Forests

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October 6, 2022 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)
April 13, 2022 Over 30% of Indian districts are prone to extreme forest fires, as per a CEEW study
More than 275 million people in India are exposed to extreme forest fire events. (Image: Naveen N Kadalaveni, Wikimedia Commons)
September 21, 2021 A fatal tick borne disease is on the rise in the Western Ghat states. Deforestation, declining biodiversity and increasing human animal conflicts are to blame.
The Western ghats forests, under threat (Image Source: India Water Portal)
April 28, 2021 There is a need to work on the development of protocols or models, enhancement of productivity and livelihood sustainability
Jhum cultivation in Nokrek biosphere reserve, Meghalaya (Image: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0)
December 11, 2019 Policy matters this week
Polythene bags and solid waste left behind as water recedes in the Ganga river. (Source: India Water Portal on Flickr)
Saving some last remaining free flowing rivers
Parineeta Dandekar writes about the novel conservation reserves on Kali, Bedthi and Aghanashini in the Western Ghats. Posted on 24 Jan, 2012 06:38 AM

Guest post by: Parineeta Dandekar

Looking beyond Durban:Where to from here - An article in EPW
In this paper published in the Economic and Political Weekly, Navroz Dubash argues that 'India needs to re-articulate and enrich its position on equity in climate negotiations'. Posted on 20 Jan, 2012 03:58 PM

The Durban climate negotiations have set into motion new negotiations, with the possibility of re-opening old and contentious issues, while at the same time leaving the global climate regulatory framework unchanged. While disappointing, this does create a possibility of starting anew. 

Bangledesh's perspectives on Tipaimukh dam
This article by Md. Khalequzzaman deals with Bangladesh's position on the Tipaimukh dam. Posted on 18 Jan, 2012 11:33 PM

The Indian government and two other Indian authorities have signed an agreement on October 22, 2011 regarding construction of the Tipaimukh Dam.

Hydropower in the Northeast: Potential and harnessing analysis - A critique
This paper was commissioned as an input to the study “Development and Growth in Northeast India: The Natural Resources, Water, and Environment Nexus” by the World Bank. Posted on 15 Jan, 2012 11:41 PM

The main objectives of the hydropower study are as follows: 

  • An analysis of the hydropower potential in the Northeast and key elements of the strategy that should be followed for optimal realization of this potential 
  • An overview of the hydropower development options in the Northeast with regard to the water resources in the different river basins, including consideration of flood control and irrigationmap of the north-eastern states

Map of the north-east states

Environment Statistics – A compendium by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (2011)
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has come up with a Compendium of Environment Statistics 2011, the twelfth edition of the series, which started in 1997. Posted on 07 Jan, 2012 04:25 PM

It broadly covers five core parameters, viz., biodiversity, atmosphere, land/soil, water and human settlements suggested by the Framework for Development of Environment Statistics (FDES) published by United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) in 1984.

A survey of point of use household water treatment options for rural south India: A report detailing resources available
This report examines the various methods of point-of-use water treatment options available, their pros and cons, and their suitability for South India. Posted on 07 Jan, 2012 10:59 AM

Point of use household water treatment is the process of treating water at the household level to improve its microbiological purity. In cases where treated municipal water is not available, or is subject to recontamination due to a faulty distribution system, household water treatment is essential and allows families control over their drinking water. 

Big dams and protests in India: A study of Hirakud dam – An article in EPW
This article by Arun Kumar Nayak in the Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) examines the movement against the construction of the Hirakud dam in Orissa. Posted on 06 Jan, 2012 12:29 PM

It is evident that the domestic resistance to the project was variously compromised by nationalist rhetoric, imperatives of state development and absence of transnational support. The Hirakud dam project has failed on all of its objectives – flood management, hydropower production, irrigation and navigation. Its socio-economic impact has been devastating.

Living rivers, dying rivers: Bagmati river in Nepal
The fifth lecture in the ten-part series titled "Living Rivers, Dying Rivers" was delivered by Dr. Ajaya Dixit and Dr. Dipak Gyawali. Posted on 05 Jan, 2012 06:07 PM

Bagmati river in Kathmandu: From holy river to unthinkable flowing filth

Bagmati river, Nepal (Source:Bagmati Action Plan 2009-2014)

Ajaya Dixit initiated his presentation with a general account of how rivers shape the landscape and how riverine ecosystems have nurtured society and kept civilisations vibrant, cultured and creative. Dixit went on to discuss the basin characteristics of the Bagmati, a tributary of the Kosi that rises in the Shivapuri hills, north of the Kathmandu valley. Around fifteen percent of the basin area (3700 sqkm) lies in Nepal, while the remaining is in India. The average annual rainfall in the basin is 1400 mm and is more than 2000 mm in the hills. Bagmati is a seasonal river with rainfall and springs as its main source. Its mean flow is 15.6 cubic metre/second and low flow is 0.15 cubic metre/second in April.

Kathmandu lies in the Upper Bagmati basin and studies suggest that an ancient lake called the Paleo-Kathmandu lay within the Kathmandu valley as a lacustrine formation. Early settlers lived in lower slopes and used springs and river in the upper reaches. When they moved to the valley floor, they built dongia dharas, which are stone water spouts fed by the unconfined aquifers and delivered water through surface channels. Even today, dongia dharas dated back to 1500 years exist. The state built canals (raj kulo) tapped the upper stretches of the rivers close to the mountains. Rivers and irrigation helped recharge aquifers and ponds.

However, rising urbanisation has damaged these ancient artifacts. Over the last sixty years Kathmandu has expanded massively and its population has increased from 0.41 million in 1951 to 2.6 million in 2011. The city has a huge transient population aside from this, reducing it to a concrete nightmare. Seismologists suggest that Kathmandu is a rubble city in the making. Though the Bagmati river flow has not changed significantly in the last seventy years, the character of the river has been transformed significantly during the period 1970 to 1990. The river has been canalised while the dumping of the city’s garbage into it continues. Dixit identified a plethora of problems faced by the river such as upstream water diversion for drinking water needs, disposal of untreated liquid waste, disposal of solid waste, river jacketing for roads and commercial activities, sand mining and physical encroachment.

The state of the river is an outcome of the current approach to waste management particularly liquid waste management. Three types of waste water namely yellow water flux, grey water and yellow black flux are being generated and flowing water is being used as a vehicle to dispose these. The idea of a water based disposal system e.g. flush toilet embedded in Victorian engineering has led to a technological lock-in with the result that the notion of a natural hydrological cycle has undergone a fundamental transformation.

All the same, the bulk of the load in the river is biological though there are some factories releasing effluents. In the last 20 years some of them have been closed or relocated and the river now stands a chance of being salvaged.

  

 

Bagmati River at Pashupatinath Temple (Source:Wikipedia)
Cyclone Thane hits landfall between Puducherry and Cuddalore districts in Tamil Nadu, Heavy rainfall expected over Kerala in the next 24 hours - An update on floods, disasters, extreme weather events (1 to 31 December 2011)
The news for the month of December 2011 is presented below - Posted on 01 Jan, 2012 04:50 PM

It has been dominated by reports of  a major cyclone Thane that lay centered on the the 29th December 2011 near latitude 12.30N and longitude 83.00E, about 300 km east-southeast of Chennai (Tamilnadu) and 480 km north-northeast of Trincomalee (Sri Lanka). Earlier reports related to the cyclone Thane indicate predictions and cyclone warnings made by the IMD for the north of Tamil Nadu and the south Andhra Pradesh coast along with possibility of heavy rains and severe winds and warnings for fishermen to refrain from going into the sea.

Later reports indicate that Cyclone Thane has hit the landfall between the Union territory of Puducherry and neighbouring Cuddalore district in Tamil Nadu at about 9 am leaving behind a trail of devastation followed by later reports of weakening of the cyclone activity and predictions of heavy rainfall over Kerala, south interior Karnataka and north interior Tamil Nadu

National Alliance for People s Movements condemns arrest and harassment of anti-dam protesters in Assam
NAPM demands scrapping of big dams in Brahmaputra River Valley. Posted on 28 Dec, 2011 12:10 PM

Content courtesy: National Alliance for People's Movements

On the 26 December, 2011, at 2:15 am, Assam Police in collusion with other security forces swooped down on the protesters at Ranganadi who have been blockading the Highway since December 16 and thwarting state’s attempt to carry turbines and dam materials to project site of Lower Subansiri Dam. Nearly 200 people have been arrested and earlier also security forces have been harassing the protestors. In past too, Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti fighting against the big dams on Brahmaputra have faced government’s ire and often been attacked and jailed. NAPM stands in solidarity with KMSS and other students groups of the region who have been consistently opposed to the big dams in highly sensitive seismic zone. We condemn the sustained action and harassment of KMSS and their activists and targeting of Akhil Gogoi for constantly opposing the destructive development policies and corruption of the government machinery.