India11
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Punjab: Less Water, More Money (Part 1)
In an earlier blog, I highlighted the story of declining groundwater in many parts of India. This story is one of agricultural intensification and widespread groundwater pumping, facilitated by highly subsidized or free electricity. As the Government of India sought food security for the nation, it promoted the procurement of rice and wheat from the…
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Water Reflections: Crisis of water supplies in New Delhi, India
Written in collaboration with Meghna Bhattacharjee. Failed monsoon rains put a cloud over the Columbia Water Center’s journey to India this summer. Soaring temperatures hitting 40 degrees Celsius with 100% humidity made for a hazy sweltering experience which begged for some precipitous relief. As we traveled around New Delhi from air-conditioned cars to air-conditioned rooms,…
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India: the Impact of the 2009 Monsoon Failure
This article is the second in a series inspired by the recent Columbia Water Center trip to India During our recent CWC trip to India (during the first three weeks of August) one news story dominated all others: this year’s near total failure of the monsoon. Many of us in the West don’t really understand what…
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India’s Water Future
I recently returned from a CWC trip to India, where we have several projects underway. During this trip, we had the opportunity to talk with a range of water users – farmers, corporations, academic experts, and government officials. One thing became very clear to me: Although India’s water situation is precarious, there is a real…
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India’s Climate Envoy: In Global Climate Treaties, Equity is Imperative
In a lively talk at the Indian Consulate in New York last Thursday, Indian climate envoy Shyam Saran called for technology and resource transfer from developed to developing countries, saying that because they are responsible for the bulk of historic carbon emissions, developed countries should bear the brunt of climate adaptation and mitigation costs. A…
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Shriveling Rivers
The ramifications of climate change are often discussed in terms of rising sea levels, atmospheric changes, desertification, and worsening, more frequent natural disasters. Another impact of climate change could have immediate and disastrous effects on water availability both here in the US and abroad. Recent research increasingly suggests that the world’s major rivers are essentially…
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India’s “Revolution”
Last week, NPR ran a two part story on water status in Punjab state in northern India. This is an area where the Columbia Water Center is doing a lot of work, and the article hit on several themes important to us, particularly the fact that current policies, while promoting food security, have had devastating…
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Water Center Conference: Water Security in India
Last night (Wednesday, April 15) the Water Center kicked off its conference on Water Security in India with a lecture and reception at the Asia Society in New York. Led by a formal talk given by Alok Sikka (see here for more information about Sikka and the other panelists), the evening addressed pressing water issues…
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Water Pyramid
A Dutch company has created the Water Pyramid to help create safe, clean drinking water in tropical and developing countries. While traditional reverse osmosis systems are expensive to build and use a considerable amount of energy, the Water Pyramid uses the sun as its primary energy source and has low operational and maintenance costs. The…