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)
NGT takes note of Chambal river e-flow
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 25 Dec, 2016 06:54 PM

NGT seeks MP, Rajasthan's opinion on maintaining e-flow in Chambal river
Chambal river near Kota (Source: Wikimedia commons)
Saving the Ganga, one step at a time
A walk along the Ganga is all it takes to get a better perspective on the river and its deteriorating ecosystem. Here’s an attempt at it.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 21 Dec, 2016 09:11 AM

An aerospace engineer from IIT, Kharagpur, Siddharth Agarwal could have been drawing a fancy salary like any other 25-year-old if he hadn’t followed his passion.
Siddharth Agarwal (Photo credit-Siddharth Agarwal)
Open letter to Uma Bharti, Minister for Water Resources
What are the gaps in the recent gazette notification on river Ganga rejuvenation? Dr Brij Gopal, coordinator, Centre for Inland Waters in South Asia writes an open letter for public discussion.
Brij Gopal
Posted on 20 Dec, 2016 08:03 PM

Hon’ble Madam,
 
Namaskar,  
Chhatris on the banks of the Betwa river. (Source: Vadaykeviv Wikimedia Commons)
Gujarat fails to conserve its wetlands
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 19 Dec, 2016 12:30 PM

Six years on, Gujarat fails to form wetland panel
Hamirsar Lake, Bhuj, Gujarat (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
On a wing and a prayer
Renuka lake is a Ramsar site but also has a temple near it which makes it a battle site of conflicting interests. Is a solution possible?
Chicu Lokgariwar
Posted on 18 Dec, 2016 06:35 AM

Renuka can be forgiven if she were to feel a bit crazy at times. Like many other women, she could be finding it hard to balance her pious and wild sides.
Peaceful on the surface, Renuka lake is a battleground between conservation and religion.
Summer of discontent
A wetland which is one of the Ramsar sites in India, struggles to maintain its character due to lack of water.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 14 Dec, 2016 11:35 AM

On a 29 sq km tract of land in Bharatpur, Rajasthan lies the wildlife reserve, Keoladeo national park, locally known as Ghana. Birds enjoy the open water while wildlife roams freely in this montage of wetland, grassland and forest. The wetland, which is man-made, has a diversity of open water, trees and grasses.
An Indian cormorant dries its wings at Keoladeo national park, Bharatpur. (Source: Aastha Singh, Wikimedia Commons)
NGT cancels illegal salt pans in Sambhar Lake
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 13 Dec, 2016 07:19 AM

Good news for Sambhar Salt Lake
Sambhar Lake, India's largest salt lake. (Source: IWP's Flickr photos)
A notification to ensure ecological flow of rivers
Environment lawyer Ritwick Dutta talks about the highs and lows of the new river Ganga notification and how environmentalists can use it to make an impact.
Ritwick Dutta
Posted on 12 Dec, 2016 11:27 PM

I have objected so many times to the change in the name of Ministry of Water Resources to the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. It shows where the priority of the government lies. It says that all the rivers need to be developed except the Ganga which needs to be rejuvenated.
Boys wait to collect coins thrown into the Ganga at Kanchla, Uttar Pradesh.
Breathing life into Baitarani
The river basin of Baitarani is facing many challenges in these changing times. Initiatives are on to protect it.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 12 Dec, 2016 12:13 PM

Pranab Choudhury has been actively engaged with the causes of the poor and the environment for more than a decade.
Pranab Choudhury
For a flood-free Chennai
Chennai’s topography, along with civic apathy, official lethargy and a complete disregard for its natural floodplains see the city reeling under severe waterlogging every year.
Seetha Gopalakrishnan
Posted on 07 Dec, 2016 09:07 PM

Chennai’s drainage system--both natural and man-made--is unparalleled. Three rivers flow through the city--the Kosasthalaiyar to the north, the Cooum cutting right through the centre and the Adyar to the south; around 16 major drains criss-cross the metro in addition to the mammoth Buckingham canal along the coast.
Home to over 300 species of birds, the Pallikaranai marsh is being increasingly threatened by rapid urbanisation. (Image: IWP Flickr)
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