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November 6, 2022
Protecting children from climate change impact not child's play
In 2020, 559 million children were affected by four to five heatwaves a year; numbers could increase four-fold by 2050, as per a report by UNICEF
Heat-related mortality is four times higher among children under 1 year of age than in persons aged 1–44 years (Image: Taqver, Wikimedia Commons)
September 26, 2022
Dirty drains 'drain' health
This study found that the sanitary quality of neighbourhood drains, in addition to toilets, affected sanitation and hygiene and incidences of ill-health in rural households.
Dirty drainages, harbingers of illhealth. Image for representation only (Image Source: SuSanA Secretariat via Wikimedia Commons)
September 9, 2022
Creating jobs while managing air quality
Highlights from a new report released by iFOREST
An old coal-fired power plant has been dumping vast quantities of ash out in the open for many years. (Image: Lundrim Aliu/ World Bank; CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
August 19, 2022
Polluted water, hitchhiking microbes and the hidden threat of cholera in India
Better access to clean water coupled with health education to bring about changes in behaviour are critical to prevent exposure to dangerous cholera bacteria that lurk in untreated waters.
The hidden threat of cholera in India (Image Source: IWP Flickr photos)
July 20, 2022
Poisoned waters of Delhi
This study found a high concentration of trihalomethanes (THMs) in water treatment plants in Delhi that were associated with increased risk of cancer.
What's in your tap water (Image Source: India Water Portal)
July 5, 2022
Poisoned waters, threatened lives
Studies reveal that children are the most vulnerable to the health risks associated with groundwater contamination due to nitrate and fluoride, highlighting the need for urgent remedial measures.
POisoned waters, dangerous outcomes (Image Source: India Water Portal)
When solving one health problem triggers another
Studies reveal that efforts at guinea worm eradication have triggered the spread of hydrofluorosis in Rajasthan.
Shanti Lal Choubisa
Posted on 27 Jun, 2018 02:17 PM

Up until two decades ago, the main sources of drinking water in Rajasthan included surface water from perennial ponds, reservoirs, lakes, dams, rivers and streams with borewells and tubewells used sparingly and only in remote areas. All this changed when guinea worm infections started appearing in the state. 
A child drinks water from a hand pump. (Image Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Pink city turns heat island
A new phenomenon, urban heat islands in Jaipur indicates that the city has begun to witness the worst of climate change.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 18 Jun, 2018 09:37 AM

This summer, Jaipur’s temperatures are soaring upwards of 40 degree Celsius. Jaipur witnessed its hottest day on April 26 when a temperature of 43.2 degree Celsius was recorded.
A man sits under the scorching heat of the sun in front of Amer fort in Jaipur. The city landscape is now dominated by heat trapping materials that prevent its cooling through evapotranspiration. (Picture courtesy: Prabhu B Doss, Flickr Commons: CC-By-NC-ND-2.0)
Indore retains its cleanest city tag
Indore became the cleanest city in India for the second time in a row, thanks to the untiring efforts of its municipal corporation and residents. A video tells the success story.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 17 Jun, 2018 06:26 PM

Indore has retained its cleanest city tag in the clean India survey 2018. Before it was praised for its cleanliness drive in 2017, the city was just like any other urban city in India dealing with its mounting garbage problem.
Clean road near Pardesipura, Indore. (Source: India Water Portal)
Assam continues to battle fluorosis
Safer water and better nutrition were key in mitigating fluorosis problem in parts of the state.
Fluoride Knowledge and Action Network
Posted on 09 May, 2018 08:26 AM

Farhanuddin was just five years old when a pain in his knee began bothering him. It was 2013. Slowly, his legs began to change shape. They got so badly deformed that it began to affect his everyday life. He was gloomy and tired most times and had trouble walking.
All stakeholders were brought on board to work on a comprehensive approach at tackling the fluorosis problem. (Image: India Water Portal)
Anicuts affect Mahanadi's flow
While the three anicuts on the Mahanadi are hampering its free flow, another one is being planned by the government.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 26 Apr, 2018 01:02 PM

Gopal Nishad, a fisherman in his early 40s, is frustrated that there is hardly any fish left in the Mahanadi’s basin at Pitaibandh due to the lack of water in the basin. This basin is located near Rajim-Nawapara in Chhattisgarh, the proposed site for the fourth anicut on the Mahanadi.
Anicut on the Mahanadi basin at Rajim-Nawapara (Source: India Water Portal)
Tackling fluorosis by following Nalgonda's lead
Engaging with the fluorosis problem in Nalgonda gave the FKAN a chance to understand the problem and apply the solutions nationally.
Fluoride Knowledge and Action Network
Posted on 15 Apr, 2018 04:21 PM

Fluorosis continues to be a regional issue in Telangana to this day, even decades after the first cases were discovered in Nalgonda in 1937. More than three lakh people in the district are affected with skeletal and dental fluorosis, a stigma that has stuck for generations.
Shifting to non-fluoride affected food and increased nutrients is necessary to deal with fluorosis (Image: Fluoride Knowledge and Action Network)
Power play chokes Korba
The video tells the story of residents of Korba and nearby villages who are affected by the fly ash from power plants which makes Korba the fifth critically polluted area in the country.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 11 Apr, 2018 02:05 PM

Korba in Chhattisgarh is an industrial area which has a significant number of coal mines and thermal power plants. Fly ash is a byproduct of the thermal power plants and has become a significant problem for the residents of Korba now.
Fly-ash dust at CSEB thermal power plant in Korba.
Down in the dumps: Delhi’s waste pickers’ saga
A study by Action India provides insight into Delhi’s recycling nightmare and its unacknowledged waste pickers.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 10 Apr, 2018 04:05 PM

Eight-year-old Meera (name changed) got ill after eating filthy food remains from a dump at Mansarovar park in Delhi. Children like her work in filthy environments, rummaging through hazardous waste with bare hands and feet. They play in these dumping ground strewn with syringes, scrap iron, rotting waste, solid and liquid household waste.  
Waste pickers face harrowing occupational hazards and are exposed to toxins in the absence of protective gear. (Image: Ted Mathys, 2009)
Filthy fountains spread dengue fear
Water fountains installed in Kolkata for beautification and left abandoned are becoming a health hazard with mosquitoes breeding in the filthy water.
Gurvinder Singh
Posted on 03 Apr, 2018 03:23 PM

West Bengal’s tryst with dengue in 2017 could not have been more deadly. Around 13000 people were affected and nearly 100 people lost their lives to the disease.
A fountain at Central Park in Salt Lake. Visitors fear that the stagnant water is becoming a breeding ground for mosquitoes. (Pic courtesy: Gurvinder Singh)
Is your bottled water safe to drink?
A study finds that lack of coordination, poor stakeholder involvement, inadequate training and poor infrastructure hinder the enforcement of bottled water quality standards in India.
Aviram Sharma
Posted on 27 Mar, 2018 01:50 PM

It is a fairly common practice among people to buy bottled drinking water while travelling in India with the hope that it will minimise the risk of getting ill due to contaminated water. But is this water safe to drink?
Many illegal bottled water manufacturers exist in the market. (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
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