South Asia

what a waste: For the past two months, 11-year-old Tsheten Dorji is being treated for third-degree burns he received from chemical waste dumped by factories in Balujhora in Bhutan's Pasakha town. The town residents complain that factories dumped waste very near residential areas. "Children are always playing about the site. The substances eats into the skin," said Tshering Zam, a resident. Other residents of the area, including three children, suffered burns from the waste.

Acting fresh

a significant increase in freshwater flowing into the Arctic Ocean is heightening concern about climate change.

Catching rain

The city enjoys an average annual rainfall of 2,500 millimetres . Traditionally, this has been the only source of water and was very popular among residents. Traditional Mizo houses have a sloping roof designed for rainwater harvesting. Water from the rooftops flows through gutters made of bamboo or metal sheets and collects in rainwater tanks made of galvanised tin sheets.

Farmers: consumers

In January 2006, two farmers of Alur village in Chamaranjanagar of Karnataka won an unprecedented consumer case, in which water supply authorities were held guilty of negligent services in providing dam water to consumers. The duo was awarded very meager compensation for their losses , but it proved to be a major victory for the small farmer.

It's political

It isn't everyday that a villages turns down a state government offer to provide drinking water. Kameana, a village in Faridkot district of Punjab, has done exactly that. The government has tried for long to build waterworks to cater to Kameana, but the villagers have resisted. And the project's fate is uncertain.

South Asia

dhaka protests: Bangladesh recently lodged an official protest with India claiming that it had received much less water from the Ganga river than was agreed upon during the Farakka talks. Dhaka said it was receiving about 283 cubic metres per second (cu m/s) less water on average as compared to the water supply during 2005. This violated the 30-year water-sharing treaty between the two countries, it claimed.

It's 121.92 m now

construction work on the Sardar Sarovar Project (ssp) on the river Narmada has resumed after two-years. On March 8, 2006, the Narmada Control Authority (nca) cleared an increase of 11.28 metres in the Narmada dam's height -- from 110.64 metres to 121.92 metres.

Fraudulent deal

A British water company found guilty of overcharging millions of pounds from customers in Europe, is set to take over the management of Kathmandu's water supply. The company, Severn Trent Water, will take over from the Nepal Water Supply Corporation. It was the sole company left after three other companies withdrew their bids a few months ago. Severn will run Nepal's Water Utility Operator to be formed under a water utility restructuring scheme initiated by the Asian Development Bank.

Another feather to his cap

Asit K Biswas, an India-born Canadian, has bagged the prestigious 2006 Stockholm Water Prize for challenging the global status quo on water. At present he is the president of the Mexico-based Third World Centre for Water Management.

Dipping levels

the water level of Africa's Lake Victoria, the second largest freshwater lake in the world, has dropped dramatically by two metres in the last 45 years. Though drought has been largely blamed for this dip, a closer look by environmentalists and politicians in Uganda points to a new culprit: the World Bank (wb)-supported Kiira dam.