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)
Call For Entries: 7th Woodpecker International Film Festival 2019
Woodpecker International Film Festival (WIFF) is back with its 7th annual edition to be organised in November 2019 in New Delhi.
Posted on 08 May, 2019 09:24 PM

Call For Entries - 2019
Cyclone Fani hits Odisha, 35 dead
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 07 May, 2019 03:36 PM

Cyclone Fani, strongest to hit India in 20 years, causes widespread destruction in Odisha
A cyclonic storm that hit India in 2016. (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Earthquake-triggering stresses travel far
Study finds man-made earthquakes triggered by fracking and dams not localised.
Dinesh C. Sharma
Posted on 07 May, 2019 11:24 AM

Seismic activity triggered by human actions like the construction of large reservoirs or injection of wastewater into the ground for oil and gas production can have far greater implications than previously thought, a new study has revealed.
The destruction after an earthquake. Photo by Krish Dulal via Wikimedia commons
MGNREGA fails to help drought-hit states
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 01 May, 2019 07:07 PM

MGNREGA's performance unsatisfactory in drought-stricken districts in 2018-19
Labourers build check dams under MGNREGA. (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
NGT adamant on committees to manage biodiversity
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 24 Apr, 2019 10:46 AM

NGT seeks report on constitution of Biodiversity Management Committees
A negelcted wetland in Punjab (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Water management solutions where users have a say
Private provision of water services is most successful where the operation and maintenance contracts are offered by the local water users.
Parth J. Shah
Posted on 17 Apr, 2019 10:10 PM

India has, over the last 50 years, spent approximately $50 billion on developing water resources and another estimated $7.5 billion on drinking water, with little to show for the money (Devraj 2002).
Canal irrigation has led to altered crop choice, organisation and techniques of production. (Image: India Water Portal)
In conversation with nature
This study from Bihar shows that official flood prediction systems are often inadequate to understand the true impact of the floods on the population. Local gendered knowledge can help fill this gap.
Amitangshu Acharya
Anjal Prakash
Posted on 15 Apr, 2019 05:42 PM

“There is a special type of black ant that is visible just before (and during) the onset of heavy rains.
Shape of clouds can be an important indicator of weather. Source: Robert Hensley/Wikimedia Commons
Flourishing water markets in Darjeeling
Better governance and equitable as well as sustainable use of water resources are essential to solving the deepening water crisis in Darjeeling.
Ashish Chhetri
Posted on 15 Apr, 2019 02:36 PM

"Darjeeling today has a thriving water business, with a fleet of 105 trucks plying three or four trips a day from April to June, carrying 5500 to 6500 litres of water on each run"
Private water tankers, a common sight in urban areas. (Source: India Water Portal)
River conservation efforts need to be prioritised
Healthy forests are necessary for healthy rivers and prosperous communities that depend on the river, say experts.
Water Initiatives Odisha
Posted on 05 Apr, 2019 02:06 PM

Odisha is home to 11 major rivers of which many are interstate rivers such as the Mahanadi. As climate change makes extreme rainfall events more frequent in the state, there is an urgent need to better manage the rivers and their basins.
Engagement with indigenous communities in protecting natural forests and rivers is vital (Image: Priya Ranjan Sahoo)
DDA allows waste dumping on Yamuna floodplains
Policy matter this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 04 Apr, 2019 06:42 AM

DDA allocates 42.5 acre plot on Yamuna floodplains for waste dumping
Yamuna river in New Delhi (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
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