Water budget

The Union budget of 2005-06 had given the impression that the United Progressive Alliance (upa) government had a plan to promote water conservation and management. With the 2006-07 budget round the corner, now is a good time to look at how serious was upa's water plan.

Seismic fault as recharge well

THE Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra governments recently sanctioned a novel scheme to replenish groundwater in six districts of the two states. The plan involves directing water from the Tapi river into a 25 km-wide seismic fault-line that runs between the river and the Satpura mountain chain.

VIRTUAL WATER

www.waterchannel.tv THE film with the top billing on www.waterchannel.tv is a childs perspective on water. Ten-year-old Buke Onaldi is worried her birth place Hague

In Court

NIO Slams Sethusamudram: The Supreme Court on November 3 asked the Centre to submit a progress report on the Sethu- samudram project after the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) raised doubts on its viability. The NIO report said the Rs 2,400 crore project would destroy marine biodiversity and render the area vulnerable to severe cyclone impact. The Centre is yet to clarify if an alternative sea route could be built.

News 360 - Briefs

indigenous peoples rights Lima offers soil, denies subsoil

A crisis that will redefine civilization

The impending water crisis will hit the rich as hard as the poor

Clouds seeded with burning tyres

Rain man helps save crops villagers in Maharashtra's Nanded district have a rain man in their midst. Raja Marathe, an alumni of iit -Bombay, claims to have developed an indigenous method of cloud seeding to induce artificial rains.

From the blurbs

Water Law, Poverty and Development by Philippe Cullet, Oxford University Press, Rs 645 This is an analysis of water law reforms in many developing countries. It also examines the international pulls and pressure. The author argues non-binding resolutions such as the Dublin Statement on Water and Sustainable Development (1992) have had an immense influence on water law reforms in most developing countries. The Earth Box, Be a Planet Hero by Lauren Horn, Penguin Rs 536

One lake vanishes

Delhi government makes a lake and a marshland disappear the Delhi government appears to be determined to construct buildings on lakes instead of restoring them. On August 17, the government filed an affidavit in the Delhi High Court saying the Mayapuri lake and Jehangirpuri marshland are not waterbodies and can be used for development activity. The affidavit was filed in connection with the public interest petition by non-profit

Water wisdom

http://wikis.uit.tufts.edu/confluence/display/aquapedia/Home A US based professor has launched Aquapedia, a web-based repository for information regarding the water sector.