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)
New hydrogel to help drought-hit crops
A hydrogel from cluster beans is found to increase soil moisture. It can help crops in times of drought.
Manu Moudgil
Posted on 28 Mar, 2018 10:54 AM

Scientists have developed a hydrogel from the gum of guar (cluster bean) that can increase soil moisture and help farmers save their crops in case of water scarcity. 
A new hydrogel comes as a boon to drought-hit crops. (Photo: IWP Flickr photos; photo for representation only)
Mangar Bani: NCR's green patch calls for help
With the threat of urbanisation looming large, the sacred grove of Mangar Bani begs for attention.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 27 Mar, 2018 02:39 PM

According to the local legend, Mangar Bani, a green patch between Faridabad and Gurgaon, was home to a Baba (a holy man), Gudariya Das Maharaj around 500 years ago. Popular among the local Gujjar herdsmen, the dominant community of the area, the Baba asked them to treat this forest as a sacred grove, the forested abode of a local deity.
Mangar Bani, with its trees, plants, birds and animals, is an ecological hotspot but it is finding it hard to keep builders and land grabbers at bay. (Image: Pradip Krishen, Facebook)
Government amends e-Waste Management Rules
Policy matters this week
Seetha Gopalakrishnan
Posted on 27 Mar, 2018 05:07 AM

E-waste management rules amended to improve implementation efficiency
India plans to route water from Sharda to Yamuna
News this week
Seetha Gopalakrishnan
Posted on 27 Mar, 2018 04:42 AM

India seeks to bring water from Nepal's Sharda river to supplement Yamuna near Delhi
Yamuna turns into a sewer at many areas. (Picture courtesy: The Indian Express)
Tackling climate change in Maharashtra
Maharashtra needs to make its agriculture resilient to climate change, urges Watershed Organisation Trust on the eve of World Water Day 2018.
Watershed Organisation Trust
Posted on 23 Mar, 2018 02:42 PM

On the eve of the World Water Day, Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR), made a presentation to the members of the Maharashtra Legislature. The presentation was a part of an event titled Tackling Climate Change in Maharashtra that was presided over by the chief minister, Devendra Fadnavis.
Agriculture needs to be made climate resilient. (Image Source: India Water Portal)
Can legal compliance address environmental injustice?
Here are two new groundtruthing studies by CPR- Namati environmental justice (EJ) program.
Team CPR-Namati Environmental Justice Program
Posted on 18 Mar, 2018 02:47 PM

What happens after an environmental law is made or an environmental approval is granted to a project? Are all the safeguards complied with? Do the authorities in charge enforce the environmental regulations and laws proactively? What are the impacts that arise due to non-compliance with environmental regulations? How can affected communities pursue remedies? 
Landfills are a threat to the environment. (IWP Flickr photos; photo used for representation only)
Village heads come together to save Dzongu
In a rare show of solidarity, the panchayat leaders of Dzongu have formed a group, Save Dzongu, that cuts across political differences to save their river.
chicu
K. J. Joy
Posted on 15 Mar, 2018 06:12 PM

As we sit sipping tea with him, Ugen Lepcha calmly spells out his stand. “Even if it means having to leave my (political) party, I will continue to be against dams,” he says. Ugen Lepcha, the president of Passingang gram panchayat in the Dzongu area of Sikkim, clearly has courage when it comes to his political convictions.
River Rongyoung which is sacred to the Lepchas is not yet dammed.
Citizens save polluted Bengaluru lake
One of the many polluted Bengaluru lakes, Gottigere lake is being revived, thanks to the intervention of some responsible citizens.
Mahesh Bacham
Posted on 14 Mar, 2018 07:23 PM

Gottigere lake used to be a major source of water for south Bangalore. Its overflow fed several other lakes in the area. It was also the reason why so many people bought apartments nearby.
Gottigere residents gather to clean the lake. (Pic courtesy: 101Reporters)
Centre fails to see the wood for the trees
The latest FSI report says India is getting greener. A closer look at the story behind the numbers says otherwise.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 13 Mar, 2018 03:38 PM

As per the biennial State of Forest Report (SFR) 2017 by the Forest Survey of India (FSI), the total forest and tree cover in India increased during the period 2015 to 2017 by 0.94 percent. The increase in the forest cover has been of the order of 6,778 sq km and that of tree cover was about 1,243 sq km.  
India’s forest cover stands at 21.54 percent while its dense forest cover is about 12.26 percent, as per the State of Forest Report, 2017. (Image: Tridib Choudhury, Wikimedia commons, CC BY SA-4.0)
Karnataka to stop industries from using fresh river water
Policy matters this week
Seetha Gopalakrishnan
Posted on 13 Mar, 2018 11:19 AM

Karnataka to formulate plan to prohibit industries from drawing fresh river water
Karnataka plans to regulate fresh water use by industries. (Picture courtesy: India Spend)
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