Water and society

Serving a Pipe Dream Alternatives to Centralised Piped Water Supply in Two Metro Cities in India

Sachin Tiwale, Karthikeyan R, Kriti Batra Economic and Political Weekly | March 7, 2025 Centralised piped water supply is a key technology for supplying water in many Indian cities, including Kolkata and Chennai. A closer examination of water consumption patterns in these cities reveals that households across classes routinely access water from alternative sources, such […]

Mumbai’s Unquenchable Thirst: Overestimating Water Demand to Justify Dams

Sachin Tiwale Question Of Cities | March 22, 2024 Water to the city has been supplied from seven dams, constructed in the neighbouring rural and forested areas, at great socio-economic and environmental costs. More such capital-intensive projects are being planned. But does Mumbai really need these projects? The answer, surprising to many, is in the […]

Inclusive Management Of Our Water Commons

Rashmi Mahajan, Manish Rajankar Ecology, Economy And Society–The INSEE Journal | January 31, 2024 New study explores the intricate challenges of water management in Maharashtra, from historic systems to present-day conflicts. The essay concludes that we need long-term and sustainable solutions that involve community participation in finding, planning, and implementing solutions.The essay underscores the urgent […]

Assessing Resilience of Natural Treatment System to Variable Contaminant Loads in an Urbanizing Catchment

Anjali V Raja, Priyanka Jamwal Journal of Water Process Engineering | January 16, 2024 Constructed wetlands (CWs) offer solution to increasing wastewater concerns. Long term monitoring data (six years) provides information on robustness and life time of such systems. The CW system examined in this study was deployed to serve as a polishing stage for […]

Re-imagining Bengaluru lakes as living beings

The lakes we have around the city are all man-made. They were historically interconnected irrigation tanks with embankments against the flow of water, resulting in a deep end and a shallow end.

Disappearing Kandal wetlands of Ooty

The Times of India

The hidden danger

Priyanka Jamwal Bangalore Mirror | Novermber 6, 2023 The latest study regarding the detection of high levels of heavy metals in the vegetables sold in the supermarkets across Bengaluru has generated a sense of apprehension among the urban population. This study was conducted by Environmental Management Policy & Research Institute (EMPRI), a reputed state agency […]

Atal Bhujal Yojana: A (mis) Calculated Approach

Veena Srinivasan, Partik Kumar India Development Review | 1 November, 2023 The Atal Bhujal Yojana aims to address groundwater depletion and encourage community-led water security plans. But it may not be taking into account a key component of water flows.