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)
A cut above the rest
A community reserve in Punjab has precious lessons in conservation for other wetlands which are facing ecological crisis.
Manu Moudgil
Posted on 05 Dec, 2016 09:41 PM

Deot Masih’s family has been extracting lotus root from the marshy land in his village near Gurdaspur for several decades. Delicate and crunchy, the edible roots are in high demand going as far as Srinagar in the north and Delhi in the south. Similar is the case with chestnut grown in this swamp.
Keshopur, a favourite of native and migratory birds in Punjab.
Rift over Indus Water Treaty continues
Policy this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 04 Dec, 2016 08:45 PM

Conflict between India and Pakistan over Indus Water Treaty continues
Indus river (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Traditional ways to water security
Reviving traditional water bodies, and not environmentally-unsustainable mega projects which are expensive, is the most viable solution to deal with water scarcity in parched lands like Bundelkhand.
Brij Gopal
Dinesh K Marothia
Posted on 04 Dec, 2016 08:15 PM

Although droughts are not new in India, we are seeing more of it of late.
A traditional pond in the fort city of Charkhari, Bundelkhand. (Source: India Water Portal)
Wai celebrates Krishnabai Utsav
Celebrated over eight days, a festival pays homage to the Krishna river which is dammed, stagnant and polluted but still holds hope for many.
Aarti Kelkar- Khambete
Posted on 29 Nov, 2016 01:22 PM

The Krishnabai Utsav, a festival celebrating and revering the river Krishna as it flows through Wai, begins tomorrow in the town of

The river Krishna at Wai (Source: Makarand Shende)
Tiger authority to monitor Ken-Betwa river link
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 28 Nov, 2016 12:36 PM

Constitute a committee to monitor Ken-Betwa river link, suggests NTCA
Ken-Betwa river link shown on a map. (Source: Shannon via Wikipedia)
No land for nomads
The lives of Dhangars in Maharashtra is a perfect example of the threats faced by pastoralists in India due to rapid urbanisation and hostile state policies.
Aarti Kelkar-Khambete
Posted on 24 Nov, 2016 10:38 PM

Dhangars, a semi-nomadic group in Maharashtra, are traditionally pastoralists.
Dhangars are pastoralists in Maharashtra. (Source: India Water Portal)
Kanjli: A wetland in despair
Migrant birds skip this Ramsar site in Punjab due to lack of freshwater and high pollution.
Manu Moudgil
Posted on 23 Nov, 2016 09:02 PM

A couple of Swan boats are lying beside the library wall. The cages to keep animals and birds are rusting while weeds have taken over the compound which hosts a few swings and a restaurant.
Water hyacinth dominates Kanjli.
Quotes from the Earth – An Environmental Film Festival
Quotes from the earth an Environmental Film Festival is being organized from 2nd Dec. 2016 to 3rd Dec. 2016 by Toxics link and India International Centre at IIC, New Delhi-110003.
Posted on 22 Nov, 2016 05:23 PM

Twin lakes of Bhoj
The lakes of Bhoj wetland that are home to many bird species and provide water to the local residents are now polluted and need urgent attention from the government.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 21 Nov, 2016 10:10 PM

The Bhoj wetland is situated in the heart of Bhopal district in Madhya Pradesh. The wetland consists of two man-made lakes--the upper lake and the lower lake.
Raja Bhoj statue at the upper lake.
Water sharing: Beyond economic concerns
It is important to look at rivers from an ecological point of view to solve transboundary water issues amicably.
Jayanta Bandopadhyay
Nilanjan Ghosh
Posted on 15 Nov, 2016 11:49 AM

The Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) basin is the third largest river flow system in the world with an annual runoff about 1,150 billion cubic meters (BCM) and the peak outflow of 1,41,000 cumecs.
The lower Ganga, just upstream of Farakka, displays bank cutting and erosion. (Source: India Water Portal)
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