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)
Is it all downhill from here for Leh?
Rapid urban growth, scarce water resources and a high risk of natural disasters pose serious challenges for Leh's urban planning and governance.
Juliane Dame
Susanne Schmidt
Judith Müller
Marcus Nüsser
Posted on 09 Jul, 2019 02:05 PM

Across South Asia, small and medium-sized towns are rapidly expanding. Urbanisation has made inroads into the entire Himalayan region. Mountain urbanisation poses a need for assessments of emerging risks and vulnerabilities in environmentally sensitive regions.
The main bazaar of Leh (Image: Christopher Michel, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0)
Go green this Van Mahotsava
The major cause of insufficient forest cover in India seems to be ruthless cutting of trees in the name of urbanization and development.
Anita Sharma
Posted on 08 Jul, 2019 12:44 PM

Van Mahotsava is an annual tree planting festival which was initiated by Shri Kulapati Kanaiyalal Munshi, the Union Minister for Agriculture and Food, Government of India, in 1950 to create awareness about the importance of trees and conservation of forests.
Chilepata core forest area in Buxa, Alipurduar district of West Bengal (Image: Tridib Choudhury, Wikimedia Commons, CC-SA 4.0 International)
Glacier melt threatens water reserves in Satluj basin
A new study finds that 55% of the glaciers in the Satluj basin could disappear by 2050 and 97% by 2090 due to climate change.
Veena Prasad et al
Posted on 08 Jul, 2019 12:28 PM

River Satluj, the powerhouse of the Himalayas
The Sutlej, from Bilaspur (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Urbanization, changing cropping patterns contributing to temperature rise
Study shows land use changes responsible for higher temperatures
Umashankar Mishra
India Science Wire
Posted on 03 Jul, 2019 02:51 PM

New Delhi, July 3 (India Science Wire): Warming induced by changes in land use and land cover is contributing to rise in temperature in Eastern India, according to a new study. 
Image credit: Sourabh Phadke from India Water Portal on Flickr
The need for survival edge technology
Decentralised communitarian technology can mitigate the water crises facing us today.
Subhadra Khaperde
Posted on 02 Jul, 2019 08:58 PM

Decentralised and communitarian efforts in soil and water conservation, sustainable agriculture, afforestation and renewable energy need extensive investment, if the human race is to survive the deepening water, food, energy and climate crises.
Digging an open well that had some water at lesser depths ranging from 5-10 m using local technology in which a motor run winch draws up the dug up mud from the well bottom. (Image: Rahul Banerjee)
Government launches Jal Shakti Abhiyan to tackle water crisis
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 02 Jul, 2019 04:59 PM

Centre launches Jal Shakti Abhiyan
Jal Shakti Abhiyan launched to battle water crisis (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Digging deeper to cope with droughts
A study finds that farmers in south India continue to rely on borewells rather than investing in water conservation structures or demand management strategies to cope with droughts.
K. Palanisami
D. Suresh Kumar
T. Mohanasundari
Posted on 01 Jul, 2019 09:14 PM

India is witnessing the second driest pre-monsoon season in the last 65 years. As the country eagerly eyes the monsoon clouds, the delay so far has now widened the rain deficit to 43%.
Coping with droughts, a challenge for farmers (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Nal se Jal: hit or miss?
An analysis of the new Nal se Jal scheme, promising drinking water to every household in India by 2024.
Mitul Baruah
Posted on 28 Jun, 2019 02:52 PM

Water scarcity has a history … and that history is nothing less than the history of government. – Alatout, 2008.

Image for representational purposes only. Image credit: India Water Portal on Flickr
Economics of land degradation: India’s new environment targets
What are India's plans for managing its natural resources, undertaking sustainable land management and combating droughts?
Arjuna Srinidhi
Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR)
Posted on 28 Jun, 2019 09:38 AM

Managing natural resources, the sustainable way
Minister of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar with representatives of UNCCD, IUCN and other panelists at the June 17th meeting. (Photo: DD News Hindi)
Temperatures in India becoming more extreme
A study found that intensification of croplands through replacement of forests can impact long term temperature trends.
Shouraseni Sen Roy
Posted on 26 Jun, 2019 03:51 PM

The frequency and severity of heatwaves have risen considerably in India. Our cities are facing periods of ‘extreme’ weather as urbanization continues to modify the landscape.
The stretch below the Koyna dam in Satara district looks parched at the end of the summer of 2014 as the reservoirs went dry (Image: Ashwin Arun Yadav, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)
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