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As our Hon’ble Prime Minister Modi highlighted, “we have set a target to become a $5 trillion economy in the next five years, we will have to develop our cities in sync with the 21st century world”.   As India celebrates its World Habitat Day on 7th October 2019 along the theme ‘Frontier Technologies as an innovative tool to transform Waste to Wealth’. The event focuses on the state of human settlements and people’s right to sufficient shelter. It also aims to remind people that they are responsible for the habitat of future generations. The $5 trillion economy shows the new mantra to ensure mobility, connectivity, productivity, safety and sustainability. In India, an impetus under the Smart City Mission projects is already on cards.  A ‘Swachh’ Bharat will lay the foundation for a ‘Swasth’ Bharat and eventually a Samriddh Bharat. The smart cities project should focus on sustainable urbanisation, good governance, transparent metrics and reporting and, impor...

By Dr. Arvind Kumar, President, India Water Foundation ‘Reversing land degradation and its outcomes while accelerating positive achievements for people and for ecosystems with a view to deliver on Sustainable Development Goals’ is the core agenda of the fourteenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (COP14). COP14 is taking place on 2-13 September 2019 at the India Mart and Expo, in the Greater Noida area of New Delhi, India. With special reference to India , the menace of land degradation is increasing where fertile land gradually deteriorates into a wasteland. Also,the Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought (DLDD) report also indicates that water erosion (37.4%), wind erosion (18.9%) and salinity (3.8%) in India have amplified the case for land degradation. This can be disastrous. Climatic variations and human activities such as overgrazing, deforestation, agricultural activities, overexploitation of v...

‘With 600 million young people, India is the youngest nation in the world, with at least half of the country’s 1.2 billion population comprised of people under the age of 26. According to the #IndiaSkillsReport 2018, over 12 million youth between 15 and 29 years will enter India’s labor force every year over the next two decade’. The theme for #InternationalYouthDay2019 is ' #TransformingEducation' , highlighting efforts to make education more inclusive and accessible for all youth. Looking at the vagaries of #climatechange, it becomes utmost necessity to engage youth more actively because they are the Conscience keepers of our #Environment, acting as stewards who can largely involve & embrace #ClimateResiliencestrategies in making positive contributions to their communities. Going by the words of Mr. Antonio Guterres, Secretary General, United Nations , “Education today should combine knowledge, life skills and critical thinking” , and should include information...

Are we nearing towards Dry days amidst water crisis? The case of Chennai so far aptly justifies it.  Droughts in 2018 has rippling effects till date which is further accompanied by dried water bodies and depleting ground water levels. It also justifies Niti Aayog’s report of 21 Indian cities fearing to run out of groundwater by 2020, which includes Chennai. This grim water scenario in Chennai and also in other states of Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh is a challenge for the country’s water security as well. We cannot defer such acute water shortage but can definitely attempt to find a feasible solution. Chennai must embrace an Integrated approach towards water management which must prudently involve strong political consensus to prioritize ‘Water Preservation, Conservation & Management which should be accompanied by strong institutional mechanism to back up political promises. But wait, let’s not forget the community actors like civil societies, RWAs, Self Help Gr...

India’s capital is running out of water with depleting #waterreserves and dwindling #groundwater supply. The remarks of #DelhiJalBoard explaining the water demand exceeding its supply certainly draws a flak. The inescapable water mafia, rising water tankers, illegal piped connections compounded with non-qualitative water supply has put a heavy burden on the public exchequer. Are we waiting for a grim scenario like Cape Town Day Zero which anyways #Niti Aayog has pointed out as early as 2020. Can’t we rewrite this state of apathy? Time to Ponder What if we rejuvenate our ‘Source’ water bodies, recharge aquifiers, store rain water, reuse of waste water? We could supplement our water usage especially during the lean dry seasons.  But this must be a shared responsibility of Government, Delhi Jal Board, private players, civil society and public’. Moreover, the practice of charging an amicable cost from every user would lessen the burden on the tax payers and much better than payin...

Elections in India display a Grandeur curtain of 3Ms i.e. Money, Mind and Muscle.   They resemble the national festival of India with voters waiting for a Development Agenda & Political Parties swaying the voters through Political Manifestos. This is the rule of Indian elections. With the ongoing general elections the trajectory is on the higher wavelength deciding the projected outcomes of the election. According to ESCAP survey2019 themed ‘ Ambitions beyond growth , ’ it is argued that Asia-Pacific region requires investing an additional $1.5 trillion every year to reach the Agenda for #SDG goals by 2030. On the other side of the coin, t he #ESCAP survey acknowledges that at $1 per person per day, this investment is worthwhile. It could end extreme poverty and malnutrition for more than 400 million people. How far can we justify providing reasonable fodder for a decent & dignified living for the 1.2 billion Indian population? The ESCAP Survey acknowledges that As...

“All of us are aware that water is a foundation of life and livelihoods, and is key to sustainable development. With the current state of affairs, correcting measures needs to be taken to avoid the crisis to be worsening. There is an increasing awareness that our freshwater resources are limited and need to be protected both in terms of quantity and quality. This water challenge affects not only the water community, but also decision-makers and every human being so the emphas is should be given to grass roots level innovations, to take education and knowledge from classrooms to ground zero because things can only be changed if we take ownership and as a community should come forward to seek out solutions. He also insisted that when we talk of SDGs instead of keeping End poverty in all forms as SDG 1 water should be placed as No1 goal as water is the focal point of life, health, economics, livelihood etc.” He spoke about the success story of ‘Meghalaya Model,’ evolved by India W...