Research Papers

Dams and distress in the Himalayas!
Hydropower projects and compensatory afforestation plantations are spelling doom for the fragile Himalayan forest ecosystems. Urgent action is the need of the hour! Posted on 23 Feb, 2021 10:10 PM

Proliferation of hydropower development in the Himalayas is leading to extensive land use changes in the river valleys and threatening the diverse and fragile Himalayan ecosystems leading to deforestation, fragmentation, soil erosion and loss of forest biodiversity. These are a cause for serious concern for local communities, whose lives and livelihoods depend on these forests.

100 MW Tidong-I project, Kinnaur HP (Image Source: Manu Moudgil)
Multi-purpose cyclone shelters in India
A study finds if multi-purpose cyclone shelters within the neighbourhood are considered safe for cyclone evacuation. Posted on 06 Feb, 2021 03:53 PM

An ‘Extremely Severe Cyclone Fani’ made landfall during morning hours on May 3, 2019, near Puri in Odisha. The landfall location was forecast accurately much in advance by India Meteorological Department.

The Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Department  looks into the repairing of cyclone and flood shelters across Odisha (Image: Odisha TV)
Bengaluru lakes, in crisis!
Urban wetlands are increasingly under threat in cities such as Bengaluru! Community participation and better planning, management and monitoring of urban spaces is the need of the hour! Posted on 01 Feb, 2021 12:40 PM

What are wetlands

Wetland is a place where water covers the soil or is near the soil surface for varying periods of time during the year. Wetlands include a wide variety of habitats ranging from lakes, marshes, swamps, estuaries, tidal flats, river flood plains, mangroves and even rice fields.

Ulsoor lake, Bengaluru (Image Source: Subhashish Panigrahi via Wikimedia Commons)
Cereals drain India dry
A study on virtual water flows in interstate trade of cereals in India shows that cereals are rapidly draining the states that have the most critical levels of groundwater. Posted on 20 Jan, 2021 11:14 AM

Agricultural stagnation and inefficient irrigation systems

Agriculture continues to be an important sector for the Indian economy and for food security with more than half of the workforce being employed in agricultural activities. Greater use of improved crop varieties, irrigation and fertilisers have contributed to major improvements in crop yields in India.

Cereals and millets at a bazaar in Nizampet, Hyderabad (Image Source: Aditya Madhav, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons)
Unsafe drinking water burdens urban poor
While urban poor in Delhi are forced to access water from informal sources, this water is highly contaminated posing multiple risks to health. Posted on 17 Jan, 2021 07:25 PM

Water in India continues to be extremely polluted and unsafe.

Safe drinking water, a valuable resource  (Image Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Reviving traditional tanks to control floods in Chennai
A study finds that desilting and reviving traditional tanks in Chennai can greatly help in mitigating the impacts of frequent floods in the city. Posted on 01 Dec, 2020 04:11 PM

Climate change is leading to rise in extreme events world over, and developing countries such as India have been experiencing not only higher death rates but also greater economic impacts due to natural hazards.

A small tank near Thalambedu in Kanchipuram (Image Source: India Water Portal)
Women hold the key to dietary diversity
A study finds that women's control over income and better decisionmaking power can go a long way in improving dietary diversity and tackling malnutrition in rural India. Posted on 17 Oct, 2020 04:04 PM

Evidence world over shows that small scale agricultural production does very little to deal with malnutrition and food insecurity among rural poor.

Empowering women to improve nutritional outcomes (Image Source: India Water Portal)
Who is the thirstiest of them all?
A study evaluating the water use efficiency of sugarcane, curry banana and paddy among borewell irrigating farmers finds paddy to be the most inefficient and thirstiest of the three. Posted on 23 Sep, 2020 12:34 PM

Agriculture uses as high as 85 percent of the available water in India of which the irrigated area accounts for nearly 48.8 percent of the 140 million hectare (mha) of agricultural land, while the remaining 51.2 percent is rainfed.

Paddy, a thirsty crop (Image Source: IWP Flickr photos)
The fast disappearing glaciers of Kashmir
The glaciers located in the Kashmir Himalayas are melting at rapid rates posing a threat to water security in the region!. How is Kashmir coping? Posted on 11 Sep, 2020 02:27 PM

Kashmir’s glaciers are melting at frightening rates. Kolahoi glacier, the largest glacier in Kashmir Himalayas, has lost 23 percent area since 1962 and has fragmented into smaller parts!

Glaciers, frozen rivers of ice

Kolahoi glacier in Kashmir (Image Source: Irfanaru via Wikimedia Commons)
Holy waters, unholy outcomes!
A study found that mass bathing events in the Kshipra river not only led to high pollution, but also to the presence of multidrug resistant pathogenic bacteria in its waters, posing a risk to health. Posted on 28 Aug, 2020 05:52 PM

Rivers are revered and considered holy since times immemorial in India and mass bathing in some rivers is an age-old ritual. A holy dip and a holy sip of the river waters are considered to be a highly purifying. But is the dip really cleansing at all when almost all the rivers in India are known to be highly polluted?

A priest offers water to the sun at Ramghat on the Kshipra river at Simhastha (Image Source: Makarand Purohit)
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