 Conference Call
| The Institution of Public Health
Engineers in collaboration with WEDC, Loughborough University, UK will hold the 28th
WEDC conference in Kolatta, West Bengal, India from November 18 - 22, 2002. The topic of
the conference is Sustainability: Today’s priority for basic services. The conference
invites papers on sustainability, sanitation, wastewater, water resources, groundwater and
water quality apart from topics covering gender, air pollutio n health and hygiene, finance management, community
motivation, hospital wastes and information technology. Interested policy makers, and
researchers have to send a four-page article. The focus should be on practicalexperiences
and lessons learnt.
The last date for accepting papers is May 31,
2002. The registration form and further details can be obtained from the contacts given
below.
For papers from India:
S K Neogi, Secretary general
Institute of Public Health Engineers
28th WEDC conference, IPHE building
CK-58, Salt Lake, Kolkata-700091, W Bengal, India
Fax: 0332-3598058/3376290
Email: iphe@cal3.vsnl.net.in/skneogi@yahoo.com
For papers from abroad:
Dot Barnard
WEDC conference organiser
WEDC, Loughborough university
LE 11 3 TU, England
Tel: +44 1509 222390, Fax: +44 1509 211079
Email: wedc.conf@lboro.ac.uk |
Virtual water forum
| The Virtual World Water Forum (VWWF) launched
after the Second World Water Forum in The Hague is a discussion and information platform
on the internet to exchange knowledge and experiences on water related issues. The VWWF
forum is also an effort to keep all concerned parties in touch before the Third World
Water Forum in Kyoto. The VWWF is available 24 hours, seven days a week on the net at:
www.worldwaterforum.org The need for a
virtual forum arose because the world is becoming increasingly aware of the current water
politics and there is growing realisation that water doesn’t stop at national
borders, and lessons learned has to be shared.
To act as a platform for supporting real
discussion, VWFF has set up a central database that contains information and results from
the Second Forum and other sources. The second is the virtual conference rooms where
virtual conferences take place. Participants can add information, opinions, knowledge and
experiences. All organisations or stakeholder groups can start their own virtual
conference room at office@water-forum3.com
A virtual conference room has two important
distinctions Ñ there is a specific subject, or the owner of the conference room moderates
with the background organisation focusing the discussion on an agenda of issues. Other
services provided by the VWFF are news, question and answer section, cases studies , and
products and services. |
Greeting Konkan
Can mango and cashew plants grow successfully in
a water scarce land, without further degrading the environment? Answer is yes. Ravindra
Shetye, a Mumbai-based ecologist has done it successfully by harvesting and utilising rain
on his 60 acres of land in Dahagaon village of Ratnagiri district, Maharashtra. On January
29, Ashoka foundation conferred him with ÔAshoka Award’.
It all started, when in 1992 he decided to
develop an abandoned land, in a village with no electricity or any perennial source of
irrigation. During monsoon, he conserved rain in stone lined tanks, constructed in the
various sites plantation with the capacity to hold 0.2 million liters of water. Thus,
ensuring frequent watering to these plants for the first three years. ÒToday, about 5,000
cashew and 2,000 mango trees have started giving the initial yield. The annual capital
input is Rs six lakhÓ, he proudly shares. Shetye is now planning to share his gains with
the entire Konkan region.
For further information:
Ravindra Shetye
Socio-Economic Eco Development 10, Amitchs, Whireless Road,
J B Nagar, Andheri (East),
Mumbai 400 059 Maharashtra |
|
Teachers trained
In Orissa, a Sambhalpur-based non government organisation - Manav Adhikar Seva Samitee
(MASS) organised a two day training workshop for the teachers from January 5 Ð 6. This
initiative was taken as a part of their environment education program, to spread awareness
about the significance and applicability of traditional water harvesting practices
particularly prevalent in western Orissa. About 30 teachers from a number of schools
located in Rengali and Maneswar blocks of Sambhalpur participated.
The present potential of the traditional practices like kata (an ordinary tank,
constructed by throwing a strong earthen embankment, slightly curved at both ends, across
a drainage line); bandha (a four sided tank excavated below a kata Ð from
which it receives water used primarily for drinking purposes by percolation); munda
(an embankment of a smaller size across a drainage channel) in providing sustainable
livelihood patterns was discussed.
RANJAN PANDA/MASS
|
Participants
discussing the action plan for students |
At the end, an action plan was drawn to actively involve students. It was agreed that
to sensitise students from junior classes playful lessons would be devised. Whereas,
senior level students would be encouraged to learn by directly interacting with the local
community through awareness generation activities like street plays and pani pad
yatras (march to create water awareness).
For further
information:
Ranjan Panda
Manav Adhikar Seva Samitee
Dhanupali, Sambalpur 768100 Orissa
Tel: +91-663-20962/404974
Email: manav1@sancharnet.in |
