Figure it out yourself
A striking fact about water in India is the lack of reliable data about all its aspects: total potential, available supply and demand
Vanishing Eden
An entire colony of painted storks deserted Keoladeo mid-season this year. Is the wetland dying?
Barrages spur protests
Odisha wants to dam surplus water downstream of Hirakud dam. But where’s the surplus?
Green buildings: it’s common sense
Frenzied growth in real estate and changing lifestyle in Indian cities are inciting resource guzzling. Architects have innovative ideas to build …
How an urban planner undertook green recovery in Telangana’s 72 ULBs
Extensive mapping, designing of parks with detailed cost estimates and implementation frameworks were prepared as part of the project
The flush, the city and the river
For the modern Indian city, the principle behind management of water and waste is a simple one: flush and forget. Not surprisingly, most cities …
Dream stuck in pipeline
The Melamchi project promised to end Kathmandu’s acute water shortage. But 15 years later, it is nowhere near completion
Water from waste
With water scarcity gripping many parts of the country, people are talking about rainwater harvesting, but none about wastewater, which can also …
Emergency
Chennai, crippled by water crisis, is also a metaphor for what Indian cities are experiencing in sourcing and managing the most precious natural …
Water in the age of coronavirus
As we confront the new global enemy SARS-COV-2, the availability of water will be a crucial determinant for a successful outcome in this war
Water woes in wet Kerala
More than 2,000 mm of rain in 2003 but crops destroyed and farmers committing suicide; crores spent on 31 irrigation projects but villages going …
Rs 1,86,000 cr illusion
Andhra Pradesh’s Jalayagnam irrigation scheme unviable, contract-driven, says CAG draft report
New Age Approach
We need to go back to the drawing board to reinvent a green toilet. If necessary, to go back to our past and find technological innovations that …
Drowning In Human Excreta
Sanitation for urban India means building flush toilets and linking them to sewer systems. But the price of chasing this dream is leading to an …
Rich bias
THE SKEPTICAL ENVIRONMENTALIST Bjørn Lomborg · Cambridge University Press · Cambridge · 2001 · Pages: pp 515 &…
By hook, crook or vision
Profits and a cleaner environment can sometimes complement each other. But Indian companies are still mired in poison. They must now look for a …
Punjab's paddy dilemma
In 2009, Punjab became the first state in the country to enact a law banning the sowing of rice before a stipulated date. The aim was to arrest …
Coal toll
More than 70 per cent of India's electricity is produced by coal-fired power plants. Most of them do not have modern technologies and use low-…
Need vs greed
There is little talk of curbing water use in urban India. Cities’ insatiable water demand, coupled with leaky pipelines, is leading to …
Controversial plan to sell water from Sheonath river
Ajit Jogi, Chhattisgarh chief minister, has announced an enquiry into the legality of India's first private project to supply water to industry …
Real estate on water
Lakes were critical for Indian cities. They prevented floods and recharged groundwater. Today, these holes in the ground are either lucrative …
Chhattisgarh's Industrial Jungle
Chhattisgarh is set to become the largest producer of thermal power, cement and sponge iron. The push is on to install 77 per cent of India's …
Andhra's groundwater crisis & a trail of suicides
Groundwater has failed Andhra Pradesh’s farmers. Between 1997 and 2006, about 4,500 farmers committed suicide, unable to repay loans they …
30,000 farmers demand Hirakud dam water
Western Orissa is witnessing an upheaval. In the eye of the storm is the Hirakud dam. Over 300,000 farmers dependent on its water for irrigation …