Contamination, Pollution and Quality

Featured Articles
December 16, 2022
Water Quality Management Course - Not just a training program
In this article, we will understand how the WQM course is continuing to influence the needs of learners that come from diverse backgrounds. The course model also offers core insights to many others who would like to engage in a virtual training program.
During a WQM course, a field team member from INREM facilitating a demonstration
September 9, 2022
Creating jobs while managing air quality
Highlights from a new report released by iFOREST
An old coal-fired power plant has been dumping vast quantities of ash out in the open for many years. (Image: Lundrim Aliu/ World Bank; CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
September 5, 2022
Rivers of Bengaluru: A map-infographic reflects the rivers’ state
In an attempt to present a perspective on how rivers are used and abused, a map of the Bengaluru rivers illustrate how waste flows through natural river corridors, polluting the rivers and altering their status.
Vrishabhavathi river flow at Thagachguppe Bridge, Kumbalgodu (Image Source: Paani.Earth)
August 27, 2022
Himalayan lakes can potentially become long-term sinks of microplastics
Study looks at microplastic types in lakes of Ladakh
(Vinay Goel, Wikimedia Commons)
August 19, 2022
Polluted water, hitchhiking microbes and the hidden threat of cholera in India
Better access to clean water coupled with health education to bring about changes in behaviour are critical to prevent exposure to dangerous cholera bacteria that lurk in untreated waters.
The hidden threat of cholera in India (Image Source: IWP Flickr photos)
August 11, 2022
India’s rivers in trouble due to high fertilizer load and heavy monsoons
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)
Footwear industry pollutes, villagers put their foot down
When the environmental pollution caused by the footwear industry in a growing Haryana village goes unchecked, villagers gather to demand their rights.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 23 Aug, 2018 08:09 PM

As per the regional plan 2021 chalked out by the national capital regional planning board in 2005, Bahadurgarh, a small town in Haryana is a part of the Delhi metropolitan area. The town, located in Jhajjar district, is growing at a fast pace.
Leftover materials tossed out by the factories at the footwear park. These will end up in landfills and pollute the environment. (Image: India Water Portal)
Simplifying defluoridation
A new device makes defluoridation simple and easy to execute in remote areas where fluorosis is found to be severe.
Martijn Nitzsche
Posted on 19 Aug, 2018 09:12 AM

Estimates suggest that about 10 million Indians are affected by fluorosis, a sickness associated with the consumption of increased concentrations of fluoride, mostly through water. Bones get weakened due to excessive accumulation of fluoride in them which results in increased hip and wrist fractures. Dental enamel gets eroded.
The Superfloc promises a sustainable and cost-effective solution to fluorosis. (Image: Martijn Nitzsche)
Maharashtra’s plastic ban: Another missed opportunity?
The blanket ban on plastic has missed an opportunity to show how government and citizens can work together to deal with the plastic menace.
Aarti Kelkar Khambete
Posted on 09 Aug, 2018 11:03 AM

The recent plastic ban in Maharashtra has opened a can of worms and has raised many uncomfortable questions—about the setting of rules with clarity and foresight, better research to understand the challenges in implementing them and the role of citizens in making it a success.
Increasing plastic waste is a problem in Maharashtra. (Image Source: India Water Portal)
Toxins on our plate
There is a need for better regulation and monitoring to bring toxin-free food to the Indian market.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 08 Aug, 2018 03:45 PM

“The recent scare due to the detection of formalin-laced fish across Goa, Kerala, Assam, Manipur, Nagaland and Meghalaya points to a link between water quality and food safety. Fish traders find it cost-effective to use formalin, a carcinogen, instead of ice to prevent the decomposition of fish during transportation to distant markets.
The quality of food products and their safety are mostly decided at the primary production stage itself which is unregulated. (Image: Masahiro Ihara, Flickr Commons CC BY 2.0)
Yamuna river at its healthiest due to floodwater: Experts
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 07 Aug, 2018 06:58 PM

Yamuna river water quality improves, thanks to floodwater: Experts
Yamuna river in Delhi (Source: Sudhanshu Malhotra via IWP Flickr Photos)
Antibiotic-resistant genes in Kerala mangroves
Researchers believe there could be serious consequences if antibiotic-resistant genes move from harmless microbes to pathogens.
Umashankar Mishra
Posted on 06 Aug, 2018 04:11 PM

Antibiotic resistance is increasing in various microbial populations. A new study by Indian researchers has revealed that antibiotic-resistant genes are present in microorganisms of mangrove regions in Kerala also.
Mangrove forest located in the coastal regions of Kerala. (Pic courtesy: India Science Wire)
Trash out: People get together to clean the Himalayas
The Himalayan Cleanup where people collected and sorted trash threw up useful information on the main culprits behind trash piles in the Himalayas.
Chicu Lokgariwar
Posted on 06 Aug, 2018 10:50 AM

My first trek in the Himalayas was a transcendental experience. Even a decade after, I remember the intense beauty of every vignette I came across. That’s why I was excited about the Himalayan Cleanup, held on May 26 this year.
Volunteers sort plastic trash during the cleanup. (Pic courtesy: Zero Waste Himalaya)
In the business of transformation
A toilet complex managed by college students sets an example of a sustainable model for accessing sanitation.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 02 Aug, 2018 04:11 PM

Pramod Kumar Singh, the caretaker of a community toilet complex in northwest Delhi’s Sultanpuri area is proud about its upkeep. The complex, built by the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) and inaugurated in 2016, is well maintained with beautiful landscaping, posters and wall art.
Delhi Street Art has painted cartoons and caricatures on the walls to attract people to the community toilet complex at Sultanpuri. (Image: Project Raahat, Enactus)
Groundwater contamination adds to India's water woes
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 31 Jul, 2018 01:29 PM

India's water woes increase due to depleted and contaminated groundwater: Government
A well in Rajasthan. (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
NGT anguished over pollution in Ganga, Yamuna rivers
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 31 Jul, 2018 12:56 PM

NGT slams NMCG and DJB over pollution in Ganga and Yamuna rivers
The Ganga river (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
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