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)
When elephants and humans cross paths
A video explains how increasing man-animal conflicts can be resolved in a harmonious way.
Shubhangi Singh
Posted on 30 Oct, 2017 08:37 PM

Elephants enjoy a special place in India. They play a significant role not only in the Indian ecological system but also in its cultural and religious landscape. 
The Asiatic Elephant (Source: Yathin S K, Wikimedia Commons)
2018 SWAT International Conference in Chennai, India at Indian Institute of Technology Madras
SWAT International conference is the most important annual gathering for international experts and institutions in the field of river basin management, more specifically in hydrologic modelling
Posted on 30 Oct, 2017 11:14 AM

The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is a river basin-scale model to simulate the quality and quantity of surface and ground water and predict the environmental impact of land management practices, Climate change on the water resources.
2018 SWAT Conference in Chennai, India at Indian Institute of Technology Madras
Alaknanda leaves Uttarakhand villages high and dry
Dams have reduced the Alaknanda to a trickle and altered the socioeconomic fabric of the villages in its course. A living entity status may just save it from damnation.
Shatakshi Gawade
Posted on 27 Oct, 2017 08:17 PM

The river Alaknanda holds a special, sacred place for Indians. One of the two headstreams of the holiest river Ganga, Alaknanda originates from glaciers at the head of the Alaknanda valley in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district.
Rajni Devi carries water to her home. (Source: 101Reporters)
New guidelines for industries on groundwater use?
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 17 Oct, 2017 02:14 PM

New guidelines proposed by the Centre on groundwater usage by industries
A well in Rajasthan (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Alien fish enters Telangana waters
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 17 Oct, 2017 01:45 PM

Alien fish spotted in Telangana waters after Krishna-Godavari interlinking
Prakasam Barrage across Krishna river (Source: Subhash Chandra via Wikipedia)
Najafgarh seeks attention
There is an urgent need to restore Najafgarh basin if the recurrent flooding and water shortage in Delhi and Gurugram have to be avoided in the future.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 17 Oct, 2017 05:07 AM

Here’s some news for nature lovers. A dirty drain in Delhi could well be on its way to becoming a bird sanctuary. The Najafgarh drain or nallah that flows through the northwest part of Gurugram is becoming a new habitat for the strikingly tall Greater flamingos, a rosy-white pink billed migratory bird as it passes through southwest Delhi.  
Aerial view of the Najafgarh drain. (Image: Sumita Roy Dutta, Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0)
Threatened by urbanisation, doomed by restoration
It is not just mindless urbanisation, but flawed restoration efforts by authorities too are responsible for the gradual deterioration of Pashan lake in Pune.
Aarti Kelkar Khambete
Posted on 06 Oct, 2017 06:26 AM

Pashan lake, the pride of Pune, is dying! Water hyacinth continues to invade the lake and pollution levels in the lake are high, threatening its once rich biodiversity. How did this happen?
Pashan lake cries for help. (Image Source: Dharmaraj Patil)
When women came together for water
The video tells the story of the women of Podapathar village in Himgir panchayat in Odisha who, through their collective efforts, managed to improve the drinking water situation in their village.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 04 Oct, 2017 01:29 PM

Women of Podapathar village in Sundargarh district in Odisha have become an inspiration for millions of women in the country now, thanks to their determination to improve the drinking water situation in their village. 
Women of Podapathar (Source: India Water Problem)
The fight for the doomed land
Here's a video that tells the story of the struggle of the people displaced by the Hirakud dam and their right over the land.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 04 Oct, 2017 05:36 AM

On January 13, 1957, the then Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru inaugurated the Hirakud dam, calling it the temple of modern India. It has submerged more than 360 villages (1,23,000 acres of land) and displaced 26,561 families.
Hirakud Dam (Source: India Water Portal)
Idol immersions choke Yamuna again
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 03 Oct, 2017 08:50 AM

Non-biodegradable waste clogs Yamuna river after festival immersions
Garbage at the ghat of Yamuna river in Delhi. (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
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