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India’s Faltering Energy Production and Damaged Water Resources Demand Modi’s Close Attention

India’s new Prime Minister Narendra Modi swept into office in May on a message of aspiration, and a reputation for action.

India Harvests Sun and Wind to Save Water and Power a Slowing Economy

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In Rajasthan, renewables are a bright spot in a troubled national energy industry.

India’s Treacherous Coal Mines in Meghalaya

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National court orders end to feudal labor conditions, wanton…

Uttarakhand Flood Disaster Made Worse By Existing Hydropower Projects, Expert Commission Says

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Report calls for new Himalayan development policy; stirs political battle in New Delhi.

Uttarakhand’s Furious Himalayan Flood Could Bury India’s Hydropower Program

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A treacherous mountain range unleashes a torrent of water, mud, and boulders that was long anticipated and willfully ignored.

Breaking India’s Cycle of Waste and Risk

Small-scale projects offer solutions to India’s water, food, and energy choke points. Still, India's government seems determined to duplicate the frantic program of industrial development, economic growth, centralization, and one-size-fits-all silver bullets that China and the West are pursuing. The consequence is an endemic pattern of resource waste that is firmly embedded in India’s political system, causing economic and ecological havoc.

Mismanagement of Abundance: Constellation of Coal Mines Across India Not Enough to Prevent Blackouts

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Despite the push for renewable energy alternatives to address water and climate concerns, India plans to keep coal as its primary source of electricity. But corruption, bureaucracy, slow environmental reviews, and inefficient transmission lines are hampering domestic production and causing unstable power supply.

Scarcity in a Time of Surplus: Free Water and Energy Cause Food Waste and Power Shortage in India

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Farm policies intended to remove risk from the grain-producing economy have pulled India from the perennial fear of famine. But inefficient bureaucracy and rampant corruption also promote the squandering of resources and a glut of food that is not reaching the poor.
Punjab irrigation water well electric pump farm farming wheat crop rice paddy water table aquifer electricity generation Choke Point India water food energy nexus Circle of Blue Wilson Center Punjab Title: Irrigation well in Punjab, India

Choke Point: India — The Leopard in the Well

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Thanks in large part to the Green Revolution that catalyzed grain production in the mid-1960s, India ended the perennial fear of famine. But achieving food abundance has overwhelmed India's mammoth and unwieldy bureaucracy, drained its freshwater reserves, and strained the energy sector and electrical grid.