http://117.252.14.250:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/3066 2026-04-05T17:53:55Z http://117.252.14.250:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/3178 Foreword Bhatia, K. K. S. 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z http://117.252.14.250:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/3177 Table of contents Bhatia, K. K. S.; Khobragade, S. D. 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z http://117.252.14.250:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/3176 35-Water management of Pushkar Sarovar and its rejuvenation Bhavanishankar, B. S. The famous and world renowned Pushkar lake sacred to religious Hindus is about 13 km from Ajmer, another equally well known religious place to Muslims due to a Darga Ajmer Sheriff located there. Of late due to expanding population and increasing influx of pilgrims and tourists both Indian and foreign, water management has run into serious problems causing shrinking of the lake and at the same time deterioration in quality of the water in the Lake. Pushkar is also famous for its camel fair in the desert surroundings that draws tourists from all over the world during the season. In addition this is the only place in the country where there is a Brahma temple that draws crowds from the country all over the year. Consequently the lake water body is put to heavy strain from pollution and decrease in quantity. If this process continues unabated it will not be too long when the lake may dry up undermining the religious importance of this place and also affecting the livelihood of hundreds of priests and others who depend upon the tourists for religious activities and sacred worship. The paper deals with the traditional practices of water management in the past and the current practices in around the lake region that has led to the rapid deterioration. The paper also deals with suggestions to arrest the process and reverse the trend to make the lake sustainable restoring its importance and the old glory. 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z http://117.252.14.250:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/3175 36-Urban lakes of India - An overview of the present status and projections for future Dwivedi, V. K.; Choudey, V. K. The urbanization has been taking place in the world for more than 6000 years. In the developed countries about 75% of the population is concentrated in the urban areas. The rate of urban growth is especially high in developing countries like India. India has witnessed rapid urbanization since independence. The urban population in India was 62 millions (17.3 %) of total population in 1951 which increased to 218 millions (25.7 % of total population) in 1991. It is expected that by 2025 India's urban population will reach 50% of the total population of 1.2 billions. The population of India is expected to reach 1.64 billion by 2050. It is difficult to overstate the urgency of the problems confronting the urban lakes, which hold complete requirement of freshwater of urban area. A lake is a sort of catalyst in the development of the city, region and the country as a whole. In India most of the urban lakes are in crisis, beset by a myriad of problems that affect the quantity and quality of the water they contain, the organisms they support, and their ability to meet the water requirement. Some suffer from excessive water withdrawals and diversions, while others have witnessed deteriorating water quality because of polluting human activities on the surrounding land as well as in catchment area of the lake. This paper takes a candid look at what is happening today to urban lakes in India whether natural or artificial, freshwater or saline, and what is likely to happen to them if present trends continue into the future. 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z