Health

Featured Articles
November 6, 2022 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 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 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 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 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 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)
Forecasting dengue spread now easy
Scientists develop a new method to forecast dengue spread in various climatic zones by studying the extrinsic incubation period of the virus. Posted on 06 Sep, 2017 08:41 PM

Given its close links to both temperature and rainfall, it is possible to forecast the outbreak of dengue. But for such disease forecasting to be effective, it should be based on models specific for different climatic zones in the country, a new study has shown. 

Dengue mosquito. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Catch them young
An initiative in Uttarakhand aims to inculcate knowledge of water management in school children. Posted on 04 Sep, 2017 10:29 PM

The children of Shri Ram Vidya Mandir in Dotiyal in Almora district of Uttarakhand were hushed as they entered the hall. Within 15 minutes, they were all giggling in anticipation of the fun of learning something new. This is one of the schools where students are taught the basics of hydrogeology and water quality.

Children gather around Ashvath Singh as he demonstrates hydrogeology.
Tackling encephalitis: The sanitation connect
Recent encephalitis deaths in Gorakhpur put the spotlight back on the disease and the importance of better sanitation as a preventive measure. Posted on 04 Sep, 2017 04:58 AM

Gorakhpur is back in the news with 42 more children dying in 48 hours at one of the biggest hospitals here--Baba Raghav Das Medical College Hospital or BRD hospital.

Sanitation plays an important part in preventing encephalitis. (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Flood situation improves in Bihar and West Bengal
News this week Posted on 22 Aug, 2017 09:34 PM

Bihar floods: Fear of epidemic looms large

Army engaged in rescue operations. (Photo by Pranab Kumar)
What do rural women say about sanitation?
Women, who need safe sanitation the most, are often left out of crucial sanitation-related decisions at households, a study says. Posted on 15 Aug, 2017 10:09 AM

Does gender matter when it comes to sanitation? Apparently, it does.

Women and their unvoiced sanitation needs. (Women in Deogarh morning, Orissa, India. Source: Simon Williams / Ekta Parishad)
Bad times at Baddi
Unless industries clean up their act and authorities take it up seriously, Baddi’s water will continue to be polluted causing hardship to its residents. Posted on 09 Aug, 2017 05:59 AM

When Satya Devi was a child, the open well near her house in the village of Malku Majra was the water source for the household. She reminisces, “The water was clean and soft. The well would never go dry.

The state pollution control board insists that none of the factories in the area allow any pollutants to be discharged into the environment. The state of the surface water bodies, however, belies this statement.
What happens to your e-waste?
Though informal e-waste handling, segregation and import are prohibited by the law, e-waste business is thriving in the country. Posted on 05 Aug, 2017 05:44 PM

Take a walk through the maze of lanes at Seelampur in north-east Delhi, you could see small children rummaging through electronic waste that has made its way here from all over north India. They segregate end-of-life electrical and electronic products, prise them apart, put them through acid wash and also burn circuit boards in the hope of extracting precious metals.

Boys sort discarded computer parts as sparks fly from a grinding machine.  (Image: Greenpeace, Flickr Commons; CC BY-ND 2.0)
Playing the soil health card
Is the soil health card scheme introduced to improve the economic condition of the farmers by bettering the health of the soil effective? Posted on 01 Aug, 2017 11:49 AM

Decades of skating over environmental concerns have clearly cost us dear. The folly of pursuing better crop yields using chemical fertilisers in an indiscriminate manner has been surfacing lately. “Decades of agricultural abuse using fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides have taken its toll on us.

The electrical conductivity of a diluted soil sample is being tested as a measure of soil salinity. (Image:CSIRO, Wikimedia Commons; CC Attribution 3.0 Unported)
How a poor labourer became a rich farmer
A video tells the story of a poor farmer who, through effective water conservation methods, became rich and a role model to other villagers. Posted on 27 Jul, 2017 07:59 PM

Vasant Baburao Parkale, a 52-year-old farmer, has become a role model for many farmers in the drought-prone Marathwada region. His determination and the will to excel in life have helped him to transform his dreams into reality.

Vasantrao Parkale (Source: India Water Portal)
SC strict over wetland preservation
Policy matters this week Posted on 18 Jul, 2017 01:02 PM

Supreme Court pulls Centre over preservation of wetlands

Deepor Beel in Assam (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
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