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)
The challenged coasts of India: A report
The report highlights how degradation of the coastal environment has reached alarming proportions, closely reflecting the urban population explosion and rapid and unplanned urbanisation.
Divya N
Posted on 05 Dec, 2014 10:18 AM

Aims of the report:
Fishing, an important coastal activity
500 year old water structure in Rameshwaram rediscovered!
After 30 days of digging and removing 6000 tractor loads of sand, the evasive Dharmar Theertham was found intact with fresh water being replenished in a pit in the middle of the structure.
Divya N
Posted on 03 Dec, 2014 10:12 PM

The word 'Theertham' literally means ‘water’ but in Hindu mythology, it is usually the physical holy water body associated with a temple or deity.
The 80 X 35 feet structure of Dharmar Theertham
Applications invited for the post of 'Junior Research Fellow under the DST sponsored Project', Amity School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Haryana
The DST sponsored Project is entitled “Carbon dioxide fixation by culturable and non culturable (metagenomic approach) microbial community and role of microbe for calcite and biofuel production”
Posted on 03 Dec, 2014 03:35 PM

 Application are invited for engagement of one post of Junior Research Fellow (JRF) purely on temporary/contractual basis for three years under the DST sponsored Project entitled “Carbon dioxide fixation by culturable and non culturable (metagenomic approach) microbial community and role of microbe for calcite and biofuel production”
Invitation to the Environmental Film Festival, Quotes from the Earth, Toxic Links
The festival is a collaborative effort by Toxics Link and India International Centre, Delhi to highlight environmental challenges at the national and international level through films
Posted on 02 Dec, 2014 04:28 PM
About the event: 

Environmental Film Festival ‘Quotes from the Earth’ has been the first of its kind in the Indian Capital Since 2004. It uses a discursive platform to highlight environmental challenges at the national and international level through films that happen to be one of the most powerful medium of communication and discussion.
Environmental Film Festival
A beautiful, equitable water management system
Khonoma village, which fought the British four times, is today also known for how it protects its ecological heritage. Watch how its indigenous water management system works.
Michael Megurisa
Usha Dewani
Posted on 30 Nov, 2014 08:18 PM

Khonoma village resisted British rule in the region from 1830s to 1880 and is therefore considered as the last bastion of Naga warriors against the British. But today, the village is also known for upholding its rich indigenous erudition.
Women in Khonoma tying beads to make necklaces
Call for Entries for the green film competition 'Films for Change', Television Trust for the Environment and Microsoft
Films for Change competition is an online film competition to reflect on the issues of climate change, sustainable consumption and other development agendas
Posted on 28 Nov, 2014 03:09 PM

The competition serves as a tool spread awareness on environmental issues on a large scale. By using film making, you are encouraged to highlight those issues that greatly affect the environment and climate change in your society. There are these three main themes around which you may make your films: 
TSR Subramanian Committee equally weighs development and the environment
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 25 Nov, 2014 11:36 AM

TSR Subramanian Committee submits report on environmental laws to the Environment Ministry
Mangpong forest in West Bengal
Poisonous encounters in Maharashtra
The water in Jamwadi village, Yavatmal has been severely contaminated by the Raymond Company but quality tests only confirm this when the villagers changed the name of the village on the test sample.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 23 Nov, 2014 03:32 PM

A decade ago, Jamwadi village in Yavatmal, Maharashtra, was a famous tourist attraction due to its beautiful lake. Now, there is no lake to speak of thanks to the Raymond factory in Yavatmal. Wastewaster from the factory flows untreated into the lake, which is located 15 kms away.
Contaminated water from the Raymond factory
Poachers turned protectors fight for their survival
Locals who protect the migratory birds that come to Chilka lake in Odisha struggle to make a living as the lake has shrunk, thereby shrinking their revenues from fishing.
Basudev Mahapatra
Posted on 23 Nov, 2014 01:46 PM

Nature and wildlife can be better conserved if local communities are duly educated and motivated. Nearly 70 km south of Bhubaneswar, the Mangalajodi village on the edge of Chilka lake, Asia’s largest brackish water lagoon, is a testimony to that argument.
Chilka lake, Odisha
The connection between weather and malaria explained
Combined daily values of temperature, rainfall and humidity were found to influence the mosquito load and the risk of malaria incidence.
Prashant Goswami
Upadhayula Suryanarayana Murty
Srinivasa Rao Mutheneni
Swathi Trithala Krishnan
Posted on 22 Nov, 2014 04:30 PM

A recent World Bank report on climate change has predicted a grim outlook for India by outlining its impacts that include:
Mosquitoes and malaria (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
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