Good Morning Thought - 23rd May 20131

One can at best weave paths to a goal. Defining destiny is beyond one's capabilities and hence illusion...

Good Morning!

My views on successes and failures of UPA II in AIR Delhi.

Please listen to All India Radio(AIR) Delhi tonite between 10.30 and 11 pm for my opinion on the successes and failures of UPA II on environment and water issues.  The programme will be relayed by AIR Cuttack in Odisha and there will be opinion of some other people as well.  

Thanks.

Good Morning Thought - 22nd May 2013!

Sound sleep kills mental pain and vice versa…

Good Morning!

ADB and Water - WIO Update - 2nd Issue - 21st May 2013!

Dear Friends/Co-sailors,

Greetings from Water Initiatives Odisha!

As you are aware, we have been looking into ADB, World Bank and other IFIs and their involvement in water for quite some time now.  We have also been updating you occasionally about news and reports from the projects/policies these IFIs are involved with. 

To streamline our effort to update you with ADB's involvement in water in Asia, we have initiated an occasional bulletin.  The first bulletin was sent on 18th May 2013.  This is the second one.

Once again, this update continues to be occasional, with links to new and reports only - mostly sourced from ADB.  We are hoping to make it a structure endeavor with more information, analysis and other relevant materials.  And in that we want your valuable support through inputs, feedback and resources.

The basic aim of this update is to raise issues and debates around ADB's involvement in water in the region and the related impacts.  

WIO is an informal network with no funding support. We contribute to the activities voluntarily from our own earnings and also pool in other friends'/well wishers' voluntary contribution of time and resources.  If you find this initiative a worthy one and would like to contribute to this in anyway, please do come forward.  We need more people, more support.

Thanks and regards,

Ranjan

===========

P.S.  Are you interested to be part of our new campaign "Healthy Rivers, Happy Cities"?  If yes, please contact us and we would be happy to take you on board. 

http://climatecrusaders.blogspot.in/2013/05/mahanadi-needs-volunteers-supporters.html

===========

ADB and Water 

WIO Update -  2nd Issue - 21st May 2013!  

This issue only gives links to some publications:

Basin Water Allocation Planning: Principles, Procedures and Approaches for
Basin Allocation Planning
http://www.adb.org/publications/basin-water-allocation-planning?utm_source=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alerts


Flood Risk Management: A Strategic Approach
http://www.adb.org/publications/flood-risk-management-strategic-approach?utm_source=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alerts


River Basin Planning Principles: Procedures and Approaches for Strategic
Basin Planning
http://www.adb.org/publications/river-basin-planning-principles?utm_source=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alerts

============

Protecting a pond at any cost

Visited Jharsuguda city to support a group of local people who are trying to revive/restore a pond (surface water harvesting structure) fighting against a powerful real estate lobby that is trying to convert the water body into a commercial plot.  The protection committee for ‘Sri Mahaprabhu Bandh’ (name of the water body) group, most of whom are businessmen and senior citizens, were sitting on a ‘hunger strike’ demonstration in front of the police station demanding support of police and administration in the revival work.  The administration and police initiated talks with them and they decided to end fast after I visit them and support their cause.  I along with a team of Water Initiatives Odisha volunteers went there today and the people who had been fasting since Friday under a 45-57 Degree C sun ended their fast, with a vow to continue the agitation till they protect this pond from dying. 

We are happy to be of some help to this noble cause.

I endorse your statement on Mining, Mr. Deo!

Open Letter to Union Tribal Affairs Minister Mr. Kishore Chandra Deo

Dear Mr. Deo,

I completely endorse this statement of yours:

“Development doesn't mean mining ore and exporting to China. Making a few people or a few companies affluent at the expense of the marginalised people, is not development," he said, adding people were the owners of natural wealth while states and the Centre were only custodians.

"It's not for one government to plunder natural wealth. State owning doesn't mean that state is empowered to do whatever it wants to do. In any case they can't flagrantly and blatantly violate the norms and go ahead with the MoUs," Deo said.

Please ensure this in all the states as well as in all programmes/policies of the central government.

Thanks and regards,

Ranjan Panda

Water Initiatives Odisha

=======================

Deo questions MoU between OMC, Vedanta on Niyamgiri mining

An MoU between an Odisha Mining Corporation and Vedanta has come in for questioning from the Tribal Affairs Ministry, which has contended that it is against the letter and spirit of the Constitution and its provisions.

"I think having MoU with Vedanta itself was wrong because it goes against the letter and spirit of both Article 244(1) and provisions of Schedule V (of the Constitution)," Tribal Affairs Minister Kishore Chandra Deo told reporters.

The MoU between Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) and Vedanta was signed in 2003 for mining in the tribal-dominated Niyamgiri forest areas of the state.

The Minister questioned the very basis of formation of the state-owned mining corporations as quite often states sell shares in these firms and the partner firms, mostly belonging to private sector, benefit as a result of their association with such firms.

"This is against the provisions of the constitution," he said, adding disinvesting shares of such a company to a firm, not owned by tribals, generally results in surreptitiously subverting and undermining the sanctity of the Constitution and safeguards guaranteed by it.

The Minister claimed mining did not improve financial or living conditions of the people in these areas as development here was never inclusive.

"Development doesn't mean mining ore and exporting to China. Making a few people or a few companies affluent at the expense of the marginalised people, is not development," he said, adding people were the owners of natural wealth while states and the Centre were only custodians.

"It's not for one government to plunder natural wealth. State owning doesn't mean that state is empowered to do whatever it wants to do. In any case they can't flagrantly and blatantly violate the norms and go ahead with the MoUs," Deo said.

Press Trust of India  |  New Delhi  May 16, 2013

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/deo-questions-mou-between-omc-vedanta-on-niyamgiri-mining-113051601117_1.html

ADB and Water WIO Update - 18th May 2013!

Dear Friends/Co-sailors,

Greetings from Water Initiatives Odisha!

As you are aware, we have been looking into ADB, World Bank and other IFIs and their involvement in water for quite some time now.  We have also been updating you occasionally about news and reports from the projects/policies these IFIs are involved with. 

With this update, which still continues to be occasional, we are trying to streamline the effort of updating you with ADB's involvement in water in Asia.  The structure of this will be currently loose and will only provide links of projects and events as we source from ADB and news from other sources.  

However, we will gradually develop it to a formatted version with news, analysis and other features.  The basic aim of this update is to raise issues and debates around ADB's involvement in water in the region and the related impacts.  

WIO is an informal network with no funding support. We contribute to the activities voluntarily from our own earnings and also pool in other friends'/well wishers' voluntary contribution of time and resources.  If you find this initiative a worthy one and would like to contribute to this in anyway, please do come forward.  We need more people, more support.

Thanks and regards,

Ranjan

===========

P.S.  Are you interested to be part of our new campaign "Healthy Rivers, Happy Cities"?  If yes, please contact us and we would be happy to take you on board. 

http://climatecrusaders.blogspot.in/2013/05/mahanadi-needs-volunteers-supporters.html

===========

ADB and Water

WIO Update - 18th May 2013!  

Flood Damage Emergency Reconstruction Project: First Annual Environmental

Monitoring Report (Cambodia)
http://www.adb.org/projects/documents/flood-damage-emergency-reconstruction-project-first-annual-emr-mar-2013?utm_source=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alerts


Flood Damage Emergency Reconstruction Project: Resettlement Annual Report
2012 (Cambodia)
http://www.adb.org/projects/documents/flood-damage-emergency-reconstruction-project-first-annual-smr-2012?utm_source=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alerts


Loan Agreement for Ningxia Irrigated Agriculture and Water Conservation
Demonstration Project (China)
http://www.adb.org/projects/documents/loan-agreement-ningxia-irrigated-agriculture-and-water-conservation-demonstration?utm_source=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alerts

Loan Agreement for Punjab Irrigated Agriculture Investment Program - Project
3 (Pakistan)
http://www.adb.org/projects/documents/loan-agreement-punjab-irrigated-agriculture-investment-program-project-3?utm_source=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alerts


Project Agreement for Ningxia Irrigated Agriculture and Water Conservation
Demonstration Project (China)
http://www.adb.org/projects/documents/project-agreement-ningxia-irrigated-agriculture-and-water-conservation-demonstrat?utm_source=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alerts



 -- 

Ranjan K Panda

Convenor
Water Initiatives Odisha: Fighting water woes, combating climate change... more than two decades now!
INDIA

Mobile:             +919437050103      

Email: ranjanpanda@gmail.com, ranjanpanda@yahoo.com

You can also mail me at: ranjan.waterman@facebook.com

Skype: ranjan.climatecrusader

Blog: http://www.climatecrusaders.blogspot.com/ 

Please join our group 'Save Rivers Save Civilizations' at http://www.facebook.com/groups/220598744649462

Please join our new campaign https://www.facebook.com/ChildrenNeedWaterToPlay

Water talks to me, I speak for Water...

Water Initiatives Odisha (WIO) is a coalition of civil society organisations, farmers, academia, media and other concerned, which has been working on water, environment and climate change issues in India for more than two decades now.

Greener neighborhood, bigger babies!

Dear Friends/Co-sailors,

Greetings!

My today's pick for the blog is about this new study from Spain that finds how pregnant women living in areas with more plants are trees gave birth to slightly heavier babies with slightly larger heads.  I find the study interesting but have to say that most of our Indian rural women live in healthier environments in so far as trees and air quality is concerned.  

However, we have the maximum number of infant mortality and early childhood mortality in villages.  This is because of several reasons including unavailability of dietary supplements to the natural food they eat.  Further, many poor women cannot even meet their basic ends and hence have no access to foods grown in their own villages. 

 Further, policy makers of this country consider a few kilograms of rice given at free or subsidized cost will help the poor survive. That is not enough.  For a country like India, protecting the natural vegetation and maintaining good ambient air quality is very much important.  

Also important is to see that people grow their own foods, vegetables and have sufficient forest foods/fruits available in their own locality.  Still important is to ensure that the same villagers/women who grow these foods and/or collect forest foods/fruits should have the ability to eat that.  In crux, local food production and distribution is more important.  

And in urban areas, we have to increase the forest cover and green spaces.

Look forward to your views on the study as well as my opinion.

Ranjan

===========

Greener neighborhood, bigger babies.

Pregnant women living in areas with more plants and trees gave birth to slightly heavier babies with slightly larger heads, reports a new study from Spain. The results are among the first to show the benefits of green space for pregnancy outcomes and bolsters previous evidence linking green spaces to improved human health. The benefits may be higher for women of lower socioeconomic status.

Living in areas with more plants and vegetation during pregnancy may increase fetal growth but not the length of pregnancy, a new study from Spain reports.

On average, babies born to mothers living in "greener" areas – places covered with more plant life – had higher birth weights and slightly larger head circumference compared to babies whose mothers lived in areas with lower plant cover. Effects were stronger in women with lower education, suggesting increased benefits of green space in areas with lower socioeconomic status.

This is one of the first times that surrounding greenness has been linked to improved pregnancy outcomes. The results are important because low birth weight is linked to health problems in early life, as well as to longterm health effects such as cardiovascular disease.

The results give urban planners another reason to consider increasing green space in an effort to improve public health.

Researchers examined 2,393 pregnant women from four different birth groups from the Iberian Peninsula of Spain between 2003 and 2008. An index of “greenness” up to 500 meters around each woman’s home was generated using satellite images.

On average, babies born to moms living in areas with more plant cover were 1.5 ounces (44 grams) heavier and had head circumferences 0.05 to 0.07 inches (1.2 to 1.7 millimeters) larger than babies whose mothers lived in areas with less vegetation. The results were after taking into account maternal age, ethnicity, education level and other factors.

Head circumference is an indicator of brain size, which in turn is thought to affect IQ. The effects were strongest in babies born to moms with lower education, suggesting that increasing green space may have the most benefit in socioeconomically deprived areas. No effect was seen on length of pregnancy.

Green spaces are thought to improve health by increasing the physical activity of nearby residents, reducing stress and depression, increasing social contact, reducing noise and air pollution, and helping to regulate temperatures in urban areas. All of these factors may also improve pregnancy outcomes.

- Synopsis by Glenys Webster, May 16, 2013

Source: Dadvand, P, J Sunyer, X Basagaña, F Ballester, A Lertxundi, A Fernández-Somoano, M Estarlich, R García-Esteban, MA Mendez and NJ Nieuwenhuijsen. 2012 Surrounding greenness and pregnancy outcomes in four Spanish birth cohorts. Environmental Health Perspectives http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1205244http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/newscience/2012/09/2013-0228-greener-neighborhood-bigger-babies/

Good Morning Thought - 17th May 2013!

While no one is sure of a next birth, everyone keeps wondering about it for sure. Some think good deeds this birth will earn a good life next birth, but for some others it is about wishes they couldn't fulfil here...

Good Morning!

Study finds extensive glacial melting on Mount Everest.

Dear Friends/Co-sailors,

In my today's pick for the blog, I share this news FYI that shows how human induced climate change is taking a heavy toll on Mount Everest.  

While the study's warning about the impacts may not have any impact on the greedy minds, it would be interesting to see how the researchers come out with suggestions on the water rights issues that are definitely going to give rise to lot of new conflicts and aggravate the existing ones.

Hope you find the information useful.

Thanks and regards,

Ranjan

=============

Study: Extensive glacial melting on Mount Everest, world's tallest mountain.

Researchers have found that changes in the Earth's climate have significantly impacted the world's tallest mountain.

In a new study, scientists conclude that the glaciers in the Mount Everest region have shrunk by 13 percent in the last 50 years. They also found that the snowline in the area has shifted up by 590 feet.

Scientists who conducted the study believe that the increased rate at which the snow and ice is melting is compounded by the fact that the overall snowfall in the area has been declining since the early 1990s.

According to the researchers, the glaciers that are smaller than one square kilometer are disappearing faster than other ice structures. Their surface area has declined 43 percent since the 1960s.

When the ice melts away, the glaciers reveal previously hidden rock and debris. The visible debris-covered sections have increased by 17 percent since the 1960s.

In a statement, the researchers said they assumed that the decline of snow and ice in the Everest region was a direct result of "human-generated greenhouse gases altering global climate." However, they clarified that they have not yet established "a firm connection between the mountains' changes and climate change."

Sudeep Thakuri, a doctoral student at the University of Milan in Italy who is leading the research, explained in a statement that his team was able to use satellite imagery and topographic maps to figure out the glacial history of the Sagarmatha National Park area.

In order to track the temperatures and precipitation rates, his team used hydro-meteorological data from the Nepal Climate Observatory and Nepal's Department of Hydrology. They found that the area has had a 1.08-degree-Fahrenheit increase in temperatures and 3.9-inch decrease in precipitation since 1992.

From this study researchers are hoping to gather information that will help minimize water rights issues as the area continues to warm.

"The Himalayan glaciers and ice caps are considered a water tower for Asia since they store and supply water downstream during the dry season," said Thakuri. "Downstream populations are dependent on the melt water for agriculture, drinking, and power production."

Mount Everest is around 29,000 feet above sea level and located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. The massive peak is situated on the border between Nepal and Tibet.

The team conducting the study presented their findings Tuesday at the Meeting of the Americas in Cancun, Mexico.

-          By SHOSHANA DAVIS / CBS NEWS/ May 15, 2013

© 2013 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Good Morning Thought - 16th May 2013!

Curiosity kills the cat, expectation kills the man:

Expectations are more about imposing our own characters upon others and have little to do with the related ones' capacity to meet those...

Good Morning!

In USA Monsanto wins, farmer loses - Lesson for Indian farmers!

Dear Friends/Co-sailors,

See what would it mean to lose our SEED sovereignty for MNCs.  And mind you, the farmer who has been sued is not like one of our common farmers.

While I paste the entire article FYI, highlight below just one portion for you to see what happens when farmers try to do something of their own under a Corporate Raj even in the US.

Bowman, who is in his 70s, grew up in south-western Indiana and has farmed the same stretch of land for most of the past four decades. He had for years been faithfully signing contracts with Monsanto for his main soybean crop. More than 90% of the soybean grown in the mid-west is believed to be GM strains, like Round-Up Ready. But Bowman got into trouble when he decided to buy up junk seed from a local grain elevator and use it for a second, late-season planting. The advantage to the farmer was that such seeds were cheaper than the price demanded by Monsanto, and the late-season plantings were a riskier crop. Monsanto sued, arguing that it maintained patent rights on the GM seeds even after sold on by a third party, and won a settlement of $84,456 (£53,500) which was upheld on Monday.

High time our governments stopped handing over fate of our farmers to the greedy corporates.

Thanks and regards,

Ranjan

=======

US supreme court rules for Monsanto in Indiana farmer's GM seeds case

Justice Elena Kagan says Vernon Bowman's late-season soybean crop infringed on patent for GM soybeans

The US supreme court came down solidly on the side of the agricultural giant Monsanto on Monday, ruling unanimously that an Indiana farmer could not use patented genetically modified soybeans to create new seeds without paying the company.

The case – which was cast by the farmer's supporters as a classic tale of David vs Goliath – could well dictate the future of modern farming.

In an unanimous ruling written by Justice Elena Kagan, the court ruled that the farmer, Vernon Bowman, had infringed on Monsanto's patent for its GM soybeans when he bought some of those seeds from a local grain elevator and planted them for a second, late-season crop. Monsanto sued, arguing that Bowman had signed a contract when he initially bought the Roundup Ready soybeans in the spring, agreeing not to save any of the harvest for replanting. The seeds are genetically modified to be resistant to Roundup Ready weedkiller.

On Monday, the nine justices agreed. Kagan rejected the farmer's main argument, that Monsanto's patent was exhausted, because he had bought the seeds from a grain elevator. "Patent exhaustion does not permit a farmer to reproduce patented seeds through planting and harvesting without the patent holder's permission," she wrote.

Bowman, who is in his 70s, grew up in south-western Indiana and has farmed the same stretch of land for most of the past four decades. He had for years been faithfully signing contracts with Monsanto for his main soybean crop. More than 90% of the soybean grown in the mid-west is believed to be GM strains, like Round-Up Ready. But Bowman got into trouble when he decided to buy up junk seed from a local grain elevator and use it for a second, late-season planting. The advantage to the farmer was that such seeds were cheaper than the price demanded by Monsanto, and the late-season plantings were a riskier crop.

Monsanto sued, arguing that it maintained patent rights on the GM seeds even after sold on by a third party, and won a settlement of $84,456 (£53,500) which was upheld on Monday.

Kagan, above, agreed with the company's argument that if it allowed farmers like Bowman to replant his seeds after just one season's use, it would have no business model:

"In the case at hand, Bowman planted Monsanto's patented soybeans solely to make and market replicas of them, thus depriving the company of the reward patent law provides for the sale of each article. Patent exhaustion provides no haven for that conduct. We accordingly affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit."

Monsanto said the ruling would help shore up the US patent system, and encourage greater innovation.

"The Court's ruling today ensures that longstanding principles of patent law apply to breakthrough 21st century technologies that are central to meeting the growing demands of our planet and its people," David Snively, the company's general counsel, said in a statement on the company's website. "The ruling also provides assurance to all inventors throughout the public and private sectors that they can and should continue to invest in innovation that feeds people, improves lives, creates jobs, and allows America to keep its competitive edge."

Kagan said it was a narrow ruling. But some commentators said the decision could offer greater protection to those with patents on products that can be self-replicated, like cell lines and software.

The decision will be seen as a big defeat for those who had looked to Bowman's case to challenge the growing power over modern farming that is wielded by giant agricultural and biotech firms. By the start of this year, Monsanto had filed 144 lawsuits against 466 farmers and small farm businesses alleging patent infringement, according to a report from the Centre for Food Safety which has championed Bowman's case.

The report noted that three big companies now control more than half of the global seed market – a position that has sent prices soaring. The report said the average cost of planting an acre of soybeans had risen 325% between 1995 and 2011.

-          Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent. guardian.co.uk, Monday 13 May 2013

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/may/13/supreme-court-monsanto-indiana-soybean-seeds

Preparatory Meeting for new campaign "Healthy Rivers, Happy Cities"!

Preparatory Meeting for our new campaign "Happy Rivers, Healthy Cities":

Date:  Today, 15th May 2013
Time: 6 pm
Venue: Hotel Sujata, VSS Marg, Sambalpur. 

If you are interested to be part of this and volunteer for this unique first of its kind citizens initiative, please join us.  Today we shall try to finalize the action plans for making Mahanadi a healthy River for Sambapur to be happy!

A call/sms/fb msg would be appreciated in confirmation of your participation.

Waiting for you. Thanks!

Good Morning Thought - 15th May 2013!

The so called ‘lost golden opportunities’ are golden perhaps because we let them slip by.  Missing an opportunity is as natural as gaining one and thus there is nothing called a ‘lost opportunity’…

Good Morning!

32 million people displaced due to disasters in 2012 - Reuters Post!

Disasters displaced over 32 mln people in 2012, rising trend forecast

People sit in front of a submerged building in the Patani community in Nigeria's Delta state October 15, 2012. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Natural disasters forced 32.4 million people from their homes in 2012, with climate and weather hazards such as floods and storms causing 98 percent of the displacement, a report said on Monday.

The total was almost double the 2011 number, as major floods hit India and Nigeria last year, accounting for 41 percent of global disaster displacement, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC). The figures capture only the impact of rapid-onset crises and exclude droughts, which are slower-moving and harder to track.

In the two biggest events of 2012, monsoon floods uprooted 6.9 million people in India's northeast, and in Nigeria 6.1 million people were newly displaced by widespread flooding in the rainy season.

Over the past five years, some 144 million people have had to leave their homes in 125 nations because of natural disasters, the vast majority staying in their own countries, the report said. The figures vary sharply from year to year according to the number and scale of the largest disasters.

But in general, the risk of displacement is expected to rise in line with global trends that make people more vulnerable, the IDMC warned. Exacerbating factors include population growth, rapid urbanisation and the growing exposure of vulnerable communities and their homes and livelihoods to hazards, it said.

"Due to improved life-saving measures, mortality rates associated with major weather-related hazards are falling, yet increasing numbers of disaster survivors will still be displaced from their homes," the report said. From 2008 to 2012, climate and weather hazards accounted for 83 percent of disaster-driven displacement.

Human-made climate change is expected to increase the frequency and severity of weather-related hazards in the longer term, the report noted.

 "The level of displacement risk will be greatly influenced by how well countries and communities are able to strengthen disaster prevention, preparedness and response and adapt to new realities," it added.

POOR WORST-AFFECTED

Over the past five years, four fifths of disaster-driven displacement has occurred in Asia. But in 2012, Africa had a record high for the region of 8.2 million people displaced, over four times more than in any of the previous four years.

The report highlighted how rich countries are also affected by disasters, with 1.3 million people forced from their homes in 2012. The United States was among the top 10 countries with the highest levels of new displacement, at more than 900,000 people, largely due to Hurricane Sandy in October last year and forest fires.

Nonetheless, people in poor countries remain by far the worst-affected, the report said, making up 98 percent of the global total displaced by disasters between 2008 and 2012.

"In the U.S. following Hurricane Sandy, most of those displaced were able to find refuge in adequate temporary shelter while displaced from their own homes,” Clare Spurrell, IDMC's chief spokesperson, said in a statement.  “Compare this to communities in Haiti, where hundreds of thousands are still living in makeshift tents over three years after the 2010 earthquake mega-disaster, and you see a very different picture".

Haiti had displacement levels equivalent to 19 percent of its total population, or 1.9 million people, from 2008 to 2012 - the highest relative level experienced by any country - due to the earthquake and a succession of storms.

Other countries that were badly hit in 2012 were China, the Philippines and Pakistan, with displacement caused by storms and their after-effects.

The year was noteworthy for the relatively low number of people uprooted by earthquakes and volanic eruptions - about 680,000.

Around a quarter of countries where people were displaced by disasters in 2012 were also affected by conflict, the report noted. "Here, vulnerability to disaster triggered by floods is frequently further compounded by hunger, poverty and violence; resulting in a ‘perfect storm’ of risk factors that lead to displacement,″ Spurrell said.

Recently, IDMC said that the total number of people internally displaced by armed conflict, generalised violence and human rights violations worldwide as of the end of 2012 was estimated to be 28.8 million.

CALL FOR BETTER DATA

The IDMC figures count people who are newly displaced each year. But the number of those stuck in long-term displacement - who cannot go back after their homes and livelihoods are destroyed - is unknown, the report said.

"Displaced populations are at increased risk of being neglected, unprotected and left without durable solutions to their displacement the longer they are displaced," it said.

IDMC described the lack of information on the cumulative number of people displaced by disasters as "an important blind spot", and urged governments to systematically collect reliable data on the situation of displaced people.

“Currently the information available is biased, often only focusing on the most visible people who take shelter in official evacuation sites or camps," Spurrell said. "We need to know more about those who seek refuge with families and friends, people who are repeatedly displaced by smaller disasters, or those who are stuck in prolonged displacement following a disaster – not just those that make headlines.”

Author: Megan Rowling, Published on Mon, 13 May 2013

Source: http://www.trust.org/item/20130513114557-uo68q/?source=hptop

Happy Akshaya Tritiya!

My views on water harvesting!

Please find my brief view on importance of traditional water harvesting structures and systems published in the Sunday edition of Odia daily The Samaj, 5th May 2013!

(For friends who cannot read Odia, its talking about decentralized surface water harvesting systems as the most viable option for conserving and managing our water resources)

Mahanadi needs volunteers, supporters and collaborators!