Guest post by: Raju Mimi and Usha Dewani

A ‘Workshop on environmental flows’ was organized by Aaranyak and River Research Center (Kerala) and supported by International Rivers, on the 6 of May 2012. Around fifty participants representing different grassroots organizations and communities from eight states of North East India along with resource persons from various parts of India participated in the one day workshop held at Indian Institute of Bank Management (IIBM), Khanapara, Guwahati, Assam.

168 hydropower schemes with a cumulative installed capacity of 63, 328 MW, have been proposed in North East India. This massive dam building exercise will have a direct impact on the whole estuarine ecosystem of the region severely affecting the river water flows which is crucial to sustaining freshwater habitat for plants and animals. Also it will have huge impact on river-dependent communities who depend on rivers to support their livelihoods.

Therefore, to enable the community to challenge destructive projects such as dams, a kind of sensitization programme on environmental flows or ‘e-flows’, a concept developed to achieve a flow regime, or pattern for rivers, that provides for human uses and to maintain the essential processes required to support a healthy river ecosystems was held in Guwahati on May 6, 2012.

Introduction to ‘Workshop on environmental flows’

The programme began with a welcome speech and brief introduction about the workshop by Partha J Das, of Aaranyak. Explaining on the background of the workshop, Das said that concept of e-flows is gaining significance all over India, both as a decision making tool and as a tool to access health of a riverine ecosystem.

“We realize the importance of having a threadbare discussion about what e-flows actually means. How can we estimate its merits and demerits as a tool for decision making as well an assessment tool for an ecosystem researcher?”

Das in his speech said that the North East region urgently needed this kind of concept. Therefore, the purpose of the workshop on e-flows was to bring in people from all sectors of society especially from the civil society of North East India to share views and contribute to the discussions, he said.

Inauguration

The introductory session was followed by an inaugural ceremony. In the inaugural ceremony, Professor Dulal C Goswami, former head of the Department of Environmental Science, Guwahati University, observed that the e-flows, is a concept that prescribes river flows needed to maintain healthy rivers, which is vital for the country and for our knowledge and understanding, and is not taught in any institution today.

“On e-flows there is so much of scarcity on knowledge and knowledgeable people. And mostly it is outside the academic discourse. It is only being taken up by knowledge-based NGOs and whole lot of new knowledge is being created by them,” he said.

He pointed out that the same type of e-flows assessment methodology may not be applicable to the same river at different locations and different segments. The validity of the particular model we are using, will be questionable because ecological and sociological aspects of the river may differ.

Introductory session by Dr. Dulal C Goswami

Why e-flows?

“Often decisions are taken by government that certain percentage of water should be released in a river that is dammed. On what basis are these decisions taken? Philosophy is that there should be some water left in the river. But how much water? This is where we started talking about e-flows,” said Samir Mehta of International Rivers Network explaining to the participants on why the concept of e-flows needs to be worked out as a new decision making tool.

Elucidating further, Latha Anantha of River Research Centre (RRC), Kerala said, “E-flows is in addition to the larger picture of interlinking of rivers (ILR). In 2003, the ILR concept came in India and with that questions arose as to how much water should flow in a river. What are environment flows all about? How can we improve the flow by managing the existing reservoir in that river? How can the operation of the reservoir be managed so that river flows can be managed in the downstream?”

Bringing out the big challenge of managing the flow of water in river Brahmaputra, she said a big problem of managing the river during peak hour time and off peak will come up, if all proposed dams in the river are constructed. “During the day time, the river will be dead, and during the evening time, lot of water will be flowing in the river. How can we work out an action strategy to improve the river flow? How can reservoir operations management improve flow in the downstream, for irrigation, drinking needs, and for downstream ecology?”

She presented the recorded case of the Indus river where there has been drastic flow reduction due to regulation in flow. “Inspite of 2000 sq km of Indus delta being protected area, there has been drastic flow reduction from 1,85,000 MCM to 12,300 MCM per annum between 1892 to 1990,” said Anatha.

“According to the studies, flow reduction was mostly caused by dams and diversion of water especially for irrigation. The effects of flow reduction led to decline in drains, mangroves and fish productivity and increase in salinity. So if this is the case with the largest river delta of India, what is in store for the Brahmaputra?”

Other implications due to flow regulation as brought out by Anantha in her presentation on ‘Primer on E-flows’ were ecological, where numbers of certain species of fish declined due to the change in the morphology and ecology of the dammed river. The damming also affects hydraulic connectivity where lateral and horizontal connectivity of a river is disrupted. Further it also causes economic loss and decline in water quality.

Why should a river flow? How many dams can a river accommodate?

“For the government, water is wasted to sea, so every drop has to be used for humans. It implies that world starts with us and ends with us, that’s how we look at it,” said Anantha.

Stressing on the need to move away from the techno-economic centric and engineering view point of rivers, she said river is an ecosystem in itself, and it is the most important ecosystem which connects all other ecosystems. When we cannot recreate rain water, how we can recreate a river, she asked.

Bringing out a primer on e-flows, which she co-authored with Parineeta Dandekar of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP), she said, “E-flows is a technical domain and common people are left out. The objective of the primer on e-flows is to demystify the entire process. It is to ensure that the communities, that are going to be affected, participate in the decision making process.”

“As a decision making tool, e-flows is a concept that will help decide on the carrying capacity of the river. Can we go on building dams in a river? Any river has a carrying capacity beyond which the river becomes almost dead, ecologically dead and hydrologically dead. E-flows have to be used as tool for either stalling the dam or restoring the river,” said Anantha.

Implementation challenges

“India has not reached implementation stage but we have to start talking about this,” said Anantha. “Though river systems are similar, but hydrologically and ecologically rivers are different. And catchment variability and mountains are also different. For example, Himalayas are young mountains and Western Ghats are old mountains. Siltation and weathering process is different. Therefore we cannot have standard implementation process for the entire country. Also in western countries, direct dependent on rivers is very low. Direct dependence on rivers in India is very high.”

Other challenges she brought out regarding implementation of e-flows as assessment tool were on lack of data. “We don’t have pre-hydrological ecological data. How do we know how the river was, before being dammed? There is lack of proper hydrological and ecological data base. In Brahmaputra and its tributaries, which are yet to be dammed, we can generate our own hydrological ecological data for countering many of the destructive dams that are coming up. But for Western Ghats rivers, it’s too late.”

Also different political priorities of different states had impact on decision making. Some states advocate for more and more dams; lower the e-flows, as the best scenario. Lack of proper institutional framework to implement e-flows to manage, implement and monitor were other challenges that were brought out during the presentation. Ultimately, it was brought out that e-flows can be a legitimate basis for challenging the number of dams in a river.

Venue: New Delhi

Organiser: ACCESS

ACCESS is a not-for-profit company that offers specialised technical assistance under two verticals: microfinance and livelihoods.

Description
Livelihoods India Conference is an annual two day event wherein the issues related to sustainable livelihoods of the poor are discussed. Every year, the Conference has a dedicated theme, to allow one issue to be dealt and discussed in detail. Sector experts, academicians, innovators, practitioners as well as policy advocacy leaders and policy makers are invited to share their experiences, build consensus and define the road map and strategies for ensuring sustainable livelihoods for the poor.

Proposed Sub Themes

• Civil Society at Crossroads: Opportunities and Challenges
• Role of CSOs in Flagship Poverty Reduction Programmes of the Government
• Livelihood Challenges in Difficult Regions
• Incubating Livelihood Innovations
• Skill Development in Unorganised Sector: Role of Civil Society
• CSO's and Private Sector Partnership: Opportunities and Challenges in Livelihoods Promotion
• Urban Livelihoods and Urban-Rural Linkages
• Making Value Chains Work Better for Poor
• Role of Philanthropy in Impact Investing
• Climate Change Adaptation
• Enabling Conditions and Challenges for Collective Action  to Benefit Small Holder Producers

Registration
Early bird registration - upto September 30, 2012
National delegates - Rs. 3000
International delegates - $130

After September 30, 2012
National delegates - Rs. 4000
International delegates - $400

Contact details
Puja Gour / Paankhuri Mathur
Livelihoods India Secretariat at
ACCESS Development Services,
28, Hauz Khas Village,
New Delhi – 110016
Phone: +91 11 26510915/26536435/26536426
email: livelihoodsindia@accessdev.org
website: www.accessdev.org

1. What is integrity ?
2. What is corruption, and what are the various forms of corruption ?
3. Why are corruption risks high in the water sector ?
4. What are some key lessons and ways and means for fighting corruption in the water sector ?
5. What is the overall scenario with regard to corruption in the water sector in the world and in India ?

FAQ: What is integrity ?

This is synonymous with honesty and refers to the need for public, private and civil society sector representatives to be honest in carrying out their functions and resist corruption. It requires that holders of public or private office do not place themselves under any financial or other obligation to individuals or organisations that may influence their ability to perform their duties.

The main pillars of integrity:

1. Transparency – This refers to the right of citizens to access relevant information. Openness and public access to information are vital, so that water-users can understand the decision-making processes that affect them. This makes citizens knowledgeable about the standards to expect from public officials and enables them to protect their rights.

2. Accountability – Accountability is a broad concept and it entails several dimensions and is often used in different ways. Some see it as a mechanism to hold people and institutions accountable, whereas others may see it as a concept referring to the actual application and implementation of rules and standards. Accountability in a democratic sense according means an individual in a public function or a public institution must answer for their actions. This includes political, administrative, and financial dimensions.

3. Participation – Participation is a term with many different meanings. Some stress that it refers to the most basic indication of democratic rule that whoever is affected by a decision should, one way or another, directly or indirectly, have the chance of intervening in and influencing such decisions. It is also argued that participation fosters ownership in the sense that decisions are increasingly accepted and implemented by the involved actors. WIN believes in civil society’s right and responsibility to play a role in the water sector decision-making process and in holding officials and those in public service to account. It is important to make use of available data and information to monitor decision-making and progress on governance and corruption.

4. Integrity – This is about the need for public, private and civil society sector representatives to be honest in carrying out their functions and to resist extortion and banish corruption. Holders of public or private office should not place themselves under any financial or other obligation to individuals or organisations that may influence their ability to perform their duties or put water services and a clean environment at risk.

FAQ: What is corruption, and what are the various forms of corruption ?

According to Transparency International, “Corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain.” Corruption is about breaking socially established expectations of appropriate behaviour, and this is why a cultural approach is so important. Corruption is an exchange of either economic or social resources. Corruption does not only take place in the public sector, it also occurs in non-governmental organisations and private enterprises. Common examples include cutting red tape in applications for reservoir water abstraction or expediting a household’s connection to municipal water supplies. Falsifying water meter readings, for example, is an equally corrupt practice if it takes place in a private water company as in a public utility.

Within corruption, there is:

1. Grand corruption pervades the highest levels of government and distorts its central functions. It is typically less frequent but involves larger sums of money being paid as kickbacks, e.g. during the procurement process for large-scale infrastructure projects and purchasing of equipment and materials.

2. Petty corruption involves the exchange of small amounts of money, the granting of minor favours or the employment of friends and relatives in lower positions. By contrast, it is more frequent and involves lesser sums of money or favours. Petty corruption might involve very small amounts, the frequency of such transactions means that the aggregate amounts can be very large.

While petty corruption is generally applied at the level of the service provision (micro level), grand corruption takes place at macro level, which is, only open to a selected group of persons. These manage specific information, decisions, and contracts, where much larger sums are dealt with and where decisions affect a large population.

The various forms of corruption are:

1. Bribes and kickbacks

One of the most cited form of corruption; they may include the payment of a fixed sum, a percentage of a contract or in-kind favours. It is given to unduly influence some action or decision on the part of the recipient or beneficiary. Users for example may pay a small amount of money to have their meter reading falsified and bills lowered or to speed up repairs or the connection process. This can equally occur at higher levels within the chain of service provision.

2. Collusion / complicity

An arrangement between two or more parties designed to achieve an improper purpose, including influencing improperly the actions of another party. The most common form of collusion is when bidders agree among themselves on prices and “who should win.” This may or may not involve paying bribes to government officials so that they may “turn a blind eye” to the practice.

3. Fraud

Based on manipulation or distortion of information for private gain including the falsification of receipts and other documents. The use of misleading information to induce someone to turn over money or property voluntarily, for example, by misrepresenting the amount of people in need of a particular service.

4. Favouritism, clientelism, cronyism and nepotism

The use of entrusted power to provide preferential treatment to friends, family, business partners, political parties etc. This form of corruption often goes beyond individual interest and may include attempts to realign power structures for the accumulation and maintenance of power, status and wealth. Thus, it represents the infiltration of non-democratic paths to political and economic domination.

5. Extortion

The use of coercion to force an action or induce complicity. It can include threats of violence or of exposing damaging information in order to induce cooperation.

6. Embezzlement and theft

This includes the direct taking of money or property for personal enrichment out of public property. Not all cases of theft are considered corrupt, as it depends who is being stolen from, and if entrusted power is being abused. It might involve diversion of public funds to one’s own bank account or stealing equipment from the water utility’s warehouse.

FAQ: Why are risks of corruption high in the water sector?

1. Complexity

Many water infrastructure projects are marked by their complexity making it difficult to standardize and oversee. This is a real challenge for transparent procurement.

2. Voice

Those who are most severely affected – the poor, marginalized, future generations as well as the environment–are least likely to push successfully for redress and stronger accountability.

3. Regulation

The regulatory landscape in water is fragmented and water as such is difficult to coordinate among diverse interest groups. Regulatory loopholes invite corruption.

4. Water governance spills across agencies

Water often defies legal and institutional classification, creating a regulatory lacuna and leaving governance dispersed across countries and different agencies with many loopholes to exploit.

5. Water management is viewed as a largely technical issue in most countries

Managing water is still predominantly approached as an engineering challenge. Consideration for the political and social dimensions of water, including corruption issues and their costs, is limited.

6. Water involves large flows of public money

Water is more than twice as capital- intensive as other utilities. Large water management, irrigation and dam projects are complex and difficult to standardise, making procurement lucrative and manipulation difficult to detect.

7. Private investment in water is growing in countries already known to have high risks of corruption

Nine of the ten major growth markets for private sector participation in water and sanitation are in countries with high risks of corruption, posing particular challenges for international investors.

8. Informal providers, often vulnerable to corruption, continue to play a key role in delivering water to the poor

Informal water providers provide important bridging functions in many developing countries to bring water to the poor. They often operate in a legal grey zone, however, making their operations vulnerable to extortion and bribery.

9. Corruption in water most affects those with the weakest voice

Corruption in water often affects marginalised communities, the poor or – in the case of its impact on the environment – future generations. These are all stakeholders with a weak voice and limited ability to demand more accountability.

10. Water is scarce, and becoming more so

Climate change, population growth, changing dietary habits and economic development all exacerbate local water scarcities. The less water there is available, the higher the corruption risks that emerge in control over the water supply.

FAQ: What are some key lessons and ways and means for fighting corruption in the water sector ?

Some lessons:

1. Prevent corruption in the water sector, as cleaning up after it is difficult and expensive

When corruption leads to contaminated drinking water and destroyed ecosystems, the detrimental consequences are often irreversible. When subsidized water gives rise to powerful agricultural industries and lobbies, refocusing subsidies on the poor becomes more difficult.

2. Understand the local water context, otherwise reforms will fail

One size never fits all in fighting corruption, but this is particularly the case in the water sector, where conditions of supply and demand, existing infrastructure and governance systems vary widely. Understanding local conditions and the specific incentive systems that underpin corruption is a prerequisite for devising effective reforms.

3. Cleaning up water corruption should not be at odds with the needs of the poor

The costs of corruption in the water sector are disproportionately borne by the poor. Pro-poor anti-corruption efforts should focus on the types of service provision that matter most to them, such as public standpipes or drilling rural wells. Such efforts need to be designed so that they do not undercut peoples’ basic livelihoods: for example, a crackdown on informal service providers may eliminate an important way for the poor to secure reliable access to water.

4. Build pressure for water reform from above and from below

Ending corruption in the water sector requires breaking the interlocking interests and relationships that are perpetuating the problem. This is a formidable challenge. Leadership from the top is necessary to create political will and drive institutional reform. Bottom-up approaches are equally important to curbing corruption, by adding checks and balances on those in power that include the monitoring of money flows or benchmarks of utility performance.

Some recommendations:

A number of promising strategies and tools to tackle corruption in water resources management, drinking water and sanitation, irrigation and hydro power are required. A particular country’s dynamics determines the right mix and sequence of anti-corruption reforms, but the following is a summary of the most promising recommendations.

1. Scale up and refine the diagnosis of corruption in water – the momentum and effectiveness of reform depend on it

Much work remains to be done on studying the scope and nature of corruption in water. Tools such as corruption impact assessments for different areas of the water sector, public expenditure tracking or poverty and corruption risk-mapping help to shed valuable light on different aspects of the puzzle. These tools need to be refined, adopted widely across the water sector and adapted to specific local contexts to lay the foundations for targeted reform.

2. Strengthen the regulatory oversight of water management and use

Government and the public sector continue to play the most prominent role in water governance and should establish effective regulatory oversight, whether for the environment, water and sanitation, agriculture or energy. There are a number of institutional reforms that can make regulatory capture less likely and therefore should be prioritized: capacity building and training for regulatory staff, the provision of adequate resources (human, financial, technical and administrative), the creation of a clear institutional mandate, the implementation of transparent operating principles and the introduction of a public consultation and appeals process.

3. Ensure fair competition for and accountable implementation of water contracts

In many countries, the private sector has embraced basic anti-corruption measures as part of its standard operating procedures, but more must be done for this to have an impact on water. Governments and contractors can enter into integrity pacts (IPs) for public procurement processes. The large investment demand in the water sector means that export credit agencies, commercial banks and the lending wings of international financial institutions can play an important role in fighting corruption and should expand their due diligence requirements to include anti-bribery provisions.

4. Adopt and implement transparency and participation as guiding principles for all water governance

Transparency lays the foundation for public oversight and accountability and must come to characterize how water sector business is done by public and private stakeholders alike. Too often, commitments to this principle have not been translated into action. There are, however, some examples of how transparency is being practiced in water governance in the Global Corruption Report 2008 – from opening up project budgets to disclosure of performance indicators. These must be repeated and used as the basis for learning and improvement.

Increased participation has been documented throughout the Global Corruption Report 2008 as a mechanism for reducing undue influence and capture of the sector. Participation by marginalized groups in water budgeting and policy development can provide a means for adding a pro-poor focus to spending. Community involvement in selecting the site of rural wells and managing irrigation systems helps to make certain that small landholders are not last in line when it comes to accessing water.

Civil society participation in auditing, water pollution mapping and performance monitoring of water utilities creates important additional checks and balances. Transparency and participation build the very trust and confidence that water governance demands and civil society plays a critical role in turning information and opportunities for participation into effective public oversight.

FAQ: What is the overall scenario with regard to corruption in the water sector in the world and in India ?

Estimates by the World Bank suggest that 20–40 per cent of water sector finances are being lost to dishonest practices. The Global Corruption Report 2008 (GCR) of Transparency International and Water Integrity Network highlights that corruption takes place in all water sectors and concludes that availability and access to water are not necessarily due to water scarcity and demographic growth, but are an outcome of governance failures.

One of the causes of this poor governance is a lack of integrity, transparency, and accountability. Corruption in water takes many forms (embezzlement of funds, bid-rigging and collusion, bribery, kickbacks, extortion and nepotism) and affects many areas (health, food security, poverty reduction plan, environmental sustainability and political stability) and ultimately, it is the poor, women and marginalised communities that suffer the most.

Corruption in the water sector comes in many different forms and the scope varies across types of water practices, governance structures and the perceptions and norms of actors involved. Typical examples of corruption include falsified meter readings, distorted site selection of boreholes or abstraction points for irrigation, collusion and favouritism in public procurement, and nepotism in the allocation of public offices.

In the water sector, observers’ estimate that 20 per cent to 70 per cent of resources could be saved if transparency were optimised and corruption eliminated (GCR 2008). Lack of integrity and accountability is not specific to a given country or region. There are particular characteristics in the water sector which make it vulnerable to unethical practices, such as large monopolies, high level of public sector involvement, and large-scale construction, which are the same throughout the world.

These characteristics are not exclusive to the water sector, but unlike many other sectors, compromised integrity in water has a direct impact in human health and livelihoods, and thus demands our greatest attention. Different kinds of institutions, including public, private, and non-profit, can be susceptible to corruption. Corruption thrives in situations with multiple and complex regulations and uncontested official discretion cover expenditures from the eyes of the public.

Situations where someone has a monopoly over a good or a service; has the discretion to decide whether others receive that good or service and how much is received, and has no accountability or transparency in decision-making, usually end in officials giving way to corruption. This is true in the public, private and non-profit sector and in rich and poor countries alike.

The separation of powers and the introduction of checks and balances, transparency, a good system of justice, clearly defined roles, responsibilities and rules all tend to reduce opportunities for corruption to occur. A democratic culture, where there is real competition for water projects, and good control systems where people (employees, clients, overseers) have the right to information and the right of redress, makes it easier to expose corrupt parties and limit its spread.

The India scenario: Corruption is rampant in the water sector in India. The India Corruption Study 2010, states that 39 % perceive that corruption has increased in the water sector. A significant proportion of the rural households (41%), which interacted with water supply services feel that there is an increase in the level of corruption.

Overall, 21 percent of the surveyed rural households reported that they have either paid bribe or were asked to pay bribe to avail the water supply related services. Bribe is paid not only for drinking water service but a major chunk goes to get water for irrigation. The total corruption burden on irrigation contracts is estimated to exceed 25 per cent of the contract volume, and is allegedly shared between officials and then funnelled upwards through the political system, making it especially hard to break the cycle of collusion.

Article and Image Source : Performance Assessment System Project - www.pas.org.in

The Performance Assessment System (PAS) Project at CEPT University is a five-year Action Research Project, which works on developing appropriate tools and methods to measure, monitor and improve delivery of water and sanitation services in urban India. Funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Project covers all the 400 plus urban local bodies (ULBs) in Gujarat and Maharashtra, where operational and financial performance data on urban water supply and sanitation (UWSS) services is being collected annually. The PAS Project comprises three components of measurement, monitoring and improvement.

PAS web portal

The annual performance data collated by CEPT along with its partner institutes, Urban Management Centre (UMC) in Gujarat and All India Institute of Local Self Government (AIILSG) in Maharashtra is aligned with the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India’s framework for Service Level Benchmarks (SLB) for measuring performance of water and sanitation service delivery in Indian cities. As per the recommendations of the Thirteenth Finance Commission, the local bodies in the country are required to put in place benchmarks for essential civic services and to report the standards to be achieved by the end of the following fiscal year on an annual basis and publish these standards in the State Gazette.

Urban water and sanitation services in Maharashtra

Dashboard showing performance indicators of water supply in Gujarat

The PAS database currently hosts data for four years for over 400 ULBs in Gujarat and Maharashtra. It is one of the largest databases on urban water and sanitation and is linked to the PAS web portal. The visualizations offer both overviews of the data at both state and city level and access to each city’s individual database. Various tools have been also developed by the PAS team to enable interactive analysis of data, and use the PAS information for performance improvement. The portal also showcases a range of knowledge products and reports developed under the Project.

Urban water bodies are encroached, full of sewage, garbage or just filled up and built over these days. This briefing paper by CSE on the state of urban water bodies, conservation and management in India, has tried to bring out the threats to the urban water bodies in India. The paper has also reviewed the existing policies, acts and laws to tackle the loss of these bodies of water.

India’s water bodies are extraordinarily diverse – ranging from lakes and ponds to marshes, mangroves, backwaters and lagoons. These water bodies play an important role in providing drinking water, fish, fodder, supporting wild life, controlling floods, recharging groundwater and helping cities adapt to climate change effects.

The interaction of the human world with the urban bodies of water in the last few decades has been a reason of concern. Today these water bodies across the country are systematically converted into “real estate” by vested interests or simply used as a dumping ground for sewage and garbage and are receptacles for toxic waste. Entry of raw sewage causes prolific growth of aquatic weeds (eutrophication) in many lakes and ponds.

Sometimes the water quality deteriorates to such an extent that there is a serious damage of the biodiversity. The catchments feeding the bodies of water are also subjected to encroachment and degradation.

For prevention of pollution and encroachment, the government has come up with different policies and acts. Programme like National Lake Conservation Programme (NLCP) has been launched in order to restore the lakes, tanks and other water bodies of urban areas by central government. India is also signatory to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, for conservation and wise use of wetlands (which include the water bodies).

Concerned citizens and nonprofit organizations have also filed several public interest litigations in order to save the urban water bodies. There have been few dramatic court actions but it has been seen that absence of a legally enforceable national regulation has hampered any real progress in many of these cases.

The management and the conservation of the urban bodies of water have also been complicated by the absence of proper policy on the conservation and protection. In order to restore the poor state of water bodies, there have been several initiatives by the citizens and the government. Many public-private partnerships are in action for conservation of lakes, ponds and tanks. De-weeding and desilting have taken place in different ponds, lakes and tanks to restore the original state of these water bodies. Technologies like aeration, bioremediation and biomanipulation have been applied to clean different lakes and tanks. Few lakes of Nainital, Thane and Jaipur have been revived to great extent after application of these technologies.

The report has a section on legal cases including public interest litigations that have been filed in a few states by citizens and NGOs for the protection of lakes. The courts have responded with dramatic verdicts, which provide the learnings for how these water-systems can be regenerated for the city’s future, the report says.

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Three fellowships will be awarded to writers and researchers to conduct original research and write a series of 5 or more detailed articles on a chosen topic. The subject proposed must be pertinent to the broad areas covered by Infochangeindia – viz social justice, sustainable development, accountable governance and pluralism in India.

The fellowship must result in an exhaustive series of five or more original articles (preferably with photographic documentation) on the proposed subject of research, totalling 9,000 words or more. These will be uploaded on www.infochangeindia.org and may be published in any journals/books published by CCDS in the future.

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Article Courtesy : The Hindu

With government giving thrust to direct sowing in Cauvery delta districts as part of the special package for samba, farmers of Thanjavur district have gone for direct sowing at many places utilising the widespread rainfall recorded in the district .

According to agriculture department officials, direct sowing has been carried out on nearly 250 hectares so far in Thiruvaiyaru and Orathanadu areas . “We expect direct sowing of samba on nearly 20,000 hectares out of the total 1, 25,000 hectares planned for the season. In other areas, cultivation would be carried out using community nurseries and System of Rice Intensification (SRI) method,” officials said.

In direct sowing, seeds are sown and allowed to grow in rain water. In Tiruvarur district , farmers have started direct sowing in Tiruvarur and Thiruthuraipoondi areas.

N.Dharumarajan, a farmer who has gone for direct sowing for the first time at Vandayar Iruppu village near Thanjavur, has done so on the basis of advice given by International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines. "Instead of manual sowing, I used a multi-cropper for sowing the seeds. The crop has grown well and I hope to reap 50 bags of paddy per acre (60 kilos per bag) than the usual 30 bags," he said.

Click here to read the entire article

Source of Video: Chai with Lakshmi

This video presents the views of a sustainable water solutions expert, Avinash Krishnamurthy, on what urban dwellers must do to manage the water in a sustainable and ecologically kinder manner. The looming water crisis in cities, drying up of lakes and reservoirs, the dire consequences of over-exploitation and pollution of groundwater resources has made water management a challenging task in urban areas. The video starts by posing some important questions – What is the story behind our water supply? Where does it come from? What is our water allowance? How much water is consumed by each of us every day? How is waste water disposed? Mr. Krishnamurthy, stresses on the need to think about the "journey of water" and its implication in terms of our day to day practices.

With a brief background to the impact of urbanisation on water resources, the video draws the example of Bangalore city to showcase how the state water board has gradually shifted from relying on local water bodies from lakes/reservoirs to drawing water from river Cauvery.  This has been a product of rapid urbanisation process of the city. Coupled with this is the emerging  insanitary condition of the city due to inadequate drainage facility. The waste water with no option to find its way to drainage system, finally gets back to ground water thereby poisoning it as well.

Finally it draws attention to the much required attitudinal change among people to deal with water problems. Mr. Krishnamurthy, emphasizes about a balanced mix of simple technology and knowledge that can be easily understood by everyone. At domestic level, using efficient taps and flushes, exploring ways through which domestic water such as soap water, water from washing machines and others can be treated and used for other purposes, changing the plumbing system, the need for laws and policies that strengthens these techniques are some of simple ways, highlighted in the video.

Organiser: International Water Association (IWA)

Co-Organisers: BORDA, CDD Society Bangalore, GiZ Germany, NEERI

Venue: Nagpur

Description
The conference aims to build capacity and awareness of decentralised wastewater treatment systems as a viable sanitation option for countries in Asia, particularly in India. The conference will focus on (a) sustainable technical options, (b) management options and the roles of various stakeholders, (c) enabling institutional and regulatory frameworks for the effective implementation and scaling-up of decentralised systems.

Objective
The objective of the Conference is to build capacity and awareness of DEWATS as a viable sanitation option for countries in Asia to enhance sanitation coverage and service delivery in the urban environment and provide a cost-effective means for treating wastewater. It will focus on

• Sustainable technical options
• Management options and the roles of various stakeholders
• Enabling institutional and regulatory frameworks for the effective implementation and scaling-up of decentralised systems.

Conference Format
The conference will examine, discuss and distill learning points from successful examples of DEWATS being implemented and meeting urban sanitation challenges at scale across the world, and are applicable to countries in Asia. The focus will be on practical solutions and real-life examples of systems that work, and include community, institutional, financial and technical aspects. Oral presentations will be drawn from the best submissions to the call of papers, and invited speakers who are leaders in the field of DEWATS. Poster presentations will accompany oral presentations at the conference to stimulate further learning and discussions.  Presentations delivered at the conference will be considered for publishing in IWA Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development.

Registration and accomodation

Click here for details and early bird offers

Important dates
Early bird registration: October 5, 2012
Online registration ends: November 15, 2012

Click here for more information about the conference

Contact details
Daniel Cheong
Conference Secretariat
WaterHub
80 Toh Guan Road East
3rd Floor Training Block
Singapore 608575
Republic of Singapore
Email:secretariat@iwadewats-nagpur.com
website: www.iwadewats-nagpur.com

Download attachement for more details

This draft protocol by Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation is on the monitoring the quality of the drinking water. This document describes various elements of laboratory management practices that will ensure that the data generated is comparable and scientifically correct and is in a form that can then be used to result in interventions to improve water quality. It also includes setting-up laboratories at State, District and Sub-district level and their quality control for regular testing and surveillance of drinking water sources.

It states that although it is mandatory that the drinking water should meet with specific standards before it is consumed by people, yet water is distributed to vast majority is never tested. In the backdrop of such situation where the water supplied is not safe for consumption, it thus becomes necessary and important to ensure the safety and acceptability of drinking water.

The document begins with a brief introduction about Water Safety Plan (WSP) is one such tool that provides safe water to the people for all types of water supply systems i.e. large piped drinking water supplies, small community supplies, stand-alone household systems such as wells and also in rain harvesting systems. The tool aims to minimize risks of contamination via sanitary surveillance. It can be conjoined with water quality monitoring for ensuring safe water to the communities. It is stated that widespread WSP can contribute in the reduction of the portion of the disease emerging from poor quality of drinking water.

The next section of the document elaborates on the drinking water quality monitoring. It spells out the following aspects: definition of drinking water quality and sanitary inspection.

The third section of the draft discusses about the need to revise Uniform Protocol on Water Quality Monitoring Order, 2005. It states that the BIS standard emphasizes more on SAR, N, P, K, NH3, etc, which is not required for drinking water. Also the existing Uniform Protocol on Water Quality Monitoring relies more on BOD and COD surrogate to biological and chemical contamination. Chlorination if adopted as unit of process for disinfection in the water treatment plants is not monitored in the order. Thus there is a need to evolve a Uniform Drinking Water Quality Monitoring Protocol.

The fourth, fifth and sixth section elaborates on the functions of the water quality testing laboratories, the requirements for setting up such laboratories, safety measures to be followed in labs.

The seventh section deals with treatment technology for laboratory wastewater.

Click below to download the draft.

Author : Dr Pradeep Kumar Majumdar

 It is well known fact that water well hydraulics is derived from the petroleum industry, therefore borrowed the concept of synonymy between pumping and injection. Two reasons which favoured the presumption are 1. Solutions for crude oil injection were never so significant as compared to pumping in the petroleum industry, and 2. By the time water injection hydraulics necessitated, numerical modelling techniques had already overpowered the analytical solution techniques. Still the difference between well recharge and pumping may attract attention of many hydro-geologists, who appreciate classical behaviour of well hydraulics.

In technology, we are so-much of a copycat that sometimes minimum basic qualification looks relaxing. I remember the days of my initial service period, if you take a doubt to your senior officer, he will persuade that you just copy the previous sanctioned design preformats to the extent that if a total span of 9.6 m is divided into 3 spans of 3.2m each in the past design, you have no other option than to copy the number of spam even if total span is 3.3 m in the present design. Do you think it requires any specified qualification? Similarly, when the same person become head of an institution at the ultimate stages of his career and looks after the excellence in education and research as a doctorate degree holder, he could perhaps only see through the window glasses of his cabin, degrading values of his academic qualifications. Ultimately the job he peruses can be better handled by even an illiterate person, just copying and signing documents.

Most interesting in this regard is the time one spends as scientist in water sector; hardly somebody has demarcation line between investigation, design and research. Many times researchers are merely investigating and designing to show it as research and more often investigators establish better research products than a basic researcher. Where lie the utility of much hyped academic qualification?

It is well known fact that water well hydraulics is derived from the petroleum industry, therefore borrowed the concept of synonymy between pumping and injection. Two reasons which favoured the presumption are

1. Solutions for crude oil injection were never so significant as compared to pumping in the petroleum industry, and

2. By the time water injection hydraulics necessitated, numerical modelling techniques had already overpowered the analytical solution techniques.

Still the difference between well recharge and pumping may attract attention of many hydro-geologists, who appreciate classical behaviour of well hydraulics.

Characteristics discussed in well hydraulics

In well hydraulics, two characteristics which are widely discussed are; well storage and well loss. The well behaviours are quite different during the processes of pumping and recharge and hence the characteristic parameters. They could be explained as;

1.    During pumping, well storage comes in to the picture only in the initial period, afterwards it is all about drawing water from the aquifer. Whereas recharge process can only be augmented with well storage in place, hence dominates the entire period. Consequently, constant well storage consideration in pumping solution is nearly realistic, however for recharge cases, it is highly unrealistic. In recharge case unsteady well storage is governing factor, as maintaining a constant well storage is difficult if not impossible.

2.    Well loss computation during recharge is not straight forward, as it is during pumping. It is due to the difficulty in transforming the mirror images. More-over pumping rate can be kept as constant, however recharge rate seldom remains constant, and rather it diminishes gradually with progression in recharge process. During recharge, well loss is governed by the clogging of the well face and adjoining aquifer, friction in the well face and velocity gradient between the well and the aquifer. These considerations are rarely thought of in pumping solutions.

Figure 1: Comparison of the Recharge solutions with Cooper et al. (1967)

Figure 2: Comparison of the Recharge solution with Papadopoulos and Cooper (1967)

Figure 3: Non-dimensional recharge rate for different friction parameter, k

Figure 4: Recharge rate variations with variable well loss coefficient

In well hydraulics pressure solutions are described through slug test solutions and flux solutions are derived through pumping test.

Comparisons of developed solutions for recharge (Majumdar et al., 2009 and Majumdar et al., 2012) with slug test and pumping test solutions are shown in figure 1 and 2. Well loss computations in case of pressure and flux solution are shown in figure 3 and 4 respectively.

Don’t you think it takes time and courage to withstand basic research? Otherwise what is the use of academic qualification and prolonged experience? A common man can also provide water solutions.

References:

P. K. Majumdar, G. C. Mishra, M. Sekhar & K. Sridharan, Coupled Analytical Solutions for Forced Well Recharge in Confined Aquifers, ASCE J. Hydrological Engineering , 14(12), 1351-1358, 2009.

P. K. Majumdar, K. Sridharan, G. C. Mishra, M. Sekhar, Unsteady Equation for Free Recharge in a Confined Aquifer, Journal of Geology and Mining Research Vol. 4(4) pp. 75-85, May 2012    

This draft by Himachal Pradesh’s, Irrigation and Public Health Department, is an act, which aims to establish a water regulatory authority in order to regulate water resources within the State. Further it also aims in the following: facilitate and ensure judicious, equitable and sustainable management, allocation and optimal utilization of water resources for environmentally, economically sustainable development of the State, fix the rates for water use for agriculture, industrial, drinking, power and other purposes and cess on lands benefited by flood protection and drainage works from the owners of lands benefited through appropriate regulatory instruments.

Click below to read the details of the act.

Author : Reena Pinto

The Sustainable Living Centre is located at Puttaparthi, Anantapur District, Andhra Pradesh.  The 5 stage solar water purification system gives 1500 litres of drinking water in 24 hours, if it is running continuously and if it has a constant source of water supply connected to it. The system is capable of filtering:  fluoride, arsenic, bacteria, pesticide and more and doesn’t require electricity to run, so it is a good solution for villages that do not have 24/7 power supply.

The 5 stage solar water purification system gives 1500 litres of drinking water in 24 hours

The water purification system does not require electricity to function - a big advantage when it comes to functioning in villages with erratic power supply

Key features of this system are:

• Pre-filter for sand and other gross materials
• Magnetic water Softener to reduce water Hardness
• Five stage RO filtering system with low energy consumption DC motor
• RO waste-water recovery for useful applications
• Dual energy source, AC and DC Solar PV, Battery for electricity disruptions
• Roof-top solar PV panel
• LED Light for night use (optional)
• Two Loft water holding Tanks
• Weather protection boards to prevent overheating and vandalism
• Service access door with lock
• Simple plug and operate connections to water and electricity sources
• Modular capabilities for larger water volume capacities
• Swipe Card Option, for recording and / or charging capability

For more details contact:

Mr. Mario
Tel +91 8555 288503 / 288053 Mob +91 9618845393 Off +91 9502073751
Sustainable Living Centre
16/417 Prashantigram, Opp. Super Speciality Hospital
Puttaparthi, Anantapur Dist., Andhra Pradesh 515134, India

Organiser: The Public Health Foundation of India

Venue: Indian Institute of Public Health
               Plot 34,
               Sector 44,
               Institutional area
              Gurgaon-122002

The Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) is a public private initiative that has collaboratively evolved through consultations with multiple constituencies including Indian and international academia, state and central governments, multi & bi-lateral agencies and civil society groups. PHFI is a response to redress the limited institutional capacity in India for strengthening training, research and policy development in the area of Public Health.

Description
The workshop will educate participants about the basics of exposure assessment, the different techniques and methods employed particularly with an emphasis on air pollution (indoor and ambient). The workshop will also discuss the uncertainty and variability inherent in the assessment both in the context of the agent (pollutant) and the receptor (human).

Topics

• Introduction to health impact assessment
• Air quality and health outcomes
• Basics of exposure assessment
• Exposure assessment in risk assessment Components of environmental exposure assessment
• Exposure assessment methods Exposure dose relationships
• Exposure assessment for indoor air pollution
• Modeling in exposure assessment

Registration Fee
National participants
Working professionals: Rs. 4000 per participant without accommodation.
Students/ interns: Rs. 2000 per participant without accommodation.
Students hostel accommodation including meals, twin sharing room basis for four days - Rs. 2000

International participants
Working professionals: Rs. 8000 per participant without accommodation.
Students/ interns: Rs. 4000 per participant without accommodation.
Students hostel accommodation including meals, twin sharing room basis for four days, Rs. 2000

Who should attend?
This workshop would be suitable for researchers engaged in the domain of Public Health, managers of Public Health programs including NGOs, program managers of National Programs at the district, state and National levels, Medical Officers of PHCs, CHCs and district Hospitals and managers from International organizations.

Registration details
Click here for registration forms and complete brochure
Interested participants may send their completed registration form to the following address along with the fees by Demand Draft, payable at Delhi in favor of “Public Health Foundation of India” payable at Delhi.
Registration fee includes workshop kit, lunch and refreshment.

Important date
Last date of registration: September 15, 2012

Contact details
Ms. Tanuja Bhandari
Programme Officer
Indian Institute of Public Health-Delhi
Plot 34, Sector 44, Institutional Area,
Gurgaon-122002,
Haryana
Tel: +91 124-4722900 (Extn:317)
Email: tanuja.bhandari@iiphd.org
Website: www.phfi.org

Download attachment for registartion form and more details

This field note by the Water and Sanitation Program, describes how it is possible to deliver twenty four water supply through individual household connections to all residents. It illustrates the example of three cities of northern Karnataka- Belgaum, Hubli-Dharwad and Gulbarga, where the water is delivered round ‘o’clock.

The note begins with a brief description on the current water delivery system, which is intermittent, not potable and insufficient. This system had pushed the consumers to adopt expensive coping strategy, which includes installation of underground storage tanks, suction pumps on water mains or

overhead tanks, boiling water or using household filters. People with no in-house connection have to queue at stand posts, sometimes with belowground-level pipe outlets (pit taps) to access sufficient water pressure. In addition to these problems water leakage merging out from faulty joints, holes, contamination of water are also prominent. Under such a grim situation of water supply across majority of cities in India, a case for supplying 24*7 water was proposed. The Government of Karnataka (GoK), with the assistance of Indian think tanks and the World Bank, proposed ‘demonstration projects’ in three cities in Karnataka.

The aim of this project that to showcase to public and institutions that delivering water 24*7 is possible, sustainable and water will be available at an affordable price.

The note then goes on to spell out the benefits of 24*7 water supply. Following this the entire process of selecting the demonstration sites, the various stages of the project, the role of different institutions involved in the pilot project, the financial and contractual agreements are elaborated. The pro poor policy, the promised results brought under the new delivery system, the pro active role played by the NGO’s to bring in the new system and create awareness among people have also been highlighted in the note.

Finally the note concludes that 24*7 water supply is possible but it requires commitment at all levels over a long period of time. Significant change in the management approach to consumers, to billing and revenue collection is required to bring in this change. However this change can be viewed as a move towards a reformed utility which is viable in long term and is more consumers centric. Further a long term involvement of the World Bank with the government of Karnataka has turned this commitment to a demonstration project.

Click here to read the field note.

This document by Himachal Pradesh’s, Irrigation and Public Health Department, provides guidelines for transfer of operation and maintenance of rural water supply schemes to Panchayati Raj Institutions in the state. It document in the beginning states that despite huge investments are made for the creation of infrastructure for rural drinking water supply network, the Operation and Maintenance expenses are mounting every year and the service level is far from satisfactory.

The document in the next section elaborates the current role of the Irrigation and Public Health Department. Following which the strategy to be followed for operation and maintenance of the water supply i.e, the details of the procedure for handing over of the scheme to the PRI’s for O&M is elaborated. The process of selecting the scheme for transferring to gram panchayat, transfer of assets, the support to be provided by the state government (financial, technical), the process of selecting the person who will be in-charge of O&M, monitoring responsibility of the gram panchayat are some of the important aspects covered in the document.

Click below to download the document.

Article and Image Courtesy : The Hindu

Successful farmer:G.T. Satish, an engineer-turned-farmer, at his banana farm in Madinayakanahatti village in Chitradurga

Inspired by Subhash Palekar, a crusader of ‘zero-budget natural farming’, G.T. Satish, a civil engineer at Madinayakanahatti village in Chitradurga taluk, has become a successful farmer.

Though Mr. Satish worked in Bangalore, his love for agriculture brought him back to his native place. In 2004, he attended a workshop organised by Mr. Palekar in Davangere on ‘zero-budget natural farming’ and decided to experiment it on 25 acres of farmland owned by his father .

Mr. Satish has since grown arecanut in nine acres, banana in five acres, and cocoa in three acres. Since the farmland is near a hill, he has constructed a bund and a wastewater tank to store rainwater. It helps in maintaining moisture in the field and recharges borewells, he said.

Instead of using chemical fertilizers, the farmer uses cow urine as pesticide.

Click here to read the entire article

Article and Image Courtesy : The Hindu

Author : M. J. Prabu

Women making their own bio inputs

The Tamil Nadu Women’s Collective, a network of rural grassroot level women’s groups working in around 20 districts in Tamil Nadu for the past eight years, has been successfully promoting collective model farms in several districts of the state.

The prime objective of this collective farming is not only to ensure food security but also to ensure safe food through adoption of natural methods and encourage millet growing in drylands.

“The present status of agriculture in the country is quite bleak. Farmers are not able to get a good income, the cultivation cost has increased, many are leaving their lands fallow.

“Several acres are being sold off to companies and real estate agencies. The few still doing farming prefer to grow cash crops instead of food crops,” says Ms. Ponnuthayee, Secretary of the network.

Several programmes

For the last three years, the organization has been providing several capacity building programmes and exposures to women in rural areas to bring about awareness on the importance of reviving livelihood opportunities like agriculture work for achieving self reliance and sustainable development at the community level.

Click here to read the entire article

Article Courtesy : The Hindu

Author : Mihir Shah

The most important provision in the bill is Social Impact Assessment (SIA), a practice well established across the world that has greatly helped carry forward development in a more just and inclusive manner

India is a rapidly industrialising economy and society with intense demands for better infrastructure from its people. The last 20 years have seen a great acceleration in this process, with India becoming one of the world’s fastest growing economies. However, for those whose lands were acquired for these purposes and the even more vulnerable people whose livelihoods depended on the lands acquired, a great human tragedy has unfolded. Independent estimates place the number of people displaced following development projects in India since independence at 60 million. This is the highest number of people uprooted for development projects in the world. Only a third of these people were resettled in a planned manner. Most of them were the asset-less rural poor, marginal farmers, poor fisherfolk and quarry workers. Around 60 per cent of the displaced belonged to the Adivasi and Dalit communities. Given that 90 per cent of our coal, more than 50 per cent of minerals and most prospective dam sites are in Adivasi regions, there is likely to be continuing contention over issues of land acquisition in these areas.

Two sides of a coin

We need to move decisively away from the colonial Land Acquisition Act 1894, which treats the Indian people as “subjects,” towards a vision of citizens, whose rights are guaranteed under the Constitution. This is what the proposed Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act seeks to do. The most significant feature of the new law is that it combines land acquisition with resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R). For these must inescapably be seen as two sides of the same coin. R&R must, in each instance, necessarily follow upon significant acquisition of land. Not combining the two within one law risks neglect of R&R, whose provisions need to be made mandatory and not reduced to being conditionalities without consequences, as they have largely been thus far.

Click here to read the entire article

This draft report by the Kerala Paristhithi Aikya Vedi is an outcome of the Kerala State Environmental Convention, a two day convention that was organised in Trivandrum, Kerala by calling upon various environmental and social organisations, concerned citizens, experts,  political leaders in the state to discuss the environmental crisis that the state has been facing in recent years.

The convention aimed at providing a critique of the economic policies and the development path that was being followed in the country in recent years, which had a complete disregard for the negative environmental, ecological and social impacts of these policies on the natural resources, environment and human health. 

The Kerala backwaters

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

The report highlights the current and very urgent issues in the state that have led to this grave environmental crisis, and to the gradual deterioration of natural resources, which threaten to pose as serious risks to health and to the survival and sustainability of the natural ecosystems, which include:

• Loss and degradation of forests
• Loss of mangrove ecosystems
• Threat to coastal ecosystems
• Increased sand and clay mining of rivers, river banks and paddy lands leading to an ecological disaster and a serious challenge to food and water security
• Overexploitation leading to fast depletion and degradation of the freshwater and marine fauna
• Conversion of paddy fields for cash crops, construction and other development activities, leading to reduction in food production in the state
• Deterioration of rivers and river ecosystems on account of sand mining, encroachment, contamination from chemical pesticides and fertilisers and effluent and sewage/solid waste from industries, municipalities and corporations
• Increasing scarcity of water
• Loss of farmland productivity
• Alarming rates of air, water and soil contamination
• Increasing menace of garbage disposal as well as medical waste disposal
• Increasing threat of industrial pollution
• Menace from electronic waste
• Growth of urbanisation

The Kerala backwaters

Image Source:Wikimedia Commons

The report is divided into the following chapters:

1. Agriculture, biodiversity and food security
2. Conservation of wetlands and paddy lands
3. Rivers of Kerala- Time for Revival
4. Coastal and marine ecosystems of Kerala
5. Fisheries
6. Forests and forestry in Kerala
7. Forest conservation
8. Quarrying and mining
9. Green energy policy
10. Housing
11. Solid waste management
12. Transportation
13. Industrial development
14. Industrial pollution
15. Proposed Kerala state green land use policy
16. Sustainable tourism- Preserving culture and heritage
17. IT industry

The report argues for a different development paradigm that ensures economic growth based on social, environmental, ecological, secular and democratic systems with a focus on ensuring all citizens clean air, clean water, clean soil, clean food, a roof to dwell, hygienic living surroundings, basic free medical and education facilities.

The report provides an alternative perspective and proposes solutions to deal with the current situation by arguing for a green agenda for Kerala to deal with the burning environmental issues in the state and urges political parties both in the government and in opposition to make an attempt to integrate these basic requirements in their agenda for the benefit of the current populations and the generations to come.

Suggestions are invited/welcome on the draft copy of this report, which can be forwarded to the following address:

Dr. V.S. Vijayan, Salim Ali Foundation

Ayyappankavu Road, Kanimangalam,

Thrissur 680027

Mob: 9446372880

E mail: vsvijayan@yahoo.com

A copy of the report can be downloaded from below: