Himanshu KulkarniAdvanced Center for Water Resouces Development and Management
Himanshu Kulkarni
About
186
Publications
106,588
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
1,505
Citations
Publications
Publications (186)
The rapid transition from a narrow focus on developing groundwater resources to wider thinking on groundwater governance has been a result of many different developments in the South Asian Region, particularly in India. Policies and practices of groundwater recharge, especially through engineered mechanisms have also evolved from artificial recharg...
The scope of the study revolved around three basic questions. The First being estimation of the quantities of groundwater extracted in the city of Pune, say on an annual basis, while the second question was more specific in terms of the layout of Pune’s aquifers and their characteristics. The 2019 report focused on these two questions, while this r...
Water shortage has always been a problem for hamlets situated at a higher elevation, away from the main streams from many mountainous regions of India. It is glaringly true for the Himalayan region, where hamlets belonging to a village lie scattered throughout the area. During a drought period, when the upper springs dry up, these habitations exper...
This report is a culmination of efforts made by ACWADAM, in collaboration with UNICEF and Sevavardhini towards deriving a process for drinking water safety and security for villages in overexploited watersheds identified by the GSDA. It aims to strengthen local governance institutions with regards to the process and the elements therein. The primar...
The Indo-German Project named ‘Water Security and Climate Adaptation in Rural India’
(WASCA) is a project which focusses on improving water resource management through an integrated approach at the national, state, and local level with regards to water security and climate adaptation in rural areas. It is commissioned by the German Federal Ministr...
The present study aims at developing a MAR plan for pilot villages around the HUL factory in Chhindwara Tehsil of Chhindwara Dist., Madhya Pradesh. Based on field observations and narratives obtained through community surveys, a draft plan is developed and is discussed at length in this report. These plans will then form a template which will be us...
ACWADAM team conducted a short visit to the Etah factory field site to conduct a
reconnaissance survey to broadly understand the groundwater situation in the villages selected by the factory. As a part of this visit, a demonstration was also provided to the PSSS team for mapping and measuring groundwater.
The book brings together a range of leading scholars and practitioners to compile an international account of water allocation policies supporting a transition to sustainable water use in regions where agriculture is the dominant water use. In Section 1, the collection canvasses five key crosscutting issues shaping the challenge of sustainable wate...
Project Shrusti is an initiative of Raah foundation where they aim to create regenerative food forests on barren, abandoned lands in regions of Jawhar and Mokhada. Under this initiative Raah foundation has acquired a 10-acre plot on top of a plateau just north of Dabhosa village in Jawhar block. ACWADAM conducted a hydrogeological study of the plat...
ACWADAM has been partnering with Raah Foundation in parts of Jawhar and Mokhada for
water security for the tribal communities in the region. As part of Raah Foundation’s
extensive work in Jawhar, Kogada is one of the villages where they have identified potential for carrying out water conservation activities. This report derives extensively from...
An exponential rise in the occurrence of landslides in Western Maharashtra is being reported from various quarters. A combined effect of a changing climate, temporal, and spatial variabilities in precipitation along with changes in land use and land cover are factors that are possibly contributing to the susceptibility of slope failure during the m...
On Oct 2017 an Agreement of Association was signed among Rural Development
Department, GoN, Land Resources Department, GoN and North East Initiative
Development Agency for initiation the pilot project titled “Multi-stakeholder Initiative to
Provide Drinking Water Security through Springshed Management in 100 villages in
Rural Areas of Nagaland”...
This document describes ACWADAM's unique journey that started parallel to the story of groundwater in India. The document begins by charting the story of India's groundwater trajectory, from the green revolution to the present day situation, the challenges emerging as an outcome of this dependency and ACWADAMs parallel journey in its quest to find...
Groundwater is accessed by those living in mountains as well as those living
close to the sea shore. It holds equal importance in terms of freshwater
availability even in the most vulnerable areas. As we face the consequences
of climate change across the globe, in the form of rising sea water levels, the
freshwater availability becomes a crucia...
The aim of the Drops of Hope program is to develop a process that strengthens local institutions, understand their groundwater resource and manage drinking water source in order to mitigate drinking water scarcity. In the mainstream drinking water safety and security plans, the drinking water scarcity is often linked with decrease in rainfall, but...
Various stakeholders from science, policy and practice aspire to shape public policy. What are the engagement spaces they operate in, what are the characteristics of these spaces and the implications for effective policy making? The literature on the public policy formulation process in developing countries is sparse, and this study attempts to bri...
If the success of agricultural intensification continues to rely on the depletion of aquifers and exploitation of (female) labour, transformations to groundwater sustainability will be
impossible to achieve. Hence, the development of new groundwater imaginaries, based on alternative ways of organizing society-water relations is highly important. Th...
India’s groundwaterGroundwater usage is the largest in the world. Nearly, all sectors, especially rural domestic water and water in agriculture, have large-scale dependencies on groundwater resources. Groundwater exploitation, without due consideration to the concept of aquifers as common pool resources, has led to the dual problem of groundwater d...
Rationale On 12th July, 1961 Pune city faced devastating floods due to collapse of the newly constructed Panshet dam and breach of Khadakwasla dam. The dams emptied within a few hours that day. There was a total devastation in Pune. A catastrophe such as dam collapse is a rare phenomenon. But it will not be an exaggeration to say that we got a glim...
Spring water continues to remain the lifeline of the Himalayan population. Nearly one‐third of the population depends completely on spring water for its domestic needs and often for meeting livelihood requirements. Himalayan springs are depleting and despite their significance, there is very little attention towards it. A majority of springs are dr...
Floods devastate settlements, bring misery to human lives, disrupt cities, and incurs financial losses to the nation. All of these were evident in Pune in the months of August and September 2019, when the city experienced unprecedented flooding in its rivers. A preliminary analysis of the floods reveals that it was not just the fury of nature that...
This short report is in continuation to document on first-hand observations from the field visit conducted in Mokhada in January 2021. After the first field visit, the field volunteers of Raah were given the task of collecting some basic information on open wells and springs. Data of 42 open wells and 15 springs was gathered across nine hamlets. Wh...
Thane SPCA has been working on providing primary health care facilities to the rescued
stray and street animals through their Emergency Animal Care center in Thane since 2002.
Their work is spread across the entire Thane district and parts of the Palghar and Raigad
districts. They have rescued and treated numerous wild animals, birds, and reptil...
India is the largest user of groundwater in the world accounting for nearly 25 percent of global abstraction. It has been possible due to the atomistic nature of groundwater development in the country. Nearly 85 percent of rural water supplies are dependent on groundwater sources.
Given the context of this dependency on the resource, the country...
Springs are points on the surface of the earth through which groundwater emerges
and flows. This water is then used as the main source of drinking and domestic
purposes in many areas, it also plays a vital role in keeping the river alive and
replenishment of riverine ecosystem by contributing in the form of base flows or in
the form of discharg...
ACWADAM conducted a rapid hydrogeological assessment of Dhanoshi village for Raah
Foundation for assessing the nature of groundwater which will be beneficial for
implementation of watershed development programme in the village. This report is a result of a very rapid study of the village based on a short visit and basic analysis of field data col...
Tree Public foundation working in the Aundh military area located in Aundh, Pune, is
working towards conserving biodiversity by conducting activities such as
afforestation and enhancement of groundwater recharge through watershed
activities. At present, there are a couple of sources of water (Dug well, bore well) in
the premise for watering pla...
Raah foundation is an organisation which works in the tribal regions of Jawhar and Mokhada talukas of Palghar district, Maharashtra to address grassroot poverty. They have worked extensively with these communities to improve their livelihoods through women empowerment and livelihood programmes with the focus primarily on tribal warli art. This appr...
Operating at the science, policy, practice interface (SPPI) is often contentious, as knowledge creators and end-users seldom engage, preferring to operate in their own worlds. The application of science to solve sustainability challenges has not received the desired attention, especially in developing countries. How to strengthen the credibility, r...
Drinking water is a fundamental need of an individual. Drinking water requirement is the top priority within all water requirements. This is especially relevant to the water scarcity context in different parts of India. Specific programmes are designed by central and state agencies to ensure drinking water availability to all the desired stakeholde...
Drinking water is a fundamental need of an individual. Drinking water requirement is the top priority within all water requirements. This is especially relevant to the water scarcity context in different parts of India. Specific programmes are designed by central and state agencies to ensure drinking water availability to all the desired stakeholde...
The Himalayas are undergoing rapid climate change, and the prevailing narrative has revolved around glaciers and river hydrology. While ironically, in the densely populated Himalayan mid-hills, it is the network of rain-fed springs that are the principal source of drinking water. Recent studies highlight the worrying trend of these springs drying u...
The Sahyadri School, KFI, spread over an area of 28 ha is situated on top of the Tiwai hills, which forms a part of the Western Ghats range. The campus accommodates close to 360 students and staff members annually and has a significantly large water footprint. The average daily water demand of the school is close to 90000 litres, which is supplied...
The Spiti valley is cold desert mountain valley that forms the part of Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh. Spiti, surrounded by high mountains on all sides, is located on the leeward side of the Trans-Himalayas. The average elevation of the mountain ranges is around18,000 ft. and the lowest parts of valley are considerably more than 11,0...
A Working Group on Himalayan Springs was constituted by National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog (Commission). “Inventory and Revival of Springs in the Himalayas for Water Security” was identified as one of the thematic areas for which NITI Aayog nominated Department of Science and Technology (DST) under the Government of India as t...
Mountain springs are the primary source of water for millions of people in the mid-hills of the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH). Both rural and urban communities depend on springs to meet their drinking, domestic, and agricultural water needs. Springs also contribute to the base flows of rivers in this region. There is increasing evidence of drying sprin...
Today almost all cities in India are largely dependent upon on groundwater. The extractable water found below the ground within the rock (i.e. within Aquifer) is simply called ground water. We are very much aware the situation of water scarcity in large cities through various ways of broadcasting media especially during summer period. Apart from de...
Groundwater extraction has increased manifold globally, especially after the 19th century. Agriculture accounts for over three-quarters of the total groundwater extracted every year in the world. A large part of this extraction takes place in Asia alone. India became the country with the largest extraction of groundwater in the world – more than a...
This strategy paper is a part of activities conducted under the Strengthening State Strategies for Climate Action (3SCA) programme being implemented by UNDP and supported by The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). SDC’s Global Programme Climate Change and Environment (GPCCE) India has been supporting the operationalisation of State...
Kashig village in Mulshi taluka of Pune District is located on the southern slopes of the fort Tikona near Lake Hadashi. Although the village receives good rainfall, it is reported by the local administrative body that they experience severe water scarcity during summer, with the drying up of dug wells and spring sources. ACWADAM with the support o...
The state government of Maharashtra declared 152 blocks and 286 revenue circles to be drought hit during the 2018-19 hydrological year. Thousands of villages across the state faced acute problems linked to drinking water, water for livelihoods etc. It has various social, economic and psychological repercussions on individuals, families and communit...
The mountainous regions of India are mostly dependent on springs for drinking water, domestic usage and agricultural needs. Springs can be considered as lifelines of these regions. Springs also form important cultural symbols while playing the crucial role of baseflows to rivers and consequently help in maintaing the ecological balance of a region....
Kajla is a Village in Osmanabad Taluka in Osmanabad District of Maharashtra State, India. It belongs to Marathwada region . It belongs to Aurangabad Division . It is located 12 KM
towards East from District head quarters Osmanabad. 3 KM from Osmanabad. ACWADAM team visited Kajala village in April 2019. The purpose of the visit was to understand th...
This report developed as a part of the programme ‘Strengthening State Strategies for Climate Actions’ provides an outline of the status of groundwater. The report is based on secondary data analysis of groundwater related data sets, especially those from the CGWB. This is a preliminary document that can be used as a reference point for detailed gro...
ACWADAM, AFARM and AOL are working together in 14 villages from Maan taluka of Satara district. This project is supported by Cummins India. The duration of the project is 15 months starting from Feb 2018.
Project objectives
1. To study the hydrogeology of fourteen villages to build an understanding of local aquifer systems.
2.To set up monitoring...
ACWADAM was working in 15 villages of Maan taluka, Satara with support of Cummins and in close partnership with AFARM and Art of Living. ACWADAM’s main role was to conduct hydrogeological study of the area. The duration of the project was 15 months. Study area lies at the left bank of Maan river forming NE corner of the Maan taluka with its norther...
The alluvial flood plains of north Bihar are considered to be safe from a groundwater perspective given the abundance of water, both surface water and groundwater. These aquifers, however, are showing the presence of various contaminants including arsenic, iron, and microbial pathogens. Drinking water problems are compounded by regular floods and a...
India is the largest user of groundwater in the world, with an atomistic resource development paradigm. The millions of groundwater users across the diverse hydrogeological settings of the country have led to an overarching dependency on the resource for agricultural livelihoods, drinking water security and also meeting and increasing industrial an...
The people of Himachal Pradesh have traditionally depended on rich and diverse mountain ecosystems1 for meeting their livelihood and domestic requirements. An example of this is the large dependency of the mountain communities on rivers and springs for fulfilling basic needs such as drinking water, sanitation and irrigation. However, the mountain e...
Geological mapping is a method of gathering and evaluating geological Ginformation to create a depiction of the subsurface. It involves making and recording visible geological observations in the field and plotting this features to produce a map (geo-referencing). Geologic mapping is a highly interpretive, scientific process that can produce a rang...
The mountainous regions of India are dominantly dependant on springs for drinking water, domestic usage and agricultural needs. Springs can be considered as the lifeline of these regions. Springs also form important cultural symbols while performing the crucial role of providing base flows to rivers and consequently help in maintaining the ecologic...
Development (ICIMOD) is a regional knowledge development and learning centre serving the eight regional member countries of the Hindu Kush Himalaya-Afghanistan, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan-and based in Kathmandu, Nepal. Globalisation and climate change have an increasing influence on the stability of fragile mountain ecosystems and the livelihoods...
Background Sahyadri School under the Master Planning Programme wants to expand their infrastructure and renovate certain existing buildings. In the process of doing so, it wishes to ensure minimum damage to the environment and build structures without hampering the natural ecosystem in and around the school. Currently, the school houses nearly 350...
India’s groundwater situation is complex, to say the least. The myopic view of groundwater, as posed through the national- and state-level aggregate picture, needs to be overcome through efforts at assessment of aquifers at the right scale. However, even the aggregated, national picture on groundwater resources reveals that the groundwater crises o...
Participatory sustainable development' is a common buzzword in India today. However,
very rarely does it take into consideration the questions of why we need it, how we will
do it and for what reasons we need to adopt it under different conditions. Even fewer
are the avenues of scientically sound and nuanced long-term understanding of natural...
“What is Groundwater?” When this question is asked to the general audience, one often gets responses such as: “water that lies below the ground” or “water that is stored in large (vacuum) spaces below the ground” or “some river that is flowing under the surface”.
While, on the other hand when the question, “What is your main source of drinking wat...
Groundwater is a common pool resource, which follows complex dynamics influenced by its hydrogeological characteristics. India is the largest user of groundwater with an average abstraction of more than 260km3 per year (Shah, 2009). There are more than 2.5 million wells/bore wells in the state of Maharashtra alone. Maharashtra has more number of da...
ACWADAM conducted a rapid hydrogeological study in order to understand the
geological as well as the hydrogeological setting of the study area. Based on this
hydrogeological mapping, recommendations are made for the proposed activities to
be undertaken in the study area. This report states the observations and inferences
based on the field visits c...
‘Ghod River Basin management study’ was a joint collaboration between CII (Special Projects Department) and ACWADAM, supported through ITC’s grant to CII. In many ways, this is the first systematic compilation effort of groundwater-related information at the scale of a river basin in India.
Keystone Foundation based out of Kotagiri in the Nilgiris district has been
rigorously and fervently working in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBR) with
indigenous communities through an approach of “eco-development” – a principle
of sustainable development. The main aim of Keystone Foundation is to improve
the lives and livelihood by empowerin...
This report is part of a series that describes the journey of ACWADAM as an organisation and the pedagogy that defines our work. This narrative follows the evolution of the training and capacity building modules. Through the course of the years, we have grown as an organisation, along with learnings from our partnerships and collaborations, and hav...
Groundwater is the most important source for drinking water in India. Nearly 90% of the villages in India are dependent on groundwater for drinking water supply. In Beed district, 97% of the public drinking water sources are groundwater based (NRDWP, 2015)1
. More than 60% agriculture in India is dependent on groundwater (Planning Commission report...
Groundwater has been the backbone of water for agriculture in India. Millions of farmers depend on groundwater for sustaining their agricultural livelihood. Any discussion on groundwater would be incomplete without taking into consideration the resource unit i.e. aquifers. Aquifer storage capacity is not necessarily reflected in discussions on wate...
India is the largest user of groundwater in the world. Over 85% of rural domestic water, around 48% of urban domestic water, and 60–70% of agriculture water are groundwater dependent. This has resulted in the overexploitation and acute depletion of the resource in many parts of the country. Despite the manifold short- and long-term consequences of...
Studies of sustained activity in the Koyna – Warna Seismic Zone have yielded several models of faults in the basement of the Deccan Traps inferred from geophysical and seismic signatures. There is however, a dearth of unambiguous surface manifestations of such faults, apart from the surface ruptures from the epicentral zone of the December, 1967 ea...
A training workshop was conducted from 21st - 24th December 2017, at the HARC (Himalayan Action Research Center) field office in Naugaon village of Uttarkashi district in Uttarakhand. The objective of the workshop was to acquaint the staff of HARC and local participants with the basic concepts and approaches associated with spring shed development...
Under the PGWM programme, ACWADAM initiated an action research
study in Gadakwadi Gram Panchayat in Khed block of Pune District of
Maharashtra. This report summarises the activities undertaken in the
village, the processes followed and the key outcomes of the action
research. We have been able to translate some of these outcomes into action plans f...
The Nilgiri district of Tamil Nadu forms a part of the Western Ghat mountain range (District Statistical Handbook, 2015-16). The district comprises six blocks namely, Pathalur, Gudalur, Udhagamandalam, Kundah, Coonoor and Kotagiri. Most of the southern and central parts of the district covering the blocks of Udhagamandalam, Coonoor and Kotagiri dis...