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)
Please reverse farcical decision of asking developers to do cumulative impact assessment in Sutlej Basin
This article presents the text of an open letter from SANDRP to MoEF
South Asia Network on Dams Rivers and People (SANDRP)
Posted on 14 Apr, 2011 06:57 PM

To
Shri Jairam Ramesh
Union Minister of State (IC) of Environment and Forests,
New Delhi

Respected sir,
Shrishti Eco-Research Institute (SERI) is looking for Environmental Officer & Engineer based at Pune
Posted on 14 Apr, 2011 04:50 PM

Shrishti Eco-Research Institute (SERI)We have vacancies for the post of Environmental Officer & Engineer at Shrishti Eco-Research Institute (SERI), Pune.

The candidate should be dynamic and have confidence, command over English language (both speaking & writing) and willing to travel.

Educational qualification - Post Graduate

Discipline - Science/Engineering

River Mandovi cries for help - Video report from WAVE
Sanghmitra Mainkar, who's from the heavily mined area of Bicholim in Goa, reports how miners dump waste into the beautiful river Mandovi.
Sanghmitra Mainkar
Posted on 14 Apr, 2011 10:53 AM

Article and Video Courtesy: WAVE India
Author: 

 

 

The 'arrogant neighbour' - Newly launched Udupi Power Corporation Limited commits gross environmental violations - A two-part report from The Manipal Journal
Ash produced after burning the ‘world’s dirtiest fuel’ found place in an erstwhile fresh-water lake. Low lying fields were water-logged under the hot summer sun.
Garima Goel
Posted on 14 Apr, 2011 10:47 AM


Mines in Goa deplete water supply - A film from India Unheard Video Volunteers
Goa is mostly known for being a top tourist destination, but away from the coast mining is the major industry, and it is severely impacting local water.
Devidas Gaonkar
Posted on 14 Apr, 2011 10:35 AM

 

 
Realisation of the fundamental right to water in rural areas: Implications of the evolving policy framework for drinking water – An article by Philippe Cullet in Economic and Political Weekly
This paper deals with the implications of the evolving policy framework for drinking water on the realization of the fundamental right of water.
Economic and Political Weekly
Philippe Cullet
Posted on 13 Apr, 2011 10:20 AM

The fundamental right to water in rural areas is well-established in India, but the actual content of this right has not been elaborated upon in judicial decisions. There is no general drinking water legislation that would provide this missing content.

"A rock and a hard place" and "Tackling the P problem" - Dependence of agriculture on phosphate fertiliser - Issues and the way out - Papers by Soil Association and J Venkateswarlu
Two reports discussing the dependency of agriculture on phosphorous and the ways to mitigate the problem, the need for finding alternatives to obtaining phosphorous and eliminate mining.
J Venkateswarlu
Soil Association
Posted on 13 Apr, 2011 12:17 AM

These two reports discuss the dependency of agriculture on phosphorous and the ways to mitigate the problem.

The first report looks at agricultural dependence of chemical nutrients on a global scale and even discusses the potential international political fallout of a reduction in phosphorous. The second report is focused on ways to tackle the dependency on this mineral, in the Indian context. However, both speak of the need for finding alternatives to the current methods of obtaining phosphorous, which is largely through mining.

Water turns the tide - A barren district of Rajasthan is seeing development, thanks to rains last year and floods in 2006
In 2010, this part of the Thar saw rains as never before. Rainfall was recorded 98 per cent more than the average of the past 50 years.
Ankur Paliwal
Posted on 12 Apr, 2011 11:31 AM

Article and Image Courtesy: Down To Earth
Author: 

A barren district of Rajasthan is seeing development, thanks to rains last year and flood in 2006.

Administration has revived a man-made pond in Nagarda village that was drying up (Photo: Sayantoni Palchoudhuri)Administration has revived a man-made pond in Nagarda village that was drying up.
Photo: Sayantoni Palchoudhuri

Deep wells and prudence - Towards pragmatic action for addressing groundwater overexploitation in India - A World Bank document (2010)
India is the largest user of groundwater resources in the world. It is estimated that approximately 230 cubic kilometers per year is used annually, this is more than a quarter of the total world consumption from this resource.
It is in this context that this World Bank report looks at the reasons for this quantum of groundwater usage
World Bank
Posted on 12 Apr, 2011 01:51 AM

India is the largest user of groundwater resources in the world. It is estimated that approximately 230 cubic kilometers per year is used annually, this is more than a quarter of the total world consumption from this resource.

It is in this context that this World Bank report looks at the reasons for this quantum of groundwater usage.

The report delves into socio-economic and political reasons and looks at policies which inadvertently promote so much extraction. The report also analyses various attempts to manage this resource. These attempts range from government and international agency efforts directed to grassroots mobilisations. Finally the report comes out with suggestions to deal with this crisis.

Saraswati – The ancient river lost in the desert - A paper from Current Science
This Current Science paper discusses the disappearance of the river Saraswati. The enigma that was the disappearance of this river, which according to the author once upon a time greened Rajasthan and had nurtured civilizations on its shore, brought archaeologists, geologists, geophysicists, and climatologists to find answers.
AV Sankaran
Posted on 12 Apr, 2011 01:26 AM

This Current Science paper uses secondary data to discuss the disappearance of the river Saraswati. The enigma that was the disappearance of this river, which according to the author once upon a time greened Rajasthan and had nurtured civilizations on its shore, brought archaeologists, geologists, geophysicists, and climatologists to find answers. The author uses the body of work created by these scientists to solve the puzzle of the disappearance of the Saraswati.

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