Conflicts

Featured Articles
June 22, 2021 Policy matters this fortnight
Yamuna flows under (Image source: IWP Flickr photos)
November 13, 2019 Policy matters this week
A domestic RO water purifier
November 11, 2019 Study points to vulnerabilities faced by women in the mountains and plains of Uttarakhand, which is likely to only increase with climate change.
Ganga's riverflow at Rishikesh in Uttarakhand (Image courtesy: Ankit Singh; Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)
November 6, 2019 The number of people vulnerable to floods triggered by climate change by 2050 is triple that of previous estimates, according to a new study.
Aerial view of Chennai during floods 2015 (Image: Veethika, Wikimedia Commons, CC-SA 4.0 International)
October 25, 2019 Groundwater use has doubled in Pune. Comprehensive mapping of groundwater resources and better management and governance is the need of the hour.
Groundwater, an exploited resource (Image Source: India Water Portal)
India Unshackled: A book discussion
The editor of a new book that lays out alternative futures for India discusses India, democracy and development with a noted journalist. Posted on 30 Apr, 2018 03:43 PM

Alternative Futures: India Unshackled is a new book that dares to imagine what India could be.

Joy (L) and Pema (R) in discussion.
Anicuts affect Mahanadi's flow
While the three anicuts on the Mahanadi are hampering its free flow, another one is being planned by the government. Posted on 26 Apr, 2018 01:02 PM

Gopal Nishad, a fisherman in his early 40s, is frustrated that there is hardly any fish left in the Mahanadi’s basin at Pitaibandh due to the lack of water in the basin. This basin is located near Rajim-Nawapara in Chhattisgarh, the proposed site for the fourth anicut on the Mahanadi.

Anicut on the Mahanadi basin at Rajim-Nawapara (Source: India Water Portal)
ACT one: Anti-dam, pro-people
Along with protesting against dams, the ACT leaders are leading by example and showing people of Sikkim more constructive ways to live. Posted on 23 Apr, 2018 02:22 PM

Tenzing Lepcha, the lead activist of Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT), is proud of his work in the last year. “All this was overgrown,” he says pointing at the orderly farm.

Tenzing Lepcha sits at the hearth of his farmstay. (Pic courtesy: Chicu)
Down in the dumps: Delhi’s waste pickers’ saga
A study by Action India provides insight into Delhi’s recycling nightmare and its unacknowledged waste pickers. Posted on 10 Apr, 2018 04:05 PM

Eight-year-old Meera (name changed) got ill after eating filthy food remains from a dump at Mansarovar park in Delhi. Children like her work in filthy environments, rummaging through hazardous waste with bare hands and feet. They play in these dumping ground strewn with syringes, scrap iron, rotting waste, solid and liquid household waste.  

Waste pickers face harrowing occupational hazards and are exposed to toxins in the absence of protective gear. (Image: Ted Mathys, 2009)
New technique to monitor coastal landforms
Better surveillance systems will help to keep a check on the excessive exploitation of coastal resources. Posted on 05 Apr, 2018 01:43 PM

Indian scientists have developed a remote sensing technique that uses satellite data to delineate between various coastal landforms like beaches, mangroves and marshes. This method can help monitor and understand impacts of natural disasters as well as human activities on coastal ecosystem.

The new system will help monitor and understand impacts of natural disasters as well as human activities on coastal ecosystem. (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Mangar Bani: NCR's green patch calls for help
With the threat of urbanisation looming large, the sacred grove of Mangar Bani begs for attention. Posted on 27 Mar, 2018 02:39 PM

According to the local legend, Mangar Bani, a green patch between Faridabad and Gurgaon, was home to a Baba (a holy man), Gudariya Das Maharaj around 500 years ago. Popular among the local Gujjar herdsmen, the dominant community of the area, the Baba asked them to treat this forest as a sacred grove, the forested abode of a local deity.

Mangar Bani, with its trees, plants, birds and animals, is an ecological hotspot but it is finding it hard to keep builders and land grabbers at bay. (Image: Pradip Krishen, Facebook)
Can legal compliance address environmental injustice?
Here are two new groundtruthing studies by CPR- Namati environmental justice (EJ) program. Posted on 18 Mar, 2018 02:47 PM

What happens after an environmental law is made or an environmental approval is granted to a project? Are all the safeguards complied with? Do the authorities in charge enforce the environmental regulations and laws proactively? What are the impacts that arise due to non-compliance with environmental regulations? How can affected communities pursue remedies? 

Landfills are a threat to the environment. (IWP Flickr photos; photo used for representation only)
Village heads come together to save Dzongu
In a rare show of solidarity, the panchayat leaders of Dzongu have formed a group, Save Dzongu, that cuts across political differences to save their river. Posted on 15 Mar, 2018 06:12 PM

As we sit sipping tea with him, Ugen Lepcha calmly spells out his stand. “Even if it means having to leave my (political) party, I will continue to be against dams,” he says. Ugen Lepcha, the president of Passingang gram panchayat in the Dzongu area of Sikkim, clearly has courage when it comes to his political convictions.

River Rongyoung which is sacred to the Lepchas is not yet dammed.
Tamil Nadu and Kerala squabble over Siruvani waters
News this week Posted on 27 Feb, 2018 02:37 PM

Tamil Nadu objects to Kerala diverting excess water from Siruvani dam

Water flows from the sluices of the Siruvani dam. (Picture courtesy: Deccan Chronicle)
Rajim kumbh: Leave Mahanadi alone
Rajim kumbh mela has left the Mahanadi river crying for attention. Posted on 25 Feb, 2018 07:35 PM

Around 25 lakh pilgrims across the country took a holy dip in the Mahanadi during the Rajim kumbh festival held in Rajim from January 31-February 13, 2018. For this annual religious extravaganza at the confluence of the Mahanadi, Sondur and Pairi rivers in Chhattisgarh, the state government organised various religious events.

The entrance of the CG government's culture and tourism exhibition venue at Rajim kumbh 2018.
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