Ecology and Environment

Featured Articles
December 16, 2022 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 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 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 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 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 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 Admissions for Graduate Program of Water Science and Policy 2018 at Shiv Nadar University
A first of its kind academic program offering a multi-disciplinary perspective on water with a special focus on policy and practical solutions.
Posted on 08 May, 2018 03:59 PM

Entering its second year, the Graduate Program of Water Science and Policy 2018 at Shiv Nadar University envisages a multi-disciplinary classroom, engagement and content delivered by some of the best minds globally – experts on water who have worked on ground realities, made policies and initiated change.

Delhi against in-principle nod for alternate landfill sites
Policy matters this week Posted on 08 May, 2018 11:09 AM

Delhi government opposes in-principle approval for two landfill sites on Yamuna floodplains 

Delhi's garbage (Picture courtesy: Hindustan Times)
Western Ghats a source of moisture for monsoon
A new study points out that the evapotranspiration from the vegetation over the Western Ghats accounts for one-quarter of the rainfall over peninsular India. Posted on 05 May, 2018 04:55 PM

The mountain range that runs along the west coast of peninsular India from Tamil Nadu through Kerala, Karnataka, and Goa to Maharashtra is known as the Western Ghats and is very well known for its majestic beauty. It is also among the top eight biodiversity hotspots in the world.

Western Ghats provides moisture for rainfall. (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Anicuts affect Mahanadi's flow
While the three anicuts on the Mahanadi are hampering its free flow, another one is being planned by the government. Posted on 26 Apr, 2018 01:02 PM

Gopal Nishad, a fisherman in his early 40s, is frustrated that there is hardly any fish left in the Mahanadi’s basin at Pitaibandh due to the lack of water in the basin. This basin is located near Rajim-Nawapara in Chhattisgarh, the proposed site for the fourth anicut on the Mahanadi.

Anicut on the Mahanadi basin at Rajim-Nawapara (Source: India Water Portal)
Environmentalists irked by draft CRZ notification
News this week Posted on 24 Apr, 2018 12:17 PM

Environmentalists fear new CRZ rules will favour infrastructure over coastal ecosystems

Coastal areas might be opened up for ecotourism and infrastructure development.
Coastal areas likely to be opened up for development
Policy matters this week Posted on 24 Apr, 2018 11:54 AM

Environment ministry issues draft Coastal Zone Regulation notification

Fishers depend on the sea and the coast for their livelihoods.
ACT one: Anti-dam, pro-people
Along with protesting against dams, the ACT leaders are leading by example and showing people of Sikkim more constructive ways to live. Posted on 23 Apr, 2018 02:22 PM

Tenzing Lepcha, the lead activist of Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT), is proud of his work in the last year. “All this was overgrown,” he says pointing at the orderly farm.

Tenzing Lepcha sits at the hearth of his farmstay. (Pic courtesy: Chicu)
Uttarakhand braces itself for dry days
More than 1000 villages of the state are expected to be affected by a severe water crisis. Posted on 20 Apr, 2018 08:09 PM

Lokesh Verma, a farmer from Nainital’s Chanfi village, says this is the third year in a row that he is bearing losses in agriculture. “I have lost around Rs 2 lakh and there’s a debt of Rs 70,000 to pay off. I grow strawberries, guavas and peas in my 15 bighas of land, but there is not enough water in the hills to irrigate crops properly,” he says.

Lokesh Verma at his farm. (Pic courtesy: 101Reporters)
Treating sewage with plants
Neknampur lake serves as a fitting example of how low cost but effective natural techniques can be used to clean city lakes that are choking with pollutants. Posted on 17 Apr, 2018 04:56 PM

A radical new method is fast emerging as an effective and sustainable solution to increasing pollution in urban lakes. Called floating treatment wetlands (FTW), they are artificial islands with plants that stay afloat on the lake. The plants clean the lake through hydroponics system, resulting in a cleaner, beautiful lake and an improved habitat for creatures that depend on it.

Floating treatment wetland at Neknampur lake. (Pic courtesy: 101Reporters)
NGT appointed team inspects Bengaluru lakes
Policy matters this week Posted on 17 Apr, 2018 04:49 PM

National Green Tribunal forms commission to inspect Bengaluru lakes

Bengaluru's infamous Bellandur Lake (Picture courtesy: Deccan Chronicle)
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