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)
‘Fleas’ flee the Pashan lake in Pune!
Restoration efforts focusing on desilting and re-contouring of Pashan lake have added to the deterioration of the lake habitat, threatening survival of organisms such as water fleas, warn freshwater biologists Mihir Kulkarni and Sameer Padhye.
Aarti Kelkar Khambete
Posted on 24 Jan, 2022 11:17 PM

The calm waters of Pashan lake in Pune city, seldom give us an idea of the hidden wonders they support. Freshwater habitats like this, harbour a wealth of biodiversity ranging from very tiny/ microscopic plants and animals to larger ones – that reside in and around the waters and depend on it for their food, reproduction and survival.
Pashan lake, threatened by urbanisation, doomed by restoration (Image Source: India Water Portal)
Goa’s mangrove cover increases while Sunderbans’ shrank: ISFR 2021
News this fortnight
Swati Bansal
Posted on 19 Jan, 2022 01:48 PM

Goa’s mangrove cover increases while Sunderbans’ shrank, reports India State of the Forest Report (ISFR) 2021
Mangroves in Sunderbans (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Soil arsenic above 14 mg/kg can cause rice to be unsafe for consumption
First meta-analysis utilizing published data from Asian paddy fields on arsenic in rice grain, soil, and irrigation water to determine the relationship between them and to derive a limit of soil arsenic using machine learning algorithms
Jajati Mandal
Sudip Sengupta
Soumyajit Sarkar
Abhijit Mukherjee
Michael D Wood
Simon M Hutchinson
Debapriya Mondal
Posted on 05 Jan, 2022 09:18 PM

Arsenic exposure, mainly through contaminated groundwater used for drinking, has widely been associated with detrimental health effects (
Soil contributes more than irrigation to rice-grain arsenic concentration (Image: Arjun Reddy, Pixabay)
Activists urge Chhattisgarh CM to rethink expansion of mining in Hasdeo Arand forest
News this fortnight
Swati Bansal
Posted on 20 Dec, 2021 06:52 PM

Reconsider decision to expand mining in Hasdeo Arand forest: Activists to Chhattisgarh CM
A devastated forest at a coal mining site. Photo for representation only (Image source: IWP Flickr photos)
Delhi’s air pollution: TERI study looks at cost effective interventions
More stringent regional and local control strategies need to be implemented at the airshed level.
The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)
Posted on 14 Dec, 2021 10:55 AM

Being the capital city, Delhi’s worsening air quality has not only concerned the residents but also attracted significant regional and global attention. Over the last several years, PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations in Delhi have remained well above the prescribed national standards.
Regional level air quality planning and implementation is recommended for effective control of pollution in the whole region (Image: Let Delhi Breathe)
Water contamination grips the country: Centre
News this fortnight
Swati Bansal
Posted on 08 Dec, 2021 10:53 AM

Country’s water contaminated with lead, arsenic, fluoride: Centre
Water contamination continues to remain contaminated (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Rajya Sabha passes Dam Safety Bill, 2019
Policy matters this fortnight
Swati Bansal
Posted on 07 Dec, 2021 06:49 PM

Rajya Sabha passes Dam Safety Bill after 34 years of drafting
Malampuzha dam in Kerala (Image source: IWP Flickr Photos)
IIIT-Delhi to organize 1st International Conference on Pollution Prevention and Clean Technologies
Posted on 04 Dec, 2021 01:17 PM

About the event:
Nagpur’s fly ash problem
Study suggests a comprehensive clean-up process to deal with pollution from Nagpur’s thermal power plants
Centre for Sustainable Development
Asar
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra
Posted on 03 Dec, 2021 07:48 PM

The 2400 MW Koradi and 1340 MW Khaparkheda thermal power plants, both just outside Nagpur city, in Maharashtra have been important for the Maharashtra State Power Generation Company (MAHAGENCO) in meeting its goal of providing adequate power to the state.
Fly ash discharges into local rivers and streams, says study (Image: R Mohankar, Wikimedia Commons)
Water can kill!
Mass fish deaths can pose a challenge to the environment, biodiversity and fisherfolk who depend on them for their livelihoods. Why do they happen?
Aarti Kelkar Khambete
Posted on 12 Nov, 2021 12:00 PM

The news of fish deaths in freshwater bodies such as rivers, lakes, ponds is not new to India.
Algal blooms in a pond in Tamil Nadu (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
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