Store water in the sky

In 2014, Sonam Wangchuk, who believes that science is beneficial only when it can be applied to everyday problems, decided to improve a water harvesting design created by ªice manº Chawang Norphel so that more people could benefit from the innovation. Norphel, a rural development engineer, had built the first artificial glacier in 1987 in Phuckche village with the help of people who had been facing a severe water shortage for a long time. Wangchuk, one of the founders of the Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh, many say, is also the inspiration behind the character of Phunsuk Wangdu or Rancho in Three Idiots, a popular Bollywood film.

To build a prototype, Wangchuk, along with a group of students from his school, built a giant cone of ice in Phyang, about 10 km from Leh city, and called it the ice stupa, as it resembles traditional Buddhist monuments. This was built at an altitude of about 3,200 metres and lasted for about four months. “I once saw ice near my school at a height of 3,000 metres. That is when I first thought that a glacier can be made at a lower height as well,” he says. After the success of this cone, a pilot project was implemented in the winter of 2014 with the help of local communities. To do this, Wangchuk raised an online crowdfunding of nearly US $120,000. It was later supported by the head of the Phyang monastery.

To construct these glaciers, river water is brought down the mountain slope in pipes buried 1.8 m underground. The lower end of the pipe is bent to form a nozzle, which juts out of the ground. Water sprinkles out of this nozzle and, since the temperatures in these regions hover around -30°C, it freezes and settles on a wooden frame, taking the shape of a cone. The length of these pipes is 50-60 metres.

Norphel's flat snow tanks

• Structures were more like fields of ice or shallow pools that could store water

• Reservoirs had to be constructed only in areas facing north to get limited exposure to sunlight

• Needed a lot of labour to construct these structures

Wangchuk's stupas of ice

• The conical shape of glaciers, which resemble Buddhist stupas, means minimum surface area with maximum volume

• Reservoirs can be constructed anywhere, even at relatively lower altitudes

• Design does not require much labour, barring the one-time installation of pipes

“Science says that the water coming out of the lower end of the pipe attains the height from which it was drawn upstream. Therefore, we were able to make the water at the lower end of that pipe rise many stories high, simply by ensuring that the other end from where we are drawing water is higher upstream,” explains the engineer. The glaciers are then adorned with Buddhist prayer flags that helped in partial shading from the strong spring sun and as a wind- break against the warm spring winds. Thus, the structure is a synergy of science as well as tradition.

The stupa managed to reach a height of 20 metres, storing about two million litres of water. During summer, it melted to shed 3,000 to 5,000 litres of water every day. Water from this stupa was used by the villagers to plant 5,000 poplar and willow trees in 2015. These trees require about 10 litres of water a day, and their economic value stands at around Rs 8,000 per tree.

Parched land

For years, people of Ladakh, a land of scenic brown- and purple-hued mountains, have survived on glacier waters that flow down the streams. But with global warming and changing weather patterns, the residents have been forced to look for alternative sources of water for domestic as well as agricultural needs. The land, that once used to bear a bountiful harvest of wheat, barley and other crops, now remains parched.

For a region that receives average ann-ual rainfall as less as 50 mm, glaciers are a lifeline. According to the Jammu and Kashmir’s State Action Plan on Climate Change, studies conducted by the National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee, reveal that the glaciers have been receding for last three decades in Ladakh, Zanskar and the Great Himalayan ranges in the state, with the majority of them showing a depletion of 17 to 25 per cent.

But depletion of glaciers is not the only problem. While the glaciers start melting in June, the region’s main crops—barley and green peas—need water during their sowing season, which begins in April. The situation is critical as no crop can be grown here during winter. Moreover, as the region has a very short summer period, if the crops are not sown in time, they cannot fully mature. So timely availability of water is critical.

Flow of wisdom

Ladakh got its first artificial glacier in 1987 when Chawang Norphel, with a crowdfunding of US $25,000, made structures that looked like fields of ice at an altitude of 5,273 metres. Norphel also sought the support of the local population, who worked as labourers. These artificial glaciers were flat structures constructed in the shade of a mountain at a very high altitude. They were constructed in the form of small stone embankments that impeded the flow of water to form shallow pools that can store water. The tanks helped to conserve water that would have otherwise melted and flown down the stream.

These artificial glaciers were cons-tructed at different altitudes, and they would start melting during spring and supply water to the residents throughout the sowing and irrigation season that lasts from April to July.

But the design of these structures had a limitation. They needed to be located in mountain shades so that the ice did not melt quickly. Moreover, the embankments requi-red maintenance to ensure that the water did not leak on melting.

This is where Wangchuk has taken the initiative forward. While Norphel’s design of constructing glaciers could be implemented only in areas facing north so that they get limited sunshine despite being in shade, Wangchuk’s version does not have this restriction, and can be installed even at lower altitudes. Moreover, Wangchuk’s design of building conical ice structures uses minimum surface area with maximum volume. This also prevents spring sun and wind from melting the ice. This gives Wangchuk’s design an edge over Norphel’s structures where water was collected in small flat pools, thus exposing more area to the sun, for a given volume of water.

Wangchuk says his design is not a labour-intensive one and can be maintained by just one person. “It is almost like 3-D printing of an ice cone. The difference is that we are using more science to prevent wastage. When we can store water in the sky, why go for dams,” says Wangchuk, who is planning a full-scale project with 30-50 glaciers in the same village this winter.

Source: Down to Earth

Govt Will provide all support for research on medicinal properties of Ganga water for holistic health: J P Nadda 

New Delhi: To further investigate the claim made through various existing research and studies that the waters of Ganga river have medicinal properties which destroy various kinds of bacteria and microbes, in order to use it for holistic human health, the Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare Shri J P Nadda has assured all support for this research including financial assistance. He stated this at the workshop organised today at AIIMS, New Delhi on the “Non-putrefying properties of Ganga Water”. Also present was Sushri Uma Bharti, Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and senior environmentalist Shri Krishna Gopal. 

Speaking at the workshop, the Union Health Minister stated that in a world increasing fighting various kinds of new and more powerful drug resistant bacteria and germs, such a study which explores and examines what is it that lends this unique property to the Ganga water that not only cleanse itself by destroying germs and microbes present in it, but also purifies other waters, is worth conducting. He described Ganga as a pious river that has many interconnected and layered values to it, be it cultural, spiritual, economical and environmental. He stated that the river flowing through 2600 kms and crossing many states nurtures these regions by providing livelihood option to many, in addition to irrigation the banks and the plains. It is the mandate of the Government to not only clean the river but to also rejuvenate it, he further stated. He said that the valuable scientific evidence generated as a result of this research and in-depth study will help to understand the medicinal properties of the Ganga water. He said that in addition to AIIMS, New Delhi, scientists from IIT Kanpur and Roorkee, Banaras Hindu University, National Environmental Research Institute (NEERI) and National Botanical Research Institute will be participating in this detailed study. Another workshop to discuss and deliberate on the findings of the research shall be held after six months, the Health Minister informed. 

Sushri Uma Bharti highlighted that despite crores of people taking a dip in the river during numerous religious occasions very year, the river has not led to any pandemic or epidemic. This had to be the consequence of some self-purifying power of the river water which prevented its deterioration, she stated. She added that the study will help in using the Ganga water with this unique property for a larger welfare and health of mankind. 

Shri Krishna Gopal drew from the studies and research conducted on the exclusive property of the Ganga water and the references from the Akbarnama and the British bacteriologist Ernest Hanbury Hankin, to state that the presence of bacteriophage activity had been detected in the river since long. New research needs to be conducted to further renew this claim, he added. 

Present at the workshop were senior officers from the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, and Ministry for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, AIIMS, NEERI, IIT Kanpur and IIT Rourkee. 

Source: indiaeducationdiary

We cannot water down rain harvesting

Every monsoon, most Indian cities become flowing water bodies, throwing daily life off kilter. This happens thanks to bad drainage systems and concretisation. Cities can no longer absorb heavy rain and much of the water literally goes down the drain.

Recently, the Delhi high court, while hearing a PIL regarding rainwater harvesting (RWH) units in government buildings, grilled the Delhi Jal Board  (DJB) about the status of implementation of its policy to adopt RWH system in the city. The scenario is pretty grim: Most RWH schemes in the city have remained on paper. Forget residential areas, even most government buildings don’t have an RWH arrangement. So even though Delhi gets 650-850 mm rainfall annually, much of it is wasted.

Against the demand of about 1,050 million gallons per day (MGD) of water, the DJB gets approximately 900 MGD; of this, 100 MGD comes from groundwater. The city already has several pockets of ‘dark zone’ (authorities caution against further withdrawal of ground water from these areas) but over 450,000 bore wells pump water relentlessly.

Unfortunately, the solution for Delhi’s unapologetic demand for water is more lethal. The Capital already gets its water from far off places in Haryana and the Bhakra-Beas Management Board, which regulates the supply of water and power from the Bhakra Nangal and Beas projects to Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Chandigarh.

Delhi is supporting the construction of the Renuka dam project in Himachal Pradesh, 280-odd km from the city, to get about 270 MGD of water, a fourth of its peak summer requirement. The project cost has already escalated to Rs 4,000 crore and, more importantly, it would displace thousands of people who live along the Giri river, submerge fertile land and rich forests.

Like Delhi, Mumbai too gets its water from dams located about 100 km away. Bhopal, which once had huge lakes, now gets Narmada water and Hyderabad is planning to mine the Godavari.

Rather than collecting rainwater and recharging the ground table or storing it for direct use, we are impounding rivers for supplying water to cities that are hundreds of kilometres away. This needs to change.

Instead of this parasitic existence and robbing locals of a valuable natural resource, cities like Delhi must initiate rainwater harvesting on a gigantic scale, manage the surface water bodies in a better way and have strict norms for groundwater withdrawal.

There must also be equitable water distribution — not more than 400 litres per day per capita for VIPs — and an end to distribution losses. Last but not the least, the city must learn to recycle and reuse water.

(Nivedita Khandekar is a Delhi-based independent journalist. The views expressed are personal.)

Source: Hindustan Times, 16-09-2015

Poor households spend more on water, says study

Residents of low-income households spend up to 15 per cent of their income on daily water requirements.

In a bid to cope with the gap in water supply, residents of low-income households spend up to 15 per cent of their income on daily water requirements.

This was one of the findings of a recent study by the Department of Management Studies and Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT-Madras. According to the study, on an average, households with piped water supply spend Rs. 553 a month and families that do not have piped water supply incur a monthly expense of Rs. 658. This includes money spent on various strategies — be it collection, purchase or treatment and storage.

At present, Chennai is supplied with 580 million litres on alternate days owing to a dip in resources. This has caused a dent in the budgets of households, especially of those with a monthly income of less than Rs. 20,000. People with low incomes tend to spend anywhere between one per cent and 15 per cent of their total income on water needs. This monthly cost to cope up with the gap in supply is less among the higher income group, according to the study.

R.K. Amit, assistant professor, Department of Management Studies, who was part of the study along with S. Subash of IIT-Madras, said, “This is because households with high income levels invest in borewells, which is a long-term strategy, along with purchasing packaged drinking water. We have also taken into account the time spent by people belonging to low income groups in collecting and storing water.”

On an average, nearly 2,250 minutes per month is spent by a family on collecting water and this too adds to the costs incurred indirectly.

The study also revealed that the households surveyed had a strong preference for packaged drinking water and described it as reliable source. Several participants also noted that the quality of water was poor from all sources.

The study, supported by South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics, is based on the data collected from 423 households spread over 12 wards, which is representative of both piped and non-piped supply areas.

To help residents gain access to safe drinking water, the government must invest more in water supply infrastructure and cover more areas with piped water supply, Mr. Amit added.

Rainwater could help Indians save money: NASA data

Rainwater harvesting is not a new concept, but researchers said it is a largely untapped technique in India.

Collecting rainwater for vegetable irrigation could reduce water bills, increase caloric intake and even provide a second source of income for people in India, according to a new study by scientists looking at NASA satellite data.

The study is based on precipitation data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, which provided observations of rainfall over the tropics and subtropics from 1997 to 2015.

“India has severe problems getting potable water to all of its residents,” said Dan Stout, research assistant in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Utah.

“We considered collecting water in a relatively small tank, and it’s amazing the effect that doing something that small and simple can have on the Indian people,” Stout said.

Rainwater harvesting is not a new concept, but researchers said it is a largely untapped resource in India.

In the new study, the team examined the possibilities if Indians collected precipitation in cheap 200-gallon tanks that they could easily engineer to fit in densely populated urban areas, such as many of India’s growing cities.

The team analysed satellite data of precipitation in different areas to evaluate the availability of rainwater for direct harvesting.

The team used data sets provided every three hours from 1997 to 2011 to determine how much precipitation, on average, was available for collection and supplementation in each of the six test cities: Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Srinagar.

The team input TRMM data into algorithms that Stout developed to determine the benefit to each of two scenarios: indoor use and outdoor vegetable irrigation.

They estimated each person would require an average of about 35 gallons of water per day. For an average household of five people, demand would be about 178 gallons daily.

Outdoor vegetable irrigation would require less water.

The team calculated irrigation demands for a roughly 215-square-foot garden planted with tomatoes and lettuce.

The team found rainwater harvesting provided for nearly 20 per cent of the average indoor demand overall, though some seasons, such as southern monsoon season, provided more.

Rainwater harvesting provided sufficient water source for vegetable irrigation, which demands less water than indoor use.

While rainwater collection for irrigation resulted in fewer water bill savings, it did provide vitamin—rich food, profit from selling excess vegetables and a significantly shorter payback period for infrastructure, operation and maintenance required for the endeavour.

This can help boost cost savings and increase quality of life in India, researchers said in the study published in the Urban Water Journal.

After a one-year payback period, rainwater harvesting for vegetable irrigation would provide a profit of between 1,548 and 3,261 rupees per year and a total cost savings of between 2,605 and 4,522 rupees per year.

Keywords: rainwater harvesting, NASA data, vegetable irrigation schemes, Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission

Real-time identification of algal blooms a reality

Researchers will now be able to quickly understand how parts of North Arabian Sea turn deep green and straw yellow at times.

Without venturing into the sea and through in-situ observations, ocean researchers can now quickly understand how parts of North Arabian Sea turn deep green and straw yellow at times.

The real-time assessment and species identification of algal blooms, which add colour to the oceanic waters, has been made possible by using a satellite-based remote sensing technique. Researchers have also developed an algorithm for the process.

A group of ocean scientists from the Centre for Marine Living Resources (CMLRE), Kochi, of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, who had been tracking the algal blooms in many water bodies, claimed to have perfected the algorithm for identification of Noctiluca scintillans, the algal bloom and a diatom, which gives dark green colour to the oceanic waters.

The team led by R. Dwivedi of CMLRE consisted of researchers from CMLRE, the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, Goa, and Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, has described the “approach for detection of bloom-forming algae N. scintillans and its discrimination from diatoms using moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer in a mixed species oceanic environment.” The research paper was recently published in the journal Environmental Monitoring and Assessment.

The algorithm could be applied for real-time identification of the algal bloom anywhere in Indian waters, said Dr.K.B. Padmakumar of CMLRE.

Efforts on

The new approach will help ocean researchers in quickly identifying algal blooms without venturing into the water. Efforts are on for identification and discrimination of more algal blooms and associated diatoms, he said.

The present “analysis has been carried out by utilising species-specific response of phytoplankton from remote sensing reflectance spectra obtained with a Satlantic underwater profiling radiometer.” The capability of “species identification in near real time can help in planning field campaigns for guiding the ship to an appropriate location for in situ measurements”, the research paper said.

The bloom, also known as green tide, occurs during the winter–spring (mid February–end March) and spreads to the entire northern half of the basin. Researchers had been regularly monitoring the bloom since 2009. During their cruises, researchers had found the colour of water was remarkably dark green in ocean depths exceeding 2,000 metre.

Though not toxic, it is classified as harmful algal bloom as its spread can lead to depletion of dissolved oxygen in the bloom region. The decay of the high biomass can lead to the release of ammonia and steep reduction in dissolved oxygen, which may force other marine organisms to move to safe regions, he said.

Keywords: algal blooms, Arabian Sea, Centre for Marine Living Resources

How Not to Rush Into a Water Crisis





India's water sector requires greater policy attention and more resources, not business-as-usual populism, to meet rising demand in a fast-urbanising economy . The AAP government's move to hike water charges in Delhi by 10%, for those who consume more than 20 kilolitres (KL) a month, may seem like reform. But it would be perverse incentive for those who consume less than 20 KL of piped, treated water gratis, to tamper with the meters for low readings. Delhi is an example for the rest of the country, because it is a prime example of both mismanagement and bad politics.In Delhi, 20% of households lack access to piped water, and another 23% have unmetered supply . While Delhi's daily re quirement is 1,000 million gallons a day (MGD), the supply is barely 80%. As much as 40% of the available supply leaks away from ancient pipes that are in dire need of replacement The AAP government in relatively high-income Delhi would do well to provide water supply for all households, rather than fritter away its political capital in giveaways and reckless, wasteful subsidies. While limited lifeline water supply is unexceptionable, reasonable user charges are a must to garner the resources needed to invest in the infrastructure and maintain it.
Nationally , we need to reverse groundwater usage. Already , the figures suggest that well over half the irrigation requirements are now met by mining groundwater and that 15% of all aquifers are in a `critical condition', and further that 60% of them would steadily become so affected, over the next two decades, in a business-as-usual scenario. We clearly need increased investment in dams, large and small, along with extensive water harvesting and comprehensive recycling. We need a businesslike approach, not populism, vis-à-vis water.

Jan 16 2015 : The Times of India (Delhi)

USER-FRIENDLY - Groundwater extraction NOC to go online

Vishwa Mohan

New Delhi:





Bringing another regulatory mechanism and clearance regime to the digital domain, the Centre will launch an online system this month to issue no objection certificate (NOC) to industries, local bodies and domestic users for extraction of ground water.The online system will work on the basis of updated data on ground water level and prescribed recharge activities so that the re source is used judiciously.
“It will not only bring transparency in the system of issuing NOC but also guard against indiscriminate extraction of ground water,“ said an official.
The online mechanism is being developed by Central Ground Water Authority which issues NOCs for extraction of ground water for industrial, infrastructure and mining projects based on guidelines fixed for evaluation of such projects.
Domestic users get such clearance through state au thorities which adhere to the central body's prescribed norms. All the regulations on ground water extraction are being enforced through district collectors in states.
Ground water resources of the country have been assessed and are being updated periodically . All the updated information, used to issue NOC, will also be in the public domain as water resources minister Uma Bharati has pitched for dis semination of data for better of water. management of water.
The Central Water Commission in collaboration with National Remote Sensing Centre of ISRO has already launched a national project to create such database comprising details of both surface as well as ground water in the country .
At present, a network of 20,698 ground water monitoring wells are located all over the country . The database thus generated forms the basis for planning ground water development and management

Dec 31 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

New irrigation scheme to link villages to water sources

Vishwa Mohan

New Delhi:





Seeking to save farmers from vagaries of monsoon, the government will soon launch its ambitious rural irrigation scheme by linking villages through nearest possible sources of water.The scheme -Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sichai Yojana will have water conservation and building of irrigation infrastructures at village-level as its key components at micro level. On the other hand, the interlinking of rivers across the country will be an important pillar of the scheme at the macro level.
Prime Minister Naren dra Modi on Tuesday reviewed its preparedness and asked different ministries, including water resources and agriculture, to fast-track the necessary measures through a multi-pronged approach, including integrating it with NREGA, so that the scheme could be launched simultaneously in couple of states by next month.
Modi also asked the water resources ministry to identify river-interlinking projects that could be immediately taken up and called for comprehensive mapping and identification of water bodies across the country for which satellite imagery and 3D photography could be used to guide villages to best possible sources of irrigation.
Without giving an exact timeframe, agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh, who attended the review meeting along with water resources minister Uma Bharti, said, “The scheme is in an advance stage of finalization and it will be launched soon.“ The government had proposed to launch the scheme in its first budget in July and set aside Rs 1,000 crore for this.
For the full report, log on to http:www.timesofindia.com

Dec 12 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

WATER POLLUTION - Over 5 trillion plastic pieces floating in world's oceans

Washington PTI





More than five trillion pieces of plastic -collectively weighing nearly 270,000 tonnes -are floating in the world's oceans, including the Indian Ocean, a new study has found. Microplastic pollution is found in varying concentrations throughout the oceans, but estimates of the global abundance and weight of floating plastics, both micro and macroplastic, lack sufficient data to support them, researchers said.To better estimate the total number of plastic particles and their weight floating in the world's oceans, scientists from six countries contributed data from 24 expeditions collected over a six-year period from 2007-2013 across all five subtropical gyres, coastal Australia, Bay of Bengal, and the Med iterranean Sea. A gyre in oceanography is any large system of rotating ocean currents, particularly those involved with large wind movements.
The data included information about microplastics collected using nets and large plastic debris from visual surveys, which were then used to calibrate an ocean model of plastic distribution. The authors of the study estimate a minimum of 5.25 trillion plastic particles weighing nearly 269,000 tonnes in the world's oceans, researchers said.
Large plastics appear to be abundant near coastlines, degrading into microplastics in the 5 subtropical gyres, and that the smallest microplastics were present in more remote regions, such as the subpolar gyres, which the authors did not expect.

Jun 13 2014 : Mirror (Pune)

Making drinking water safe

MUDAR PATHERYA





How Eureka Forbes brought about a change with their Community Fulfilment Initiatives, formed to provide responsible drinking water solutions for rural Indians ALAPSED SPORTS WRITER WHO'S FOUND FAITH IN INDIA'S CORPORATE PHILANTHROPY Liked/hated his column! write to Mudar Patherya at mirrorfeedback@timesgroup.com punemirror.feedback@gmail.com

Honestly, when was the last time you ventured into the back of beyond with out mineral water? The usual fears we face: drinking water will be infested with bacteria or organic chemical traces inherited from pesticides and effluents.You and I are not alone. There are 96 million Indians (more than the size of a number of countries) without access to safe water. Over 186,000 children die annually from diarrhoea caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation, about 70 million Indians in 20 states and 600 districts are at risk from excess fluoride and around 10 million Indians are at risk from excess arsenic in our ground water. The numbers are so large that we have stopped worrying. The one company that resolved to be the difference was Eureka Forbes.
Partly because the subject of clean water was its business. Partly because it cared.
Over the years, Eureka Forbes started a division called `Community Fulfillment Initiatives' with the objective to provide `responsible drinking water solutions' and encouraging `water entrepreneurship' for rural Indians. The core idea was an old one -provide clean drinking water to those who don't get it. The twist was the entrepreneurial bit; the company created a local entrepreneurial interest so that the providers were from the same community of beneficiaries.
This is how: Eureka Forbes encouraged rural communities to buy a 500 LPH/RO/Automated with an automated dispensing unit plant for Rs 6 lakh with the objective of starting a commercial service vending purified drinking water to villagers with a payback of around four years. This is how the system worked: Eureka Forbes' water scientists and field experts tested water conditions before setting up a water purification plant (Eureka Forbes has developed seven technologies around 17 different Indian water conditions).
The plant provides water 24x7 without depending on the whims of the operator.
What Eureka Forbes provided was a unique automated dispensing unit that worked around a pre-paid card. Against a periodic top-up, neigh bourhood residents could go to the machine and access clean drinking water. Soon the word spread that at this unique `water shop', it was as easy to access water as withdrawing money from an ATM machine -no water spluttering to a stop, no water changing colour, no water tasting different. All they need to do is use a unique Water Card, its use tracked remotely by Eureka Forbes.
Whereas most companies in Eureka Forbes' place would have made one-time local investments to provide free drinking water and leave it to others to take the game ahead, the company did the reverse. It created a scalable model that was fair to its commercial interests, the community's consumption interest and the government's social interest.
Whereas most agencies would have said `How can we put a price on something as fundamental as water?', Eureka Forbes created a dispensing shop, pricing water at 10-50 paise per litre, justified around the idea that rural families with an average monthly income of Rs 4,000 spend Rs 200 on medicines anyway to treat diseases caused by impure drinking water. Suddenly, preventive treatment acquired a new ally.
Whereas most agencies would have said `We have given you reasonably safe water and that should be good enough,' Eureka Forbes benchmarked its delivery in line with the demanding WHO standards; it plugged loops related to money and water leakages by plant operators and water mafias operating in India's rural areas.
Whereas most companies would have provided infrastructure and left, Eureka Forbes focused on creating cross-sector partnership between gram panchayats, state governments, NGOs and local communities to promote a collaborative entrepreneurship model, providing villagers with the opportunity to run the plants, sell water and generate a business while working closely with city-based water distributors and the government (State and Central).
The result is that Eureka Forbes now has water shops across Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Some of the results are amazing. In Manikyapuram (Andhra Pradesh), the community water plants have helped moderate the long-standing incidence of anaemia, weak teeth, sore joints and birth defects in children who for years had been exposed to water with high total dissolved solids including fluoride. In the slum communities of Agra, this model has empowered a women's slum group to start a water-based business enterprise. In Unnao (Uttar Pradesh) the water shops have helped counter life-endangering fluorosis (derived from groundwater fluoride) that led to bone deformities in children, labourers, pregnant women and lactating mothers.
Why this is model is fascinating is because it has addressed a basic human need, linked that need to income generation, created entrepreneurs, addressed customers from within the community and generated hidden savings (lower health care costs). This then could be a model waiting to attract financiers for onward replication across the country.

Jun 03 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

Govt to tread carefully on river inter-linking project

Vishwa Mohan

New Delhi: TNN





To First Link Rivers Within A Basin

The ambitious river inter-linking project will get a new impetus under the Narendra Modi government but the Centre would like to select specific schemes for implementation very cautiously . Its focus will first be on linking rivers within a basin or nearby basins instead of going for distant inter-basin river linkages.“Government will first take up those inter-basin rivers for linking which are close to each other, keeping in mind its feasibility and utility to larger beneficiaries,“ environment minister Prakash Javadekar said.
He told TOI that this was an inter-ministerial matter which would be discussed thoroughly . “We will do the inter-linking of rivers in a manner that it simultaneously takes care of drinkingwater/irrigation needs of people and ecological concerns,“ said the minister.
Though river inter-linking was mooted way back in 1982, it was actively taken up during Atal Bihari Vajpayee's tenure as PM during 1999-2004. It, however, fell off the radar once the UPA came to power. The UPA took it up only during its last year in office after the Supreme Court in February 2012 directed the Centre to implement the river inter-linking project in a time-bound manner and appointed a high-powered committee for its planning and implementation.
The full river inter-linking project has two components -Peninsular and Himalayan. The Peninsular component, involving the rivers in southern India, envisaged developing a `south ern water grid' with 16 river linkages in different states.
This component included diversion of the surplus waters of Mahanadi and Godavari to the Pennar, Krishna, Vaigai and Cauvery rivers.
The Himalayan component, on the other hand, was conceived for building storage reservoirs on the Ganga and the Brahmaputra and their main tributaries both in India and Nepal in order to conserve water during the monsoon for irrigation and generation of hydro-power, besides checking floods.
The Himalayan component comprises 14 links including Brahamputra-Ganga, Kosi-Ghagra, Kosi-Mech, Ghagra-Yamuna, GandakGanga, Sarda-Yamuna, Farakka-Sunderbans, Subernarekha-Mahanadi and Ganga-Damodar-Subernarekha.
Both the components have 30 river-linking projects.
For the full report, log on to http://www.timesofindia.com