News and Articles

Bengaluru's Bellandur lake is on fire again
News this week Posted on 24 Jan, 2018 10:14 AM

Bellandur lake catches fire again

Bellandur lake on fire. (Source: NDTV)
Eliminate garbage naturally
A Mumbai-based scientist comes up with an effective solution to Kashmir’s mounting garbage problem. Posted on 23 Jan, 2018 06:19 PM

Kashmir was once known for its pristine mountains, lakes, beautiful landscape and clean environment. In the last few decades, however, things have changed. An increasing amount of untreated garbage produced by humans is becoming a critical problem affecting not only the health of the residents of Kashmir but its environment, too.

A screenshot from the film Untreated Waste--Invitation to Disaster (Source: Abdul Rashid Bhat)
Open water data for integrated water science
Datameet and Centre for Internet and Society have released a prototype web app that allows users to access daily rainfall data from Jan 1981 till Dec 2017 for a watershed of their interest. Posted on 23 Jan, 2018 03:30 PM

Understanding water in all its forms in every part of the water cycle is vital to ensuring its sustainable and equitable management. Whether there is a scarcity of water or an excess of it, knowing precisely the quantum of water, whether underground in aquifers, embedded in the soil as soil moisture or in numerous lakes, reservoirs and rivers is vital.

Image courtesy NASA
Profiting from sustainable farming
Sustainable agro-ecological farming is one way to overcome the limitations of conventional farming. Green College shows us how to do it. Posted on 23 Jan, 2018 01:48 PM

Pitidri is a nondescript village that dots the rainshadow area of Purulia district in West Bengal. Droughts are common here even when the area is endowed with above average rainfall of over 1300 mm a year. Until some time ago, Urmila Mahato, a 42-year-old farmer from Pitidri had been struggling to ensure her family’s food security.

Urmila Mahato at her farm.
Delhi’s e-waste problem
Toxic heavy metals from electronic waste piles in Delhi contaminate groundwater and soil. Posted on 21 Jan, 2018 08:49 AM

Widespread use of digital devices--mobile phones, tablets, computers, smart watches and more--has made electronic waste a new environmental problem. Discarded gadgets result in massive piles of e-waste, which is contaminating soil and groundwater in the national capital, a new study has pointed out. 

Heavy metals from e-waste leach into the ground polluting the groundwater and soil.
Waste away, Ambikapur shows way
A small city in Chattisgarh, Ambikapur implements a cost effective way to get rid of its waste and generates jobs in the process. Posted on 19 Jan, 2018 11:37 AM

Ambikapur has become a role model for all the urban local bodies (ULBs) in Chhattisgarh for its successful solid liquid resource management (SLRM). Thanks to Ritu Sen, former collector of Ambikapur and her team for taking the initiative to clean the city and for bringing the women's self-help groups (SHGs) together for this noble cause. 

A worker carries household waste to the SLRM centres at Ambikapur.
River turns drain, drowns villages in sorrow
Despite repeated protests by villagers living around the Ghaggar, the river remains polluted, thanks to the apathy of the authorities. Posted on 18 Jan, 2018 04:08 PM

Till four decades ago, Ghaggar river in Haryana and Punjab was the lifeline of the villages along its course. Incessant dumping of sewage and industrial effluents, however, has choked the life out of it and has reduced it to a drain or nullah, as locals call it, now.

Rorki villagers show the effluent being released to the river. (Source: 101Reporters)
A step towards better air, water
Four new projects launched for real-time monitoring of air and water quality. Posted on 17 Jan, 2018 09:58 AM

Four new research and development projects for real-time monitoring of air and water quality were today launched jointly by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Corporate Research Council of Intel.

Real-time monitoring of air and water quality can reduce pollution. (Source: IWP Flickr photos, photo for representation only)
Purify water safely
Ultraviolet lamps free of mercury developed to purify water. Posted on 17 Jan, 2018 09:49 AM

The use of ultraviolet lamps in water purifiers is common but the presence of mercury in these lamps could be potentially hazardous. Now a group of Indian scientists have developed a mercury-free ultraviolet lamp that can be used in water purifiers.

The new mercury free UV lamp water purifier.
Sand mining in Rajasthan: SC refuses to lift ban
Policy matters this week Posted on 16 Jan, 2018 10:41 AM

SC refuses to lift ban on sand mining in Rajasthan 

Illegal mining affects the natural course of the river. (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
×