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)
Revolutionising coastal monitoring, one social media photo at a time
A citizen science project led by engineers from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, is using crowd-sourced photos to understand changing coastlines.
University of New South Wales
Sydney
Posted on 31 May, 2019 03:25 PM

A citizen science project led by UNSW engineers in Sydney, Australia is leveraging thousands of crowd-sourced photos from social media, helping create new insights into how beaches respond to changing weather and wave conditions, and extreme storms – and now a new study has shown the program to be nearly as accurate and effective as professional shoreline monitor
Dr Mitchel Harley (far right) at the installation of a CoastSnap station in Fiji. Photo credit: Navneet Lal
Ganga's faecal coliform level high at inter-state boundaries
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 29 May, 2019 11:25 AM

At most inter-state boundaries, Ganga's faecal coliform level exceeds limit
The Ganga river (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Environmental implications of Pancheshwar dam
A study assesses risks associated with Pancheshwar dam in the light of environmental impact observed for the Tehri project.
S P Sati
Shubhra Sharma
Naresh Rana
Harsh Dobhal
Navin Juyal
Posted on 26 May, 2019 11:47 AM

Mahakali, also known as Sharda in India, gushes through the hilly tracts of Nepal and Uttarakhand, collecting its water from the numerous streams it receives on the way.
The proposed Pancheshwar dam raises concern about safety due to seismicity, slope instability and large sediment mobilization. (Image: Vimal Bhai)
Borewells: Boon or bane for women?
A study shows that although borewells have improved women’s access to water in the short term, they have increased water insecurity and the suffering of women in the long term.
Divya Susan Solomon
Nitya Rao
Posted on 23 May, 2019 08:29 PM

Tamil Nadu is one of the most water-vulnerable states in India that depends heavily on groundwater for irrigation. As high as 56 percent of land in the state is currently irrigated by groundwater and the remaining by tanks and canals.
Collecting water, a daily backbreaking task of women. (Image Source: India Water Portal)
Reservoir storage in western India below normal: CWC
CWC's latest data raises concern over water availability and the country's preparedness to deal with shortages in western India and parts of southern India.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 23 May, 2019 04:49 PM

The recent data from the Central Water Commission (CWC), released on May 9, 2019 reveals a reassuring situation of water storage in the river basins of India. The overall water storage in the 91 reservoirs monitored is slightly more (105 percent) when compared to the average water storage over the last 10 years, the data shows.
Mulshi dam reservoir in Maharashtra (Image: Rohit Gowaikar, Wikimedia Commons)
Drought advisory issued to western and southern states
Policy matter this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 22 May, 2019 11:30 AM

Centre issues drought advisory to six states
Centre issues drought advisory to six states (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Pre-monsoon rainfall deficient: IMD
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 22 May, 2019 11:14 AM

India witnesses 22 percent deficient pre-monsoon rainfall this year: IMD
Pre-monsoon rainfall deficient this year. (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Cyclone Fani ravages Odisha's ecological hotspots
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 15 May, 2019 06:12 PM

Odisha's ecological hotspots severely affected by cyclone
After a cyclonic storm (Image source: IWP Flickr photos)
What happens when you throw away pencil cells?
Study reveals how tossing of dry cell batteries in our dustbins poisons the environment.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 14 May, 2019 05:33 PM

A recent study by Toxics Link, an environmental research and advocacy organisation on batteries titled Dead and buried: A situational analysis of battery waste management in India estimates that 2.7 billion pieces of dry cell batteries are being consumed annually in India.
The evolving framework of end-of-life battery management could be inclusive of the informal chain of collectors and segregators. (Image: Toxics Link)
Only 37 percent of world’s long rivers free flowing
A study finds out dams and reservoirs diminish diverse benefits offered by healthy rivers.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 14 May, 2019 05:02 PM

A little over a third of the world's 246 long rivers remain free-flowing, as per a study by a team of 34 international researchers, including those from McGill University in Canada and World Wildlife Fund India.
Pancheshwar dam on Mahakali river is feared to break the natural flow connectivity of river. (Image: Vimal Bhai)
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