E-Science & Environment Winner – 2008

India Water Portal

DESCRIPTION
Water is a scarce commodity today and serious efforts are required towards its consumption. In such a scenario, The India Water Portal (www.indiawaterportal.org) , which is a rich online resource base and a virtual community on water, is a move towards creating one window knowledge house on water issues.  An idea that was mooted by the National Knowledge Commission (http://knowledgecommission.gov.in/), the Water Portal was launched officially in January 2007. It is a completely free and open platform, for the dissemination of information and knowledge and discussion and debate on water issues.   The India Water Portal consists of case studies, movies, slideshows and courses based on the work done by partner organizations on various domains of water e.g. groundwater, rainwater harvesting, water quality, urban water. After English, India Water Portal is ready to launch its Hindi version.

CITATION
So far knowledge about water in India existed in silos of universities, governmental and non-governmental organizations. Traditional knowledge and understanding around water were in serious threat. The launch of the India Water Portal has come as a timely resource centre in providing holistic information and content base on water and various issues. Reaching out to a visitor base of around 600 each day and  18000 visits a month, the  commitment of the Water Portal to reduce both the digital and the content asymmetry prevalent in India can be validated from their emphasis on “language portals”, “multimedia courses” and the “Kannada Radio shows”.  With multilingual options, the India Water Portal hopes to create effective advocacy and awareness regarding water related issues among general masses in order to achieve solutions for water woes.

Producer
Arghyam

Organisation
Arghyam

Location
Karnataka, INDIA

Telephone
91 80 41698941

Email
info@arghyam.org

Technology/Medium
Cross Media

Language
English, Kannada
Url:  www.indiawaterportal.org