Study Name - Waste Survey

2018 - 2021, Madurai.

• Goal - To understand the realities and perception of Madurai residents with respect to solid waste.


• Scope – surveyed 2214 households in 69 wards (Madurai has 100 wards) in 4 (2018-2021) years


• Brief description - Sundaram Climate Institute researchers surveyed a cross section of Madurai households across income levels over a period of 4 years to understand the waste and water realities of Madurai. Questions included did waste bother them? How? What did they see their role in managing waste? How did they see the role and services of the corporation?

Study Name - Water Survey

2018 - 2021, Madurai.

• Goal - To understand the water access and availability of Madurai residents


• Scope – surveyed 2214 households in 69 wards (Madurai has 100 wards) in 4 years (2018-2021)


• Brief description - Sundaram Climate Institute researchers surveyed a cross section of Madurai households across income levels over a period of 4 years to understand the waste and water realities of Madurai. Questions included - What are your sources for water? Do you buy water?

Study Name - Bio degradable Survey

2018 - 2021, Madurai.

• Goal - To understand the degradation behaviour of commonly available plastic packaging advertised as biodegradable or compostable in a variety of environments


• Scope & Description– We placed six samples - (1) Areaca Plate, (2) Paper bag, (3) Sugarcane Cup made from sugarcane waste, (4) Biodegradable Bag made from Polylactic acid, (5) Oxo biodegradable Bag made from treated Polyethylene (6) High density Poly propylene HDPE Bag in five different environments (1) Open air, (2) Bokasi – Anaerobic compost (3) Aerobic compost (4) Underground soil with compost (5) Sea water. We then tracked their degradation pattern over one year (2019-2020).

Study Name - Madurai Tank Survey

2018 - 2021, Madurai.

• Goal - To understand how and why tanks improve groundwater resilience


• Scope – 50 urban/peri-urban tanks from 2018-2021


• Brief description - We crowd-sourced groundwater levels at various distance from tanks and compiled a variety other attributes such as tank size, water extent, number of months a tank held water etc. using a combination of survey data, tank visits, and satellite data to understand the efficiency and effectiveness of tanks in improving groundwater resilience. Combining satellite data with on ground research, we created a scorecard (With a Sundaram Climate Institute Tank Resilience Index (SCITRI) )to help identify which tanks are likely to have the highest impact on adjacent groundwater levels and which are particularly vulnerable

Study Name - Mariamman Teppakulam Madurai

• Goal - To understand how tanks (lakes and reservoirs) can become potent job-creation engines by promoting local tourism.


• Scope –Mariamman Teppakulam Madurai, 2020-2021


• Brief description - We estimated the economic and employment size of the lake by counting the number of establishments and persons working in them. We extrapolated revenue numbers based on estimates gathered via a structured questionnaire (sampling rate of 10%). The tank supports an economy of Rs. 1 crore (not including the college and other structures that existed prior to this month) per annum, providing 43 jobs. We believe that the tank is capable of supporting a far greater tourist economy if adequate infrastructure is provided

Study Name - Tank tourism – Kodaikanal lake

2020 - 2021, Madurai.

• Goal - To understand how tanks (lakes and reservoirs) can become potent job-creation engines by promoting local tourism.


• Scope –Mariamman Teppakulam Madurai, 2020-2021


• Brief description We estimate that the Kodaikanal lake supports an economy of Rs. 46 crores (not including the hotel/ spiritual retreat/fishing revenue) per annum, providing 736 jobs. Being a highly seasonal economy, the number of jobs swells to 1200+ in peak season, varies between 650-900 for the rest of the year, falling to ~300 in the monsoon months.

Study Name - A.T.E Chandra Foundation - Rajasthan Tank Study

• Goal - The study we undertook on a request from the ATE Chandra foundation covered 10 tanks in Rajasthan.


• Scope –Spread across Jaipur, Jodhpur and Rajsamand, 2020


• Brief Description - Apart from desilting, repairing bunds, identifying and removing sources of pollution (many tanks did show faecal contamination), and in those locations, where local communities access groundwater, placing infiltration structures in the tank bed, would help tanks become more functional.

Study Name - Madurai Temple Tanks

• Goal - Identified 15 temple tanks in Madurai and collected the sthalapuram of the temple and the waterbody from the temple priests.


• Scope –Spread across Jaipur, Jodhpur and Rajsamand, 2020


• Brief Description - Apart from desilting, repairing bunds, identifying and removing sources of pollution (many tanks did show faecal contamination), and in those locations, where local communities access groundwater, placing infiltration structures in the tank bed, would help tanks become more functional.

Large Scale Study on Attitudes and Realities of Waste and Water

April - June 2018 – Madurai.

• Surveyed 1000+ households to understand realities and attitudes of waste and water


• Validation of responses by clustering of households/photographic and video evidence/ large sample size


• Coverage of both interior and exterior wards