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)
Interspecies love in a flood-ravaged Assam village
Systems of co-existence can help in mitigating the human-elephant conflict in the region.
Mitul Baruah
Posted on 08 Aug, 2020 03:51 PM

Salmora in Majuli river island in Assam is not any ordinary village. Located on the southeastern corner of the island, surrounded by the mighty Brahmaputra on three sides, this village is remarkable in many ways.
Potters' families belonging to Kumar community of the village make earthen pots (Image: Mitul Baruah)
India-UK team tackles antimicrobial resistance spread in waterways
Experts are joining forces to investigate the impact that releasing antibiotics from antibiotic manufacturing into India’s waterways has on the spread of potentially fatal drug-resistant infections.
Newcastle University
Posted on 07 Aug, 2020 11:30 AM

An estimated 58,000 babies die in India every year from superbug infections passed on from their mothers, whilst drug-resistant pathogens cause between 28,000 to 38,000 extra deaths in the European Union every year.
The Musi river in Hyderabad, which has high concentrations of antibiotics released from production facilities (Image: Newcastle University)
When solving one problem triggers another
Use of guppy fish to control mosquito populations in water bodies has given rise to another problem - that of its negative impact on native freshwater diversity.
Aarti Kelkar Khambete
Sameer Padhye
Posted on 06 Aug, 2020 06:56 PM

Come monsoons and vector borne diseases start making headlines every year in many parts of India, especially mosquito borne diseases like dengue, malaria, chikungunya and Japanese encephalitis.

What are vector borne diseases
Guppies for mosquito control (Image Source: Rchampagne via Wikimedia Commons)
A third of world’s children poisoned by lead: UNICEF
Urgent action needed to abolish dangerous practices including the informal recycling of lead acid batteries.
UNICEF
Pure Earth
Posted on 05 Aug, 2020 01:35 PM

Around 1 in 3 children – up to 800 million globally – have blood lead levels at or above 5 micrograms per decilitre (µg/dL), a level that the World Health Organization and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have stated requires global and regional interventions.
Two girls recycle metal from used batteries at a workshop in Dhaka, Bangladesh (Image: UNICEF/Naser Siddique)
Money, migration and missing capital: The case of Uttarakhand
In times of heightened interest in migration and migrants, a lecture deals with key issues underpinning it.
Impact and Policy Research Institute
Posted on 27 Jul, 2020 10:34 PM

Uttarakhand’s rural areas are marked by massive outflux of people and it is believed that rural migration may alter the state’s political geography.
Village in Uttarakhand (Image: Paul Hamilton; Flickr Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0)
Bihar and northeast India reel under floods, Assam worst hit
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 23 Jul, 2020 09:26 AM

Flood batters three northeast states, Assam worst affected
People take a boat to cross the flood-ravaged Brahmaputra (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Green court slams centre over groundwater withdrawal in dry areas
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 23 Jul, 2020 09:24 AM

NGT slams centre over groundwater extraction in dry areas
A well in Rajasthan (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Controlling epidemics, in the midst of a pandemic!
While the monsoon threatens to trigger vector borne diseases in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, what should we know about vector borne diseases?
Aarti Kelkar Khambete
Posted on 16 Jul, 2020 08:40 AM

While the monsoons are eagerly awaited in the country, India's health system remains stretched while struggling with the Covid-19 pandemic. This is a time when vector borne diseases could become rampant, and neglect of preventive measures could lead to a spike in these diseases, warn experts!
Mosquitoes, deadly killers in disguise! (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Tank desiltation scheme in Maharashtra: Policy concerns and way forward
Maharashtra has been implementing the Gaalmukt Dharan, Gaalyukt Shivar Yojana (GDGS) scheme since 2017. How has it fared and what needs to be done to improve it further?
Dipak Zade
Eshwer Kale
Aditya Sood
Sandeep Jadhav and Aditya Shinde
Posted on 10 Jul, 2020 02:07 PM

Tank systems of India
Desiltation activities undertaken under the GDGS in Maharahstra (Image Source: NASHIKONWEB.COM)
Bhuj cattle rearers face the heat of lockdown
Glimpses into the impact of Covid-19-related policies on the lives of cattle rearers in Bhuj, Gujarat.
Homes in the City
Posted on 09 Jul, 2020 01:51 PM

Akbarbhai (35), a Maldhari (semi-nomadic cattle herder) is struggling to survive as the lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus has hit demand of dairy products badly and led to prices crashing in Bhuj. He lives in Gandhinagari, an informal settlement in Bhuj that is home to around 30 cattle herders. His joint family of 15 members includes his two brothers and three sisters.
Image: Homes in the City
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