Asia Water Wire - Asia

MIDEAST: Sewage in Water Threatens Gazans

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 23:21:52 -0500

By Mel Frykberg

GAZA CITY, Jul 2 (IPS) - Gaza is being forced to pump 77 tonnes of untreated or partially treated sewage out to sea daily due to the Israeli blockade of the coastal territory. The fear is that some of this is creeping back into drinking water.

DEVELOPMENT: South Asia Exports Sanitation Successes

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 23:08:24 -0600

By Nergui Manalsuren

India is poised to meet its sanitation and hygiene challenges with a 48 percent coverage in 2007, a marked improvement from merely 1 percent in 1981.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 4 (IPS) - Practical solutions to the global sanitation crisis will require greater knowledge-sharing among developing nations, and also even more support for those efforts by multilateral institutions like the World Bank and United Nations, experts say.

AFGHANISTAN: Emergency Services Collapse Under Bitter Cold

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 21:51:30 -0600

By Tahir Qadiry

MAZAR-E-SHARIF, Feb 2 (IPS) - An unprecedented cold wave sweeping parts of Asia has been especially tragic in Afghanistan where emergency services have failed completely.

SOUTH-EAST ASIA: Lao Dam To Feed Thai Energy Hunger

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 00:58:44 -0600

By Johanna Son and Jaime Lim

BANGKOK, Jan 21 (IPS) - News reports that initial work has begun on the Nam Ngun-3 hydropower project in Laos are a stark reminder of Thailand’s increasing reliance on its neighbours to satisfy its appetite for energy.

INDONESIA: Forgotten Islands Raise Their Voice

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 02:37:07 -0600

By Ramesh Jaura

NUSA DUA, Bali, Dec 13 (IPS) - 'SIDS' and 'AOSIS', the two agitating words heard repeatedly ten years ago in one of Japan's large cities Kyoto, appear to have evaporated in the tropical heat of the Indonesian island Bali.

Q&A: 'Melting Himalayan Glaciers Threaten India, China'

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 23:43:09 -0600

By Ann Ninan

NEW DELHI, Dec 12 (IPS) - Precious little is expected to emerge from the ongoing United Nations climate change conference in Bali, but climatologists and scientific experts warn that time is rapidly running out for planet earth.

ASIA: 'Talking Dirty' on Sanitation Can Save Lives

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 21:08:22 -0600

By Sahana Singh

BEPPU, Japan, Dec 4 (IPS) - Although 2.6 billion people in the world -- two-thirds of whom are in southern or eastern Asia -- are living without access to basic sanitation, the issue has been a poor cousin to water supply in terms of visibility and financing.

ASIA: Bank's Water Report - Wakeup Call for Leaders

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 21:05:30 -0600

By Lynette Lee Corporal

SINGAPORE, Nov 29 (IPS) - A report released by the Asian Development Bank (AsDB) in this affluent city-state on Thursday urges the region’s policymakers to place water-related issues high on their development agenda.

ASIA: Mekong River Commission Remiss - Activists

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 00:27:01 -0600

By Marwaan Macan-Markar

BANGKOK, Nov 14 (IPS) - The campaign to save South-east Asia’s largest waterway from being blocked by a series of massive dams picked up pace this week, with activists accusing a regional river authority of abandoning its mission to protect the Mekong River.

ASIA: Water Worries Plague Region

Sat, 03 Nov 2007 22:08:59 -0500

By Irfan Shahzad*

KARACHI, Pakistan, Nov 2 (IPS/AMIC) – Access to safe water may be touted as a human right, but inadequate supplies, crumbling water systems and the galloping needs of growing populations are forcing experts, government utilities and funding agencies ponder over devising sustainable water service networks in Asia’s teeming cities.

ENVIRONMENT: Asian Countries Among the Top 10 Worst Polluted Places

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 02:48:15 -0500

NEW YORK, Sep 15 — United States-based Blacksmith Institute, an independent environmental group, in partnership with Green Cross Switzerland, recently issues their Top 10 list of the world's most severely polluted places.

ASIA: War Footing Needed to Fix Water, Sanitation Issues

Mon, 03 Sep 2007 01:16:53 -0500

By Sahana Singh*

SINGAPORE, Aug 31 (IPS/AMIC) - Government officials, sanitation experts, funding agencies and civil society representatives are unanimous that Asia’s water delivery and sanitation problems should be tackled with the same urgency as disaster relief.

DEVELOPMENT: Singapore and Iraq - Contrasts in Water Management

Wed, 22 Aug 2007 05:10:01 -0500

By Thalif Deen

STOCKHOLM, Aug 17 (IPS) - As the world faces new threats of water scarcity, triggered by phenomena like global warming and bioenergy demands, Singapore and Iraq have been singled out as two political extremes in water management.

ASIA: Divining Rod, Anyone?

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 05:30:03 -0500

By Chris Oliver

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Asia: It's home to more than 60% of the world's population and not nearly as much of its drinking water.

IRAQ: Have the Tigris and Euphrates Run Dry?

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 05:09:31 -0500

By Ali al-Fadhily*

BAGHDAD, Jul 9 (IPS) - Two of the largest rivers of the region run through Iraq, so why are Iraqis desperate for lack of water?