News and Articles
Cursed by greed: The Falgu river
Posted on 23 Mar, 2015 04:32 PMThe story of the Falgu is one of greed. Unlike most other rivers, the Falgu is not just a victim of greed, but also an oppressor -- she oppressed none other than Sita herself as she flowed through Gaya in Bihar.
The story
More than just 'a' day for water
Posted on 22 Mar, 2015 10:48 AMCome March and it's that time of the year again -- spring cleaning! On March 22, 2015, this takes on a slightly different meaning to some as it becomes a day to spring clean our attitudes towards water for yet another year. World Water Day looms large and with it, the current year's focus.
A speed limit on river use
Posted on 21 Mar, 2015 01:08 PMProfessor Jay O'Keeffe is well-known to all those who are interested in the concept of environmental flow releases. The Professor has been involved in this, all over the world, since the seventies.
Righting an insanitary wrong
Posted on 20 Mar, 2015 10:25 AMSOPPECOM and Water Aid have been working for the last three years on the right to water and sanitation. They have engaged in consultations with people across the nation, and used these discussions to articulate their campaign demands. The campaign has also come up with a wealth of resources on the topic but what does this right to sanitation entail? Mamata Dash explains.
Can Madurai's dying tanks be revived?
Posted on 19 Mar, 2015 09:34 PMMadurai, Tamil Nadu's second largest city, is now filled with buildings and roads which are eating into its age old network of tanks and canals. This change did not happen overnight. It began in the late 19th century by the British when they merged several hamlets to establish their headquarters in the region.
Slow poisoning of the Harike wetland
Posted on 09 Mar, 2015 09:58 PMKnown 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].
World's only floating freshwater lake under threat
Posted on 06 Mar, 2015 11:02 PMThe Loktak lake in Manipur is the largest freshwater lake in Northeast India. It is famous for the phumdis, which are isolated collections of heterogenous masses of vegetation, soil, and organic matter at various stages of decomposition, floating over it [1]. It is referred to as the only floating lake in the world because of the phumdis [2].
Kashmir's lake fisheries are dying a slow death
Posted on 06 Mar, 2015 10:33 PMFisheries form an important component of the economy of Jammu and Kashmir, which along with agriculture, contributes a significant 23% to its Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). Besides being an important allied activity to agriculture, it contributes significantly to the agricultural economy and also generates self-employment.
Water for All & Other Poems: Poetry with a purpose
Posted on 06 Mar, 2015 05:06 PMAn engineer or an ecologist talking about water may not cause many heads to turn, but when they do it through poetry, there is a chance that more people will take notice.
A hard look at the strategy of fighting open defecation
Posted on 05 Mar, 2015 10:31 PMWith over 620 million defecating in the open in India, do we need a new approach to curb this practice? The force of habit is such that even households with toilets have around forty percent of adults defecating in the open. But, does curbing open defecation necessarily lead to significant improvements in child health outcomes like diarrhoea, anaemia, parasite infection and growth?