Policy Brief

Climate Resilience in Water Resource Management in India: A Conceptual Framework for Action

18 Sep 2024
| Dr Syamal Kumar Sarkar
| Ms Neha Lakhwan
| Dr Girija K Bharat

The water sector in India is facing increasing variability and unpredictability of water resources due to climate change. This is compounded by inadequate infrastructure for water storage and distribution, and the insufficient integration of climate resilience into water management policies. This is highlighted by the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report. Key threats include extreme weather events, rising temperatures, erratic monsoons, and sea level rise, impacting agriculture, industry, ecosystems, and overall water security.

Integration of TADOX® technology to achieve net zero in textile wastewater treatment: Policy recommendations based on pilot study in a CETP

08 Feb 2024

Textile & Coloration Industry faces the most challenging issue of removal of colour and dissolved organics due to the presence of complex dyes and pigments in the effluent, which are not being able to be removed by conventional and biological treatment technologies. Which in turn impacts the biological treatment making is shock prone and leading to inadequate treatment with discharge of coloured effluent through drains in the rivers. This also impacts downstream tertiary treatment and makes ZLD highly resource and energy intensive and hence unsustainable, unaffordable, unacceptable and non-compliant.

Benchmarking Industrial Water Use Efficiency in India: Opportunities for Water-Intensive Industries

08 Feb 2024

The rapid expansion of population and industrial activities in India has led to acknowledging the critical importance of water conservation. Addressing the escalating water usage within water-intensive industries is essential, given their significant contribution to the economy alongside their substantial impact on water resources. Amongst the water-intensive industries, thermal power plants are the highest consumer of water, followed by pulp & paper, textiles, and iron & steel industries. Existing challenges or inefficiencies in water management practices, such as over-extraction, pollution, or lack of wastewater treatment, further exacerbate the situation.

‘Air to Water’ technology - offering potential to achieve Water for All

28 Mar 2023
| Snehlata Tigala, Shresth Tayal, S K Sarkar

Emerging Role of Blue Finance in the Asia-Pacific Region

29 Oct 2021
| Ms Mani Juneja

The policy brief critically examines pathways in which the funding gap for implementing SDG 14 targets can be bridged, using tools such as well-defined regulatory framework and collective partnership.

Food and Land Resources: Incorporating Watershed-Based Approaches for Better Sustainability-Productivity Balance

04 Aug 2021
| Dr Lasya Gopal
| Dr Yogesh Gokhale
| Dr Mini Govindan

The overall purpose of watershed programmes is to enhance incomes, provide food security through sustainable agriculture and prudent management of natural resources. This directly corresponds to SDG 1 and 2, i.e. No poverty and Zero Hunger respectively. Cross-cutting issues such as gender and social equity in watershed management are pertinent to address SDGs.

TERI Advanced Oxidation Technology (TADOX) to treat textile and dyeing wastewater, achieve zero liquid discharge, and enhance water reuse: R&D-based policy recommendations

22 Mar 2021
| Dr Nupur Bahadur

The policy brief focuses on innovation in textile wastewater treatment with emphasis on integration of TADOX at secondary treatment stage or at pre-biological stage

Detecting SARS-COV-2 in wastewater An Early Warning Signal for Covid-19

10 Feb 2021
| Ms Mary Abraham
| Dr Paromita Chakraborty
| Ms Avanti Roy Basu
| Dr Girija K Bharat

The Policy Brief is a result of the research study titled ‘Monitoring of Community wastewater for early signaling the spread of COVID-19’, supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) jointly undertaken by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), SRM Institute of Science & Technology (SRMIST), & Mu Gamma Consultants Pvt Ltd (MGC).

Monitoring of community wastewater for early signalling the spread of COVID-19 in Chennai City

14 Dec 2020
| Ms Mary Abraham
| Dr Paromita Chakraborty
| Dr Girija K Bharat
| Ms Avanti Roy-Basu

Wastewater has emerged as a good indicator for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 as confirmed by several research studies across the globe through the detection of SARSCoV-2 Ribo Nucleic Acid (RNA) in faeces of symptomatic and asymptomatic patients.

Discussion Paper: Aligning India's Sanitation Policies with the SDGs

31 Jan 2020
| Dr Girija K Bharat
| Mr Nathaniel B Dkhar
| Ms Mary Abraham

Our paper dwells on the policies, programs of the 'sanitation' subsector and explores current government policies in India for the linkages with ‘sanitation’ component of the SDG 6 as well as their implications for the other SDGs.