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)
Heat wave claims over 500 lives in the country
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 25 May, 2015 08:24 PM

Over 500 people succumb to killer heat wave
Heat wave engulfs the country (Source: PTI)
Age-old grinder in Himachal Pradesh goes out of style
Waterwheels or 'gharats' have ground wheat since the 7th century, but are now dying a slow death. Our pictures capture this environmentally friendly technology, and those who still persist with it.
Sabita Kaushal
Posted on 22 May, 2015 02:42 PM

Traditional water mills or gharats as they are called in the hilly regions of Himachal Pradesh were once found in nearly every village. Today these mechanisms that use running water to grind wheat, rice and maize and also occassionally to extract oil, have been replaced by electricity run mills.
A 'gharat' in Himachal Pradesh that uses water power to grind grains
Rs. 20,000 crore sanctioned for Ganga clean-up
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 19 May, 2015 09:17 AM

Centre okays Rs 20,000 crore for the 'Namami Gange' programme
Ganga river at Varanasi
India readies for a poor monsoon due to strong possibility of El Nino
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 18 May, 2015 08:59 PM

India prepares to fight the impacts of El Nino
IMD predicts strong El Nino (Source: MSN Weather)
Kanhar: To be or not to be?
The May 7th Kanhar judgement by the National Green Tribunal validated the protesters' claims, but then also allowed the Government to 'complete earlier work'. Isn't the NGT contradicting itself?
Roma Malik
Posted on 17 May, 2015 07:20 AM

The last month has been one of great activity around the illegal construction of the Kanhar dam in Sonebhadra district of Uttar Pradesh.
A destroyed tent after the lathi charge
SC denies land to Coca-Cola in Chharba, Uttarakhand
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 05 May, 2015 11:30 AM

After Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand also bids goodbye to Coca Cola
The scrubland that the Coca Cola company requires
Niyamagiri hills get temporary respite from Vedanta
Violation of the Environment Protection Act, the Forest Conservation Act and the Forest Rights Act put an end to Vedanta's bauxite mining plans but for how long?
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 03 May, 2015 07:09 PM

The Niyamagiri hills in the Eastern Ghats is peopled by indigenous groups such as the Dongria and Kutia Kondhs -- or 'primitive tribal groups’ in official phrasing. For them, these hills which spread over 300 sq kms in Rayagada and Kalahandi districts in southwestern Orissa, is the sacred abode of Niyamraja, their God.
The hills and the streams are their soul
Acute crisis of water, power and medical facilities in Nepal after earthquake
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 28 Apr, 2015 10:39 AM

Nepal earthquake toll exceeds 4300
Earthquake in Nepal (Source: Krish Dulal)
Watershed development in India: Learning through experience
Implementing good watershed management practices can go a long way in dealing with the increasing water crisis in India in recent years. Lessons learned from three World Bank projects are detailed.
Jim Smyle
Crispino Lobo
Grant Milne
Melissa Williams
Posted on 25 Apr, 2015 11:18 PM

India's water availability in the future is predicted to be bleak if proper steps are not undertaken to deal with the management of the available water resources in the country. The report titled 'Watershed development in India
Water, a valuable resource
SaciWATERs calls for a research grant in South-Asia for Grounded Gender-Agriculture Research
The theme for this research is “Poverty Squares and Gender Circles: Unravelling Agriculture Gaps, Challenges and Opportunities in the Eastern Gangetic Plains”.
Posted on 24 Apr, 2015 12:50 PM

Research scholarships for ‘Promoting Young Researchers in South Asia for Grounded Gender-Agriculture Research’ is now opened for applications from Bangladesh, India and Nepal. The scholarship is funded by the Consortium Group of International Agriculture Research (CGIAR) Water, Land and Ecosystems in partnership with SaciWATERs.
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