani communities, worked in unision with the government department to make this possible.  The district receives heavy...

-Down to Earth The Kala Talab has been filled with fly ash and soil to build residential colonies in the east Rajasthan city on the Chambal, resulting in crocodile deaths Some 50 mugger crocodiles have died in the last one month in a prominent waterbody of Rajasthan’s Kota city as a result of it being filled up for developmental activities, locals and wildlife activists have alleged. The Kala Talab (‘black pool’) is connected...

-Down to Earth Aggressive sugarcane farming contaminates land, water The Union government intends to increase the amount of ethanol in the energy mix to lower the country’s dependence on imported oil and carbon footprint, as well as stabilise petrol prices.  India currently blends about 8.5 per cent ethanol in petrol. The government is targeting a 10 per cent ethanol blend by 2022 and a 20 per cent blend (E20) by 2025. E20 can save...

-PTI   Guwahati: Ecological degradation of Deepor Beel, a freshwater lake of international importance on the outskirts of Guwahati, has turned out to be a major electoral issue for hundreds of fishermen and farmers dependent on the wetland. Spread over an area of 40.1 sq km, the lake, which is listed in the Ramsar Convention, supports livelihood of over 1,200 families living in 12 villages around it. Fishermen complain that the fish output...

-The Hindu The Aam Aadmi Party's proposal of 666 litres of free water a day raises the alarming prospect of further disadvantaging the already deprived sections of Delhi who get no piped water at all The Twelfth Five Year Plan has proposed a paradigm shift in water management in India. One of our key proposals relates to urban water. In many ways, it could be said that the crisis of water and...