Ecology and Environment

Featured Articles
December 16, 2022
Healthy soil critical to human health and for achieving SDGs
Soil research must focus both on technology development and implementation
The ability of soils to support soil functions or services is decreasing (Image: Katrin Park/International Food Policy Research Institute)
November 25, 2022
Categorising watersheds for freshwater ecosystem conservation in India
These maps at the watershed scales have been made to not only ensure inclusion of different freshwater ecosystems, their connectivity and hydrological processes, but can also provide a spatial context for conservation decisions.
A stream at Anini, Arunachal Pradesh (Image Source: Roshni Arora)
November 16, 2022
Improving community resilience in ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction in India
Adoption of hybrid solutions - grey and green structures appropriate for resilience building
Healthy wetland ecosystems help in reducing disaster risks and managing climate risks (Image: Pxhere)
October 30, 2022
Slow disaster: Political ecology of hazards and everyday life in the Brahmaputra valley, Assam
This book by Dr. Mitul Baruah presents a fascinating, ethnographic account of the challenges faced by communities living in Majuli, India, one of the largest river islands in the world, which has experienced immense socio-environmental transformations over the years, processes that are emblematic of the Brahmaputra Valley as a whole. This is an excerpt from the book.
Floods are recurrent phenomena in Assam (Image: Mitul Baruah)
October 6, 2022
Deteriorating landscapes and threatened ecosystems of Jammu and Kashmir
Rapid urbanisation and faulty land use policies are rapidly destroying forests, grasslands and wetlands in Jammu and Kashmir, India and the ecosystem value services they provide. Can these valuable ecosystems be saved?
Deteriorating ecosystems of Jammu and Kashmir, India (Image Source: tkohli at Flickr via Wikimedia Commons)
July 14, 2022
Ichamati: River of poetry is dying a slow death
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)
Can we reverse the outcomes of climate change for India?
Heat extremes and groundwater scarcity are but two of the impacts of climate change affecting India. Technology, political will, and international cooperation are needed to reverse these impacts.
World Bank
Posted on 16 Dec, 2014 02:13 PM

The report title 'Turn down the heat: Climate extremes, regional impacts and the case for resilience' published by the World Bank, highlights the risks posed by climate
Droughts and climate change (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Budget 2015-16 likely to have huge cuts in social sector
Policy matters this fortnight
Aarti Kelkar - Khambete
Posted on 16 Dec, 2014 12:27 PM

Social sector likely to get less funds in Union Budget 2015-16
MNREGA workers building check dam in Gujarat
Hydropower projects aggravated the Uttarakhand disaster
News this fortnight
Aarti Kelkar - Khambete
Posted on 16 Dec, 2014 12:08 PM

Government admits that hydropower projects aggravated the Uttarakhand disaster
House washed away in Uttarakhand floods
The Chalakudy river system wins
Latha Anantha was awarded the Bhagirath Prayas Samman for spearheading the campaign to save the Chalakudy river in Kerala, at the recently concluded India Rivers Week.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 15 Dec, 2014 06:32 PM

Latha Anantha of the Chalakudy Puzha Samrakshana Samiti (Chalakudy River Protection Forum) was awarded the Bhagirath Prayas Samman at the recently concluded India Rivers Week for her commendable work on safeguarding the integrity of the Chalakudy river in Kerala.
Latha Anantha (Source: Latha)
To link or not to link: A debate
An open debate on interlinking of rivers moderated by Ramaswamy Iyer with Himanshu Thakkar and Brij Gopal as panelists was held as a part of the India Rivers Week at New Delhi.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 15 Dec, 2014 02:48 PM

The essence of a river is its ebb and flow but won't taming of the fresh free-flowing rivers by building massive dams pose a threat to our rivers and the communities that live by them? 
Simen - a 'surplus' river in Brahmaputra basin
What is a river?
Is it the water that flows in it or is it the fauna it sustains? What about the people on its banks? As the discussions at the India Rivers Week found out, it isn't that simple to define a river.
Sabita Kaushal
Posted on 15 Dec, 2014 01:56 PM

The magic that is a river, brings out a huge canvas of emotions even amongst the most hardened of us.
Oshiwara river in Mumbai
TSR Committee offers a frail framework to robust laws
The environmental regulation system will be more authoritative and bureaucratic, if the TSR Committee's suggestions are implemented, says Shripad Dharmadhikary in an interview with India Water Portal.
Swati Bansal
Posted on 11 Dec, 2014 01:38 PM

More than three months ago, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) had constituted a High Level Committee, chaired by TSR Subramanian, former Cabinet Secretary, to review the key environment laws, viz. Environment (Protection) Act, Wildlife (Protection) Act, Forest (Conservation) Act, and Water and Air Pollution Prevention and Control Act.
Ufrenkhal forest that gives water to Gad Ganga
‘Blue’ print for a model village
Can the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana that was launched in October this year, achieve its aim to create model villages through the Participatory Groundwater Management (PGWM) programme?
Amrtha Kasturi Rangan
Sabita Kaushal
Swati Bansal
Posted on 10 Dec, 2014 01:08 PM

On October 11, 2014, the Government of India launched an ambitious scheme for village development – the Saansad Aadarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY).
50 year old well in Thapewadi village
Food hub deserts water legacy
Only a few of Bikaner's over 100 ponds are well-maintained today, some thanks to the efforts of citizens, and another due to rooftop rainwater being channeled. Could the remaining get as lucky?
Manu Moudgil
Posted on 10 Dec, 2014 10:23 AM

Water connects food and religion. Religious ceremonies often involve taking a dip in a water body, and any food or meal is incomplete without water. The same two things - food and religion - stand out in Bikaner. While hot kachoris and samosas line street stalls, Mata Karni Devi and Baba Ramdev (not the yoga guru) shower their blessings from billboards and wall paintings.
Harsholaav pond in Bikaner
Are we heading towards ecological and social suicide?
Development at the cost of the environment and ecosystem-dependent communities can be an easy recipe for ecological and social disaster.
Ashish Kothari
Posted on 10 Dec, 2014 10:17 AM

In the article titled 'A hundred days closer to ecological and social suicide' published in the Economic and Political Weekly, the author argues that the recent changes in the government do not seem to have helped in changing the environmental policies of the country. Rather, they reflect regressive actions that could lead to a large-scale assault on rules, laws

The revived lake in Valni village, Nagpur
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