world news

Where is the science?


The debate in GM plants is deeply suffused by vested interests. In addition to impeding research, companies also exert their influence on review and approval, writes Sujatha Byravan.




world news

Schizophrenia of agricultural policy


Any discussion of GM crops must take place within the larger framework of the indispensable need to promote biodiversity and set up agricultural policies linked to this need, writes Sujatha Byravan.




world news

Government ignores adverse TEC report


The Ministry of Agriculture moves to introduce adoption of genetically modified crops in India, in the name of food security. Scientists, however, are critical of this move. Neha Saigal reports.




world news

‘Sarso mein IP ka tadka’ leaves local farmers in the dock


As debates around genetically modified (GM) mustard pick up in India, Shalini Bhutani takes a look at the neglected diversity of the oilseed mustard crop on native farmers’ fields and points to the bias of the existing law.




world news

Interlinking: Salvation or folly?


S G Vombatkere begins a series on the proposed gigantic network of interlinked rivers and the alternatives




world news

Interlinking: Salvation or folly? - II


S G Vombatkere presents an alternative to the proposed gigantic network of interlinked rivers. This is the second in a series of three articles.




world news

Interlinking: Needs to be publicly debated - III


S G Vombatkere writes his concluding opinion on the series on the proposed gigantic network of interlinked rivers.




world news

Interlinking rivers : Epitaph for the displaced


S G Vombatkere points out the future that awaits those who will be displaced, given India's track record in 'rehabilitation and compensation'.




world news

The grey in Haryali


Democratic decentralization for watershed development can only happen when the centralizing tendencies of the vested groups are curbed, says Videh Upadhyay.




world news

Tehri Dam - Verdict Awaited


A note on Tehri Dam case heard in Supreme Court by Vimal Bhai of the Matu People's organisation.




world news

Still looking to the skies


Mainstreaming rain water harvesting remains a challenge, but fresh hope is always around the corner, says Lalitha Sridhar.




world news

Managing water, staying afloat


A local watershed management programme for semi-arid regions staves off bleak prospects in Andhra Pradesh. Rahul Goswami reports.




world news

Stopping virtual water trade


Punjab needs water, and that means some of the water-guzzling crops must go. But questions of food security and corporatized agriculture confront the state's proposed shift, says Sudhirendar Sharma.




world news

Beyond the cola wars


At the heart of the current scandal over pesticide-laced soft drinks are haphazard legislation, and a management approach that ignores the people, says Videh Upadhyay.




world news

Interlinking? No, thanks


The Kerala assembly issues a thumbs-down on plans to divert water away from the state, catching the Ministry of Water Resources off-guard.




world news

Linking lives, not rivers


Empowered local communities can tackle water problems, and have little need for New Delhi's grand designs. More importantly, the spin-off social and economic benefits are significant, too.




world news

Piped dreams


Water quality must become a very serious concern for our public agencies, says Lalitha Sridhar.




world news

Water: the privatization debate


Lalitha Sridhar presents two largely divergent points of view.




world news

Rooted in paddy


Can rice farmers make do with less water than they've always thought their crop has needed? Dr. Sudhirendar Sharma reports on a promising innovation.




world news

Selling a watery euphoria


Can Gujarat build a pipeline that costs more than its annual outlay? Himanshu Upadhyaya says most of the promises of Narmada waters are simply exercises in public relations.




world news

Cauvery delta : a new reality


Once among the most productive agrarian economies in the country, this region of Thanjavur district is now reeling. Lalitha Sridhar reports on the situation and implications.




world news

Kalpsar: a lake of wishes?


If wishes could be horses, then the Gujarat government would turn wishes into lakes too, reports Himanshu Upadhyaya.




world news

Unchecked pollution on the Periyar


Environmental activists and locals in Kerala's Ernakulam region allege with evidence that the Pollution Control Board is entirely ineffective in preventing contamination of the Periyar river. M Suchitra reports.




world news

Unseen waters


Subsurface dams can force untapped waters to the surface, making more water available downstream without major ecological and human costs, says Jagadiswara Rao.




world news

Water - a national conversation


Following an 18-month long yatra of the nation's river basins, the Rashtriya Jal Biradari proposes policies and steps to address India's water problems. Anuj Grover reports.




world news

Enough of inter-basin politics


The Supreme Court keeps issuing orders on water disputes, but these rarely prevail. Videh Upadhyay urges the Court to seize the opportunity to change that, permanently.




world news

Back to the good old ways


Surekha Sule reports on the institution-based revival of centuries old community based systems of managing water in villages.




world news

Dying tanks, dwindling water


In Tamilnadu, the temple tanks were once the heart of water management, and ensured riparian rights and sustainable use. But community care has long since vanished, and with it, so has the water. Lalitha Sridhar reports.




world news

Reviving rural water bodies top-down


In the 2004-5 budget speech, the finance minister announced subsidy support for a hundred thousand water harvesting units. But governments continue to miss the point that decentralisation must allow citizens choice over institutions too, not merely access to new schemes and loans, says Sudhirendar Sharma.




world news

Researching turbulent waters


Researchers around the country gathered to discuss solutions to the key water-related problems India faces. From conflicts between states, to water-saving agricultural practices, to receding glaciers, a number of issues were raised, and their economic and social implications weighed. Surekha Sule reports.




world news

Chennai sucking up rural water


Over the last five years the farmers of two rural districts outside Chennai have started selling water from their irrigation wells to the city's water utility. This, to the detriment of cultivation in their own lands and those of neighbouring farmers, reports Krithika Ramalingam.




world news

President Kalam, please listen


Six leading advocates of decentralisation and people centred planning met the President of India on 20 April to impress upon him that the Interlinking of Rivers project as currently being envisaged is the wrong direction for the country to take. They have since written a letter to Dr.Kalam addressing his questions.




world news

Rain or no rain, water for Coke


The Permumatty grama panchayat of Kerala's Plachimada village has appealed to the Supreme Court for revocation of a recent High Court order granting permission to Coca Cola to draw water upto 5 lakh litres per day. The High Court's ruling was based on an investigation that has raised more questions than answered. P N Venugopal and M Suchitra report.




world news

IIM Kozhikode runs on rainwater


This B-school's 96-acre campus occupies two steep hillocks. There is no independent water source for the entire institute and the average daily water consumption exceeds one lakh litres. The absence of pre-monsoon showers in mid-Kerala is causing worry elsewhere, but IIM-Kozhikode shows no signs of anxiety. Shree Padre finds out why.




world news

Mining away the river


Despite numerous prohibitions and regulations, sand mining continues rapidly on the riverbed of the Bharathapuzha. Water tables have dropped dramatically, and a land once known for its plentiful rice harvest now faces scarcity of water, as locals are split between conservation and livelihood. Deepa A reports.




world news

Advertising mirages to mask reality


An environment magazine recently carried a Gujarat government-funded NGO's advertisement portraying vast tracts of Saurashtra and Kachchh supplied with drinking water through pipelines forking off of the Sardar Sarovar Canal. Reports in the print media were telling quite a different story. Himanshu Upadhyaya digs deeper.




world news

Save groundwater or ground democracy?


A Kerala panchayat has recently appealed the state High Court's ruling which said that the panchayat's rejection of Coca Cola's application for renewal of license to extract groundwater was untenable in law. Videh Upadhyay drafts some of questions that the Supreme Court may need to settle.




world news

Media campaign brings hope to desert


Shortage of water has been a tale of woe in Rajasthan for decades. But this year, the state's largest circulated Hindi daily, Rajasthan Patrika, has motivated around 155,000 volunteers to clean up 388 discarded traditional ponds and wells. Ramesh Menon reports from Jaipur.




world news

Water - heartening signs


In a nation where floods and drought continually cause havoc in different regions, two recent events, one in Rajasthan and the other in Karnataka have brought citizens and media together to resolve acute water shortages. These are hopeful signs. The India Together editorial.




world news

Plenty on the roof


Rainwater harvesting isn't just to overcome shortages in piped supply, sometimes there is so much to tap overhead that no other source is needed. And some of the regular sources can even be loaned out to others! Shree Padre visits a District Panchayat Office in Kerala that has discovered this.




world news

Haryali: Not so green after all


The expectations with which the Haryali watershed management programme was introduced are slowly being dashed. The programme's poor guidelines, along with power struggles and inadequate local knowledge, have made it victim to the same old politics. Surekha Sule reports.




world news

Rivers and plans off course


Solutions for meeting water needs in different communities are often ad-hoc, and based on massive projects whose after-effects are rarely monitored and controlled. Himanshu Upadhyaya investigates the reasons behind the collapse of a major Narmada canal, and finds that nature is unforgiving.




world news

Confusing water rights with quotas


A senior advisor with the World Bank is quick to hail the establishment of water entitlements in India, but is it too quick? Merely promising quotas of water on paper, or setting up 'rights' that cannot be enforced, is hardly the same as actually providing water to meet citizens' needs, observes Videh Upadhyay.




world news

Paddling hard against the flow


Mere participation as labourers is not enough to mainstream women's concerns in water management. Instead, they must be engaged as partners, whose roles are located in larger social and political structures. Sudhirendar Sharma reviews Flowing Upstream, a collection of essays drawing attention to this distinction.




world news

Dissent at home, as abroad, for Colas


Farmers in rural India and students in American universities may have more in common than it would seem. While Cola companies have run into opposition in several states in India, student bodies in North America are pressuring universities to wind up contracts letting the firms exclusively sell water and soft drinks on campus. Sandeep Pandey connects the dots.




world news

Low-cost, these dams are lifelines


In parts of Kerala and Karnataka, kattas (check-dams) have been making a quiet comeback, thanks in no small part to the efforts of farmer-journalist Chandrasekhar Yethadka. Recently, a few village councils have been footing some of the costs of these traditional structures, giving a fillip to conservation and reliable irrigation. Shree Padre reports.




world news

Coca Cola moving out of Plachimada?


The Coke saga in Kerala took a new twist towards the end of 2005 when the company expressed its interest to shift out of Plachimada to a nearby industrial estate where water consumption may be less contested. Meanwhile, the tussle between Coke and the Perumatty Panchayat awaits resolution at the Supreme Court, reports P N Venugopal.




world news

Kerala: rain-blessed and short of water


With its enchanting greenery and network of backwaters and rivers, Kerala is thought to be a water-plenty state. After all, Kerala gets 6 months of rainfall, 2.5 times higher than the national average. Despite this, the state has been experiencing water scarcity, with conditions worsening in some regions. P N Venugopal analyses the causes.




world news

Will herders be heard?


Tending livestock is difficult enough for settled communities, but for migrants the hardships are even worse. Without formal laws providing them access to water or feed, they must continually negotiate these, or bribe forest officials to obtain passage rights. Surekha Sule reports on recent studies highlighting their woes.




world news

In the dam's waters they trust


In the arid west of Gujarat, there are still those who place their faith in the Sardar Sarovar project, and its promises of water for their region. The government has paid little attention to the local water resources in the region, but this has not deterred them. Himanshu Upadhyaya reports on a petition before the Supreme Court.