Biological Pollution

Featured Articles
August 11, 2022 This could lead to water quality crisis reinforcing the need for basin-specific management strategies
Around the world, more than a fifth of nitrogen released by human activity ends up in aquatic ecosystems (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
July 14, 2022 The river is faced with the dual problem of flood plain encroachment and growing levels of water pollution
Illegal transverse check dams (Badhals) built on Ichamati near a village in Basirhat (Image: Prithviraj Nath @ TheWaterChronicles)
May 25, 2022 A study develops a decision support tool to identify polluted river stretches
Ulhas river near Khandpe village (Image: Ganesh Dhamodkar, Wikimedia Commons)
November 12, 2021 Mass fish deaths can pose a challenge to the environment, biodiversity and fisherfolk who depend on them for their livelihoods. Why do they happen?
Algal blooms in a pond in Tamil Nadu (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
August 4, 2021 Detritivores, scavenger organisms inhabiting freshwater bodies such as streams are crucial for the survival of water bodies. However, anthropogenic changes are killing them!
View of a s stream in Kerala (Image Source: Firos AK via Wikimedia Commons)
June 24, 2021 Freshwater ecosystems in India are known to harbour rich biodiversity, but their health is being increasingly challenged in recent years. And the East Kolkata Wetlands are no exception!
Fishermen use wastewater from Kolkata to rear fish (Image Source: India Water Portal)
WASH in the times of COVID-19
Government of Maharashtra and UNICEF Mumbai are training frontline workers to tackle the spread of COVID-19. Posted on 17 Apr, 2020 10:08 PM

Maharashtra has the highest COVID-19 cases in the country and the government is taking a slew of measures to flatten the curve. We speak to Mr.

Students handwashing with soap (Image: World Bank, Flickr Commons; CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Combating Covid-19 collectively: DHAN’s way
DHAN Foundation has been responding to the crisis, reaching out to the most vulnerable communities. Posted on 10 Apr, 2020 12:21 PM

As the Covid-19 pandemic reaches new corners of the country, the NGO community in India has been preparing itself to respond to the unexpected needs that the crisis is producing. DHAN Foundation, a professional development organisation working in several states of India with the communities has begun to develop a strategy.

Creating awareness about the pandemic as well as about the measures essential to be safe (Image: DHAN Foundation)
Community-led piped water supply initiative in Bihar
For Har Ghar Nal Ka Jal to succeed, the state needs to look at water harvesting to augment groundwater availability. Posted on 28 Mar, 2020 12:34 PM

Water is a precious natural resource that ensures human well-being. However, across the globe there is a severe water crisis, which is heightened by issues of inaccessibility and contamination.

The community at the ward level of the panchayat is supposed to have complete ownership of the system created. (Image: GG Vogman, Flickr Commons, CC BY-NC 2.0)
Clean water, a crucial weapon to combat COVID -19
The recent COVID -19 pandemic highlights the important role that access to clean water can play in dealing with such diseases in the future. Posted on 21 Mar, 2020 04:32 PM

This month has been seeing a different kind of a scare world over, that of the deadly corona virus pandemic that has been spreading rapidly, infecting people and leading to a rising number of deaths in numerous countries.

Is our tap water really safe? (Image Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Tap water to all
What can be learnt from past experiences on scaling up coverage of piped water supply? Posted on 20 Mar, 2020 01:47 PM

Efforts are underway by both state and central governments to improve access to safe and adequate drinking water to people, and nationally, as on 31 December 2018, 79% of rural habitations had been covered at 40 litres per capita per day (lpcd) but only 47% at 55 lpcd.

Child drinks water from a tap (Image: Imal Hashemi/Taimani Films/World Bank, Flickr Commons, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Poisonous encounters: Nitrates in drinking water
A study finds that long term exposure to high levels of nitrates in drinking water can lead to health effects such as shorter height or stunting. Posted on 16 Mar, 2020 10:07 AM

Nitrogen pollution of water can lead to severe consequences not only for the environment, but also to human health. Current evidence shows that nitrogen pollution of water is on the rise not only in developing, but also in developed countries.

Polluted drinking water, a grave health hazard (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Jal Jeevan Mission: Will piped water to every household no longer be a pipe dream?
There is a need to focus on the “first mile” i.e. communities across rural India to be able to ensure sustainability and scalability for piped water supply. Posted on 14 Mar, 2020 04:26 PM

Millions of Indian women can take up to six trips a day to gather and transport water, which takes up a major part of their day. During scorching summers when many sources dry up, their drudgery gets even worse.

A school boy from Tilonia in semi-arid region of Rajasthan drinks from a tap from a rainwater harvesting tank that provides clean drinking water. (Image: Barefoot photographers of Tilonia)
Women lead the way in water quality surveillance
Why women need to be trained and engaged in monitoring and surveillance of water quality at the community level in rural India? Posted on 06 Mar, 2020 01:45 PM

Historically, water is a gendered burden, with women being the primary caregivers responsible for cooking, washing and cleaning chores in the house and in modern times in institutions (teachers, anganwadi and healthcare workers). Women have traditionally been associated with various water related tasks - be it collecting, fetching, or purifying water.

Organised under WaterAid India’s partnership with GAP, water testing workshop (2019) held in Indore district aimed at training women and youth to lead the entire process of community water management – from planning to supply, operations and maintenance and to educate communities on water-quality issues. (Image: WaterAid India/Ashima Narain)
Bringing back the trust: Getting our belief back in public water supply systems
While the government has passed a draft notification to bar use of Reverse Osmosis (RO) purifiers in cities, what does evidence on the ground tell us? Posted on 06 Mar, 2020 01:01 PM

The Government of India has passed a draft notification to bar membrane based systems such as Reverse Osmosis (RO) to be used as domestic purifiers in cities where the tap water is safe according to the Burea

Is our tap water really safe? (Image Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Unravelling Kuttanad’s drinking water paradox
Floods such as in 2018 could take the situation downhill causing severe drinking water crisis. Posted on 24 Feb, 2020 12:55 PM

Surrounded by vast expanses of water, the Kuttanad region in Alleppey district, Kerala faces severe drinking water scarcity due to infrastructure failure and civic body inaction.

Lack of sufficient quality water, poor pipe connectivity and frequent breakdown of existing pipelines are common in the area (Image: Jayasree Vaidyanathan)
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