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A flash drought (FD) event is a relatively new form of severe occurrence, described by the quick onset and intensification of drought situations with serious consequences. This paper aims to understand the wide variety of studies and serve as a basis for future research potentials of FDs. An effort has been made to understand the advantages and limitations of the existing indices used for FD identification. A study in India was carried out for the identification of FDs using daily gridded data of soil moisture for eight days (octad). The results reveal that the Indus basin faced around 82% and the Cauvery basin faced about 88% of severe FDs during the monsoon and non-monsoon seasons, respectively. Additionally, the results show that the Indus basin faces FD in the monsoon season since the basin has mostly barren areas and wasteland. This review also highlights the role of humidity, wind and radiation, soil characteristics, climate oscillations, and the relation between FDs and heavy-rainfall-induced flash floods. Furthermore, the paper has depicted some specific research-needs to monitor, forecast, plan, and respond with crucial points. HIGHLIGHTS This study discusses the most extensive indices used to identify FDs.; A study is carried out in India to identify FDs using daily gridded soil moisture data for eight days (octad).; The study briefly explains the factors that need to be included in identifying and monitoring FDs.; The study also depicts the crucial points for future research-needs to monitor, forecast, plan, and respond to FDs.;

Rainfall characteristics are changing due to several reasons and change/trend detection is required. Literature survey reveals many relevant studies whose outcomes are divergent, possibly because different data series and different methodologies have been applied. This paper presents a critical appraisal of past studies and methodologies for trend analysis. Results of trend analysis of Indian rainfall data are presented. Data for all of India and for five homogenous regions (North-West, Central North-East, North-East, West Central, and Peninsular India) for 1871-2016 were used. The Pettitt change point test, regression, Mann-Kendall (MK), and Wavelet Decomposition were used to study different aspects of changes. Results of the change point test showed that most rainfall series had change points around 1957-65, possibly due to large-scale land use, cultivation, irrigation, and industrial changes in this period. Generally, rainfall for most homogenous regions and sub-divisions show falling trends; some are statistically significant. Series was also decomposed by the wavelet method. Approximate and detailed components of some decomposed series showed a significant declining trend. This work has focused on the magnitude of rainfalls; trends in rainfall intensities are also important. It is necessary to establish denser observation networks to collect short-term data and analyze. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a survey of selected Water Users’ Associations (WUA) and their members in West Bengal, India, this paper examines the nature and determinants of member participation in irrigation management. WUA meetings were held on a regular basis with higher member participation under Tube Well, Check Dam and River Lift Irrigation schemes. Their physical characteristics (e.g., high sub-surface storage and flowing rivers with large catchment areas) and system features (e.g., centralized pump house and defined distribution infrastructure) contribute to better water availability, incentivizing the members to participate. Our regression analysis suggests that along with these factors, the socioeconomic attributes of members and their perception about the functioning and decision making of the WUA influence participation in the collective management of schemes. The more the members perceive the functioning of WUAs as democratic and transparent, the greater is their incentive to participate. Greater participatory involvement of the members in the form of donating land for irrigation construction and in training programs is also found to be crucial. So, this paper argues for making the decision-making processes within WUAs democratic and transparent, along with greater efforts toward capacity building of the members, including training for skill enhancement, management and provision of agricultural support practices. HIGHLIGHTS Members participate frequently in association meetings in schemes with better water availability.; Participation in crop plans and water mapping is limited.; Democratic and transparent functioning of associations incentivizes members’ participation.; Skill development and improved agricultural practices positively influence participation.; Members’ involvement in maintenance works and land donation facilitates participation.;

Sanitation in India has received national attention for over a decade, especially with the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) making it a political priority. However, due to the lack of appropriate sanitation planning practices, there have been little long-term gains made in urban sanitation beyond the ending of open defaecation. In this paper, we analyse the key barriers to sanitation planning, in India, in the context of the emerging paradigm of Citywide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS). A mixed method approach of shit flow diagrams, social network analysis, policy analysis, interviews and workshops at the national, state (2) and city (4) levels was conducted. Eight factors were identified as important barriers for planning including inadequate planning capacities, lack of ownership of city sanitation plans among city governments, poor community involvement, absence of a uniform planning framework, unreliable political and financial support, overlapping jurisdictions, and scheme-based funding. The paper also proposes the CWIS Planning Framework which offers a perspective at overcoming these barriers with the recommendation of bridging top-down and bottom-up planning approaches. While there is increasingly more clarity on what CWIS means, there is little understanding on how to plan for it. Therefore, this framework provides the theoretical basis for planning with the CWIS approach. HIGHLIGHTS This is the first comprehensive study of sanitation planning practices in India with a CWIS lens.; In-depth methodology drawing from 60 interviews, 4 workshops, 4 Shit Flow Diagrams (SFDs) and Social Network Analyses (SNA) for the 4 cities, document and policy analyses.; Identifies the barriers for planning CWIS in Indian cities and makes overarching recommendations on ways to overcome these barriers based on the ‘4S’ pillars.; CWIS Planning Framework based on the Manila Principles on CWIS includes operational outcomes, functional linkages and ‘4S’ pillars of comprehensive sanitation planning.;

Under Sustainable Development Goal targets 6.1 and 6.2, every nation is committed to ensure universal and equitable access to water and sanitation to its people and India is no exception. The country has made a considerable progress toward these targets through various policy and programmatic initiatives since 2015. Within an overall improvement at the country level, this paper examines the coverage of key WASH indicators in tribal population of the country. Secondary data pertaining to the WASH indicators were obtained from the NFHS 2015–2016 and NFHS 2019–2021 for 90 tribal-dominated districts of the country and were analyzed. We ranked these tribal districts on the basis of their performance. The analysis showed a distinct improvement in terms of marked fall in open defecation, uptake of improved toilet facilities, accessibility to improved sources of water, and improved behaviors in relation to the handwashing and treatment of drinking water in tribal population with varying levels of coverage, which was captured in WASH ranking of these districts. The districts falling toward the bottom side of the ranking ladder need prioritization and entail more attention of programmatic interventions in order to sustain the overall progress and to reach the SDG targets of 100% WASH coverage. HIGHLIGHTS It is the first systematic assessment of the progress that has been made toward the WASH coverage in tribal-dominated districts of India.; It is the first attempt to rank the tribal-dominated districts on the basis of their performance on WASH indicators and coverage.; It provides insights on districts and WASH indicators that need prioritization and also a means to track the progress that each district is making.;

Access to improved drinking water and sanitation has been declared a fundamental right by the UN General Assembly. However, around 25 and 50% of the global population lacked access to safely managed drinking water and improved sanitation in 2020, respectively. India, the second most populous country in the world, has around 3.7 and 31% of its population without access to improved drinking water and sanitation, respectively. This paper explores the factors determining a household's access to improved drinking water and sanitation in India, using India Human Development Survey (IHDS) II data. The results indicate that urban households with bigger family sizes, with fewer rooms, married but uneducated household heads, belonging to forward castes, were more likely to have access to improved drinking water. Similarly, households with married female heads, belonging to forward castes, small household sizes, older aged heads with primary education, from Non-EAG (Empowered Action Group) states, located in urban areas, earning higher incomes and having more rooms were more likely to have access to improved sanitation. Findings suggest subsidized improved water and sanitation services and an increase in public investment to make these facilities affordable for poor rural households. HIGHLIGHTS A considerable share of the global population remains deprived of safe drinking water and sanitation.; There is an urgent need to understand the factors influencing their access as any policy intervention aiming to improve sanitation and drinking water problem must first identify the population at risk.; Studies on the determinants of access to improved drinking water and sanitation in the Indian context are limited.;

India is facing major challenges in its water resources management (WRM) sector. Water shortages are attributed to issues such as an explosion in population, rapid urbanization and industrialization, environmental degradation and inefficient water use, all aggravated by changing climate and its impacts on demand, supply and water quality. This paper focuses on the contemporary and future situation in the Cauvery river basin in Southern India, shared by different states, predominantly Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. As water issues largely fall under the authority of the states, inter-state water disputes have a long tradition in the Cauvery river basin. Future changes in precipitation during the two monsoon seasons will only increase these tensions. Both states depend on the arrival of these monsoon rains to water their crops and to replenish the groundwater. The paper identifies the major challenges and general possible solutions for sustainable WRM within the river basin. It synthesises the relevant literature, describes practices that should be addressed in the scope of integrated WRM - including water availability increase and demand management - and stresses the need for further quantitative analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water reuse is recognized as a tool to increase water supply in peri-urban areas of semi-arid and arid regions of the world. However, it is an option rarely explored for rural areas in developing countries, and has not been documented extensively in the scientific literature. This paper presents results from 6 greywater reuse systems which were built with the objective to augment water supply and to provide sanitation in rural low income areas of Madhya Pradesh, India. The systems are based on reclaiming greywater from bathing for the use in toilet flushing and kitchen garden irrigation. The reuse systems were implemented based on the scientific rationale presented in the WHO (2006) guidelines. The paper presents evidence from the operation and evaluation of the greywater treatment plants under field conditions between 2005 and 2008. The paper concludes that greywater is a highly cost effective solution for water scarcity. In this study, reusing greywater resulted in a 60% increase in water availability, a reduction in open defecation and a fourfold increase in food availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rainfall characteristics are changing due to several reasons and change/trend detection is required. Literature survey reveals many relevant studies whose outcomes are divergent, possibly because different data series and different methodologies have been applied. This paper presents a critical appraisal of past studies and methodologies for trend analysis. Results of trend analysis of Indian rainfall data are presented. Data for all of India and for five homogenous regions (North-West, Central North-East, North-East, West Central, and Peninsular India) for 1871–2016 were used. The Pettitt change point test, regression, Mann-Kendall (MK), and Wavelet Decomposition were used to study different aspects of changes. Results of the change point test showed that most rainfall series had change points around 1957–65, possibly due to large-scale land use, cultivation, irrigation, and industrial changes in this period. Generally, rainfall for most homogenous regions and sub-divisions show falling trends; some are statistically significant. Series was also decomposed by the wavelet method. Approximate and detailed components of some decomposed series showed a significant declining trend. This work has focused on the magnitude of rainfalls; trends in rainfall intensities are also important. It is necessary to establish denser observation networks to collect short-term data and analyze. HIGHLIGHTS Detection of trends in data series helps in projections.; We present the results of trend analysis using long-term quality-controlled rainfall data.; Data series at country and regional levels at annual and monsoon scales were studied.; We found that most rainfall data have change points around 1957–1965; some are statistically significant.; Multi-resolution analysis highlighted periods of high variabilities in the data.;

This article provides updated status of the arsenic affected rural habitations in India, summarizes the policy initiatives of the Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation (Government of India), reviews the technologies for arsenic treatment and analyses the progress made by states in tackling arsenic problems in rural habitations. It also provides a list of constraints based on experiences and recommends suggested measures to tackle arsenic problems in an holistic manner. It is expected that the paper would be useful for policy formulators in states, non-government organizations, researchers of academic and scientific institutions and programme managers working in the area of arsenic mitigation in drinking water, especially in developing countries, as it provides better insights compared to other available information in India on mitigating arsenic problems in drinking water in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Provisioning of water and sanitation services has become one of the key determinants of SDGs. This review focuses on the trends in water and sanitation services and reforms in India and Ghana over the last two decades. The findings reveal that access to water has improved in India and Ghana at 81.5 and 92.7%, respectively. However, access to sanitation continues to be a challenge in both countries, with the currently reported coverage being 59.5% and 18.5%, respectively. The index of sustainable development goal (SDG) performance of Ghana and India stands at 65.4 and 61.9 with global rankings of 100 and 117, respectively. The adverse impacts of poor access to sanitation increasingly reflect on rising numbers of population suffering from water-borne diseases. From the policy perspective, the paper highlights the need for framing pro-poor water and sanitation policies; focusing on women and girls’ education; promoting affordable water and sanitation services; promoting collaboration of stakeholders involved in the rural water and sanitation sectors; and increasing budgetary allocations by local governments. HIGHLIGHTS The review compares the water and sanitation situation in India and Ghana. The urban–rural situation in the two countries is compared to ascertain the similarities and differences.; The review also compares the various reforms in the two countries in the water and sanitation sectors and the lessons learned.; Policy implications and recommendations have been made to enhance the achievement of SDG6 targets by 2030.;

As factors influencing the health and well-being of children are complex and cross-sectoral, integrated interventions are required to improve child health and hence address the Sustainable Development Goals. This paper explores linkages between environmental factors, feeding practices and potential infection pathways in India. The PANChSHEEEL project is a participatory interdisciplinary study, designed to explore HEEE (Health, Education, Engineering and Environment) factors influencing Infant and Young Child Feeding practices. This study uses data from observational transect walks and 445 household interviews from nine villages in Banswara district in India. Using the socio-ecological model, this study demonstrates how the lack of access to and quality of water resources, poor access to sanitation and hygiene practices, access to cooking fuels and flooding can influence feeding practices. The study finds that access to water, sanitation and cooking fuels can affect the preparation of food, contaminate water and food and place added time burden on caregivers. For infants, insufficient and contaminated water can lead to a higher risk of infection, diarrhoea and ultimately malnutrition. Recommendations include efforts to address waterlogging, promote safe storage of water, establish a water quality regime with stakeholders and develop appropriate, affordable and acceptable sanitation solutions. HIGHLIGHTS The use of observational transect walks to better capture linkages between environment and feeding practices.; The socio-ecological framework is used to map links between built environment and feeding practices at the village, household and individual level.; Opportunities to improve child health through linkages to SDG 2 (Hunger), SDG 3 (Health), SDG 6 (Baby WASH) and SDG 7 (Energy).;

As water is a state subject in India, an enormous variation of irrigation water pricing across the states is noticed. Revenue collection under irrigation water charges of the states is not encouraging. The present paper reviews the structures of water pricing mechanism in different states of India and suggests a way to achieve sustainable water resources management in India. Various reports, water policy documents, and major recommendations of the irrigation commission were reviewed and analyzed. It was observed that low revenue collection is mainly due to the low rate of water taxes, no periodic revision, and flaws in the current revenue collection mechanism across the states. The water regulatory authority should be made a statutory body to manage various water uses and their fair pricing. A volumetric pricing system can be implemented in wells and tube-well-irrigated areas and for surface irrigation, and this requires considerable investment in irrigation water supply infrastructure and development of operational plans. Until a well-developed volumetric system comes into practice, the current system of revenue assessment and collection must be rationalized and simplified. An appropriate power tariff policy for rural areas and inclusion of the irrigation sector in a ground water conservation fee is required. Highlights Volumetric pricing can be implemented in wells and tube-wells irrigated areas.; Until the volumetric system comes into practice, current system of assessment must be rationalized and simplified.; A nationally coherent irrigation water policy is necessary for implementation of the volumetric system.; Appropriate power tariff policy for rural areas and inclusion of the irrigation in Groundwater Conservation Fee is required.;

This paper suggests an approach to solve the Indian coastal water quality management problem based on waste load allocation studies and application of modelling techniques. The waste load allocation procedure suggested in this paper assists in deriving a quantitative relationship between the waste load discharged and the receiving coastal water concentrations or effects of concern as presented by water qualitystandards. The approach sequentially addresses the topics of hydrodynamics, mass transport, water quality kinetics and problems of bioaccumulation and toxicity. The water quality modelling section describesthe role of water quality modelling in WLA procedure. The paper alsodiscusses the criteria and procedures for formulation of coastal zone management plans. The second part of the paper illustrates the concept with the help of brief case studies wherein simple screening procedures and the water quality modeling techniques have been applied. The first case study describes the application of the WASP model to arrive at the level of treatment required for municipal wastewater being discharged into Mumbai coastal waters so that the designated coastal water quality criteria is not violated and the degree of treatment is optimized. The second case study deals with the study of differentoptions relating to disposal of tailings from an iron ore beneficiation plant keeping in view the impact of these tailings on marine water quality and ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quantity and quality of water available for irrigation is variable from place to place in India. There are regions where the farmers have no access to any surface water body, nor do they have any groundwater source yielding water of acceptable quality for irrigation. Insome of the coastal areas, neither surface water nor ground water ofacceptable quality may be available. In such areas, setting up an industry and transporting good quality surface water from long distances to the site may be useful for farmers in the adjacent areas; the treated wastewater from the industry may constitute a dependable sourcefor irrigation. This paper gives a brief account of some of these peculiar situations. Whatever the situation, it is necessary that the water used for irrigation is of an acceptable quality for the crop concerned, growing on the soil of the site. For a given crop, during itsgrowth cycle, it is essential that the concentration of the soil solution around the root zone with regard to dissolved solids and specific ions, does not exceed the tolerance limit for the crop. The tolerance limits for various crops are different, representing 8- to 10-fold variation. Soil type and meteorological parameters of the site, fora given irrigation scheduling, also govern as to what will be the maximum soil solution concentration during the growth cycle of the crop. For a given crop, given soil and prevailing climate, the quality ofirrigation water and management ultimately determine this maximum level. At a given place, the type of soil and meteorological parameterscannot be managed by human beings. The farmer can, however, exercisesome control on the quality of irrigation water by selecting an appropriate source or changing the quality by dilution and/or he can makecertain changes in the agronomic control and crop selection. In thispaper, an attempt has been made to describe a few more important irrigation water quality criteria which will be easy for the users to follow and ar [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concern over agricultural diffuse pollution sources in integrated water quality management has been growing recently. Such sources are likely to be even more critical in developing countries, including India, where agriculture and rural habitats are still dominant, unlike the G7 or other affluent industrialised nations. A number of special features of the Indian scene need to be considered. These include: (i) extremely varying rainfall and stream-flow patterns; (ii) still largely traditional agricultural practices with average application of fertilizers and pesticides and significant areas under dry farming or only marginal irrigation; (iii) a very large cattle population, with agriculture almost always linked with animal husbandry; (iv) a culture of living close to the river (if not in the river) with dominating instream uses of bathing, washing, cattle wading, waste disposal, etc. and large-scale floodplain farming; and (v) scant respect for rules, regulations and laws alongside an extremely weak law-enforcement machinery. The paper shows that in the non-monsoon (non-flood) periods, which may account for all but 2 months of a year, agricultural diffusepollution sources seem to have no impact on stream water quality. During these periods flows are low to minimal and pollution is dominated by the in-stream uses, sullage waters of rural communities and point discharges from urban/industrial sources, if any. Pollution due to agricultural return waters, either as wash-off or as seepage, appearsto be rare during the 8-10 fair weather months. However, surface wash-off of pollutants from agricultural sources becomes the dominant factor during flood flows, and seepage/drainage from agricultural fields/soils continues to pollute streams for a month or two after the monsoons are over. Application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides (or any other agricultural chemicals) in India is still low compared todeveloped countries, and while eutrophication due to high levels of was [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]