Current Questions
At the India Research Corps, we constantly source questions from government agencies and civil society organisations across the country. Below is a list of questions that research scholars can take up.
Open Questions
| Research Client | Question | Application |
|---|---|---|
| Gram Vikas | What are the effects of pumping out water from an aquifer on other aquifers in the region? This information will feed into Water Passbook, a tool they are developing. | It will help educate farmers and inform them about how much water they should be pumping out to avoid the depletion of aquifers. |
| Advanced Centre for Integrated Water Resources Management (ACIWRM) | How can data from the Bele Survey app be triangulated with the information from the Irrigation Department to develop real-time water budgets? | The study will enable accurate, real-time water budgeting. |
| Water4People | What will be the impact of universal drinking water access on groundwater availability in the next 25 years in Nalanda district and the state of Bihar? What is the impact on total water abstraction? Where is source sustainability a concern in Nalanda district? | The inputs from this study will inform the water policy for the state of Bihar. |
| Water4People | Do fertilisers leaching from agricultural lands contaminate surface water and groundwater in a watershed (likely to vary from watershed to watershed and crop to crop)? If there is contamination, does it lead to health-related challenges? | This evidence will be used to put together a programme that helps farmers move away from synthetic fertilisers. |
Matched Questions
We have already assigned these research questions to master’s students.
| Research Client | Question | Application |
|---|---|---|
| ACIWRM | What is the quantum of conjunctive use of water in the Narayanpur Right Bank Canal command area in Raichur district? To what extent do wells compensate for the lack of water from canals? How do people who use wells fare economically compared to head-end paddy farmers who are fully dependent on canal water? | It is assumed that all farmers in the canal command area use canal water. This study will help determine actual use patterns and shape water-management policies. |
| ACIWRM | Is the infrastructure built by water user cooperative societies that received funds for construction better than the infrastructure built by the Irrigation Department? | The study results will help determine if it is more effective for the Irrigation Department to create infrastructure or get it done through water user cooperative societies. |
| Gram Vikas | What is the correlation between district-level weather forecasts and the weather at the village level? Can a model be developed to establish a correction factor that communities can use to predict the village-level weather from the district-level forecast? | The study will enable better weather forecasting and alerts for farmers. |
| ACIWRM | Why do farmers in canal command areas in Maharashtra pay a cess, but farmers in Karnataka do not? | The insights from the study would help create better systems for the functioning of water user cooperative societies and cess collection. |