Punjab

The nonexistent bridge in Punjab
At Punjab's Mand island, not many children go to school and pregnant women deliver at the river bank -- all because there is no bridge connecting it to the mainland. Posted on 10 Aug, 2015 12:14 PM

Bakshish Singh once had 13 acres of farmland; now he only has one. He lost the rest in 2013 when the Beas river changed its course and started flowing near his house. Bakshish lives at Rampur Gaura village in Kapurthala district of Punjab, the state generally known for good roads, urbanised villages and wealthy farmers.

The only connection of the island with mainland is through a pontoon bridge which the Public Works Department removes as the water level rises during monsoon.
Heavy rains disrupt life in North India
News this week Posted on 14 Jul, 2015 09:49 AM

Monsoons in the North affect people and wildlife

Monsoon affects life in North India
Surplus yet lacking: Water supply schemes in Punjab
The state is only focused on costly filtration solutions while little is being done to stop contamination at source, which is the cause of physical and mental disabilities especially in children. Posted on 21 Jun, 2015 10:22 AM

A small river flows past the village of Teja Rohela in Fazilka district, Punjab, crosses the border a couple of kilometres away, and enters Pakistan.

Body of a puppy floating in one of Punjab's public water supply tanks
Water and facilities flow better into cities
An analysis of Census 2011 data confirms many known facts--the urban beats the rural when it comes to treated tap water supply, access to water testing labs and much more. Posted on 05 May, 2015 01:35 PM

Sixty eight percent of India's population lives in rural areas but when it comes to facilities -- including the availability of safe drinking water -- cities and towns corner most of them.

Rural-Urban Drinking Water Supply Gap, Census 2011
Brick kilns take the Ganga away from Patna
News this week Posted on 13 Apr, 2015 08:16 PM

596 brick kilns along Ganga's banks are pushing it away from Patna

Brink kiln in Doddaballapur
Swachh Punjab' is a stinking reality
The state's high toilet coverage has compounded the problem of water pollution and diseases. It now needs an efficient and affordable sewage treatment system. Posted on 13 Apr, 2015 12:54 PM

Whenever Nachatar Singh’s wife and children fall sick, he blames it on the groundwater they pull out everyday using a hand pump in his courtyard at Veere Wala Kalan village of Faridkot district. Singh swears that the problem started only recently. “The same tap used to fetch such good quality water thanks to seepage from the Gang canal which runs around 1 km from our place.

Not much distance between toilet and water source
Golden city around the pond
Amritsar is as famous for the 'sarovar' surrounding the Golden Temple as it is for the Harmandir Sahib itself but how much do you know about this water body, which has a capacity of 31,000 gallons? Posted on 29 Mar, 2015 09:02 PM

Vibrant colourful clothes, spicy Punjabi food, a cacophany of sounds from the streets and then, serenity inside the Harmandir Sahib complex. Amritsar, a city of contrasts, and one that tests the senses constantly, is home to the holiest shrine of the Sikhs popularly known as the Golden Temple.

A devotee takes a dip in the holy sarovar
Punjab's groundwater crisis: A bye product of the govt's short sighted policies?
As long as electricity is improperly priced and farmers get the MSP for rice, they will not take up maize cultivation. This will lead to further deterioration of groundwater. Posted on 23 Mar, 2015 05:26 PM

Punjab has made great progress in grain production following the technological revolution in agriculture in the 1960s. The state achieved this through subsidised use of high yielding variety seeds, fertilisers and irrigation.

Farmer in Punjab (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Slow poisoning of the Harike wetland
Considered a Ramsar site since 1990, the Harike wetland in Punjab is on the verge of a serious crisis, as contamination of its waters from effluents has reached critical levels. Posted on 09 Mar, 2015 09:58 PM

Known as "Hari-ke-Pattan", this wetland is the largest in the Tarn Taran Sahib district of the Punjab in northern India and has the Harike Lake in its deeper part [1]. Its rich biodiversity plays an important role in maintaining the hydrological balance in the catchment area. It also supports a vast range of migratory birds including a number of globally threatened species [1].

Harike wetland (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Environmental clearance to Cuddalore thermal plant quashed
Policy matters this week Posted on 18 Nov, 2014 01:41 PM

NGT turns down clearance to Cuddalore thermal plant because of threat to mangroves

A thermal power plant in Korba
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