Lakes, Ponds and Wetlands

Featured Articles
December 4, 2022
Small scale inland open water fisheries of India
What is the status of inland fisheries in India? Read these situational analysis reports to know about inland fisheries, the life of the fisherfolk, governance and tenure in inland fisheries and threats to the sustainability of inland fisheries.
Fishing in an irrigation canal in Kerala (Image Source: Martin Pilkinton via Wikimedia Commons)
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)
August 27, 2022
Himalayan lakes can potentially become long-term sinks of microplastics
Study looks at microplastic types in lakes of Ladakh
(Vinay Goel, Wikimedia Commons)
Videos
An overview on wetlands in India
My disappearing land- Majuli
Tragic tale of Erai
Maps, lakes and citizens: The use of surveys in lake conservation - An article in the Seminar magazine
Settlements in the area that is now Bangalore have a recorded history that dates back to the 5th century CE. Water for these settlements was made available through multiple series of tanks, which numbered 19,800 around the year 1830.
Harini Nagendra
Posted on 19 Mar, 2012 11:44 AM

This lake system is now decaying with lakes either taken over for urban uses, or choking due to neglect. ATREE and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) have been engaged in attempting to understand how to restore these lakes for urban use, while maintaining their ecological importance. This article in Seminar describes this attempt.

Puttenahalli: one of Bengaluru's urban lakes

GIS mapping of wetlands: Strengthening indigenous peoples response to multiple-use water services (MUS)
The project 'Strengthening indigenous people’s response to multiple-use water services', supported by ARGHYAM takes people’s multiple water needs as the starting point in identifying opportunities within the water limitations & changing environment, in planning and design of existing cropping and water resource systems for up-gradation.
Resources Centre for Sustainable Development
Posted on 05 Mar, 2012 11:04 AM

Article Courtesy : Resources Centre for Sustainable Development

The interactive GIS mapping of wetlands and MUS intervention sites is one of the outputs of the project. 

Interactive layers are present on the left panel of the pdf file.
Once upon a lake: A report on the current status of the lakes of Mahadevpura constituency, Bengaluru with recommendations for restoration
Lakes of Mahadevpura constituency, Bengaluru- current status, changes in distribution and recommendations for restoration' by Harini Nagendra, Ramesh Sivaram, and S Subramanya presents the current status of the lake and canal system in Bengaluru’s Mahadevpura constituency, with details of individual lakes as well as recommendations for the restoration of these lakes as well as the entire system. This report has been shared with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, under which the management of these lakes is consolidated, to inform planning at a constituency and ward level.
Harini Nagendra
Ramesh Sivaram
S Subramanya
Posted on 23 Feb, 2012 05:55 PM


Map of the lakes in Bengaluru, with information about their status

Map of the lakes in Bengaluru, source: ATREE

Challenges for achieving conservation and development - A presentation by Elinor Ostrom at the Khoshoo memorial lecture, ATREE
The 2012 Khoshoo Memorial Lecture was delivered by 2009 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, Dr Elinor Ostrom. In this presentation, she explains the need for a framework to assess complex socio-ecological systems.
Elinor Ostrom
Posted on 22 Feb, 2012 06:52 PM

Portrait of Dr.Ostrom

Stress of urban pollution on largest natural wetland ecosystem in East Kolkata - Causes, consequences and improvement
This paper looks at the impact of urban pollution on the Eastern Kolkata wetlands where fish farming is carried out.
DP Mukherjee
Posted on 14 Feb, 2012 10:23 AM

The impact of sewage pollution on these fish ponds and on the ecosystem is evaluated. Similarly, remedial measures to maintain water quality and to improve resource recovery efficiency are suggested.

Location map of the East Kolkata wetlands

Water quality monitoring of lakes in and around Bangalore city
This report by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) both in Kannada and English highlights the deteriorating condition of the lakes in and around Bangalore city.
Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB)
Posted on 07 Feb, 2012 03:05 PM

It describes the efforts undertaken by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board to launch a programme to monitor the water quality of some of the lakes in Bangalore so as to focus the attention of concerned governmental organisations to take up remedial measures to safe guard the water bodies of the "Garden City". 

The sources of pollution in lakes are mainly identified as:
Three days training course on lake conservation at NIH Roorkee, March 14-16, 2012
Posted on 02 Feb, 2012 01:48 PM

Organizer: National Institute of Hydrology (NIH)

Venue: National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee

NIH


Description:

The increasing demand for fresh water due to ever growing population, calls for proper conservation and management of all the available fresh water resources, including lakes. Lakes need special attention as they are quite often the catalysts in the development of the region by supplying water for variety of uses such as drinking and civil water supply, industrial supply, irrigation, aqua-culture, recreation and tourism etc.

Planning as commoning - Transformation of a Bangalore lake - Paper published in the EPW
This paper in EPW deals with the transformation of a lake in Bangalore.
Jayaraj Sundaresan
Posted on 02 Feb, 2012 11:30 AM

This paper published in the Economic and Political Weekly argues that the transformation of human settlements over time can affect the relationship between communities and commons when, for example, social geographies change from rural to urban, or from traditional systems of management to modern bureaucratic systems.
Tank irrigation in Karnataka: A historical survey
Tank irrigation in Karnataka, authored by GS Dikshit, GR Kuppuswamy, SK Mohan, and first published in 1993, provides a historical overview of this ancient method of water management.
GR Kuppuswamy
GS Dikshit
SK Mohan
Posted on 24 Jan, 2012 06:12 AM

The book covers entire eras from the ancient to the current period. It also gives information about the structural, financial and institutional aspects of tank construction and management.

The full book is available for download on the India Water Portal. Please right-click on the cover page image of the book, and select 'Save link as', to download the full book.

Right-click this image, and select 'Save link as', to download the full book - Tank irrigation in Karnataka - A historical survey

Wetlands for water quality management – The science and technology: A paper from Current Issues in Water Management
This paper examines the use of constructed wetlands for water purification.
A M Sedeki
Rana D Parshad
R K Upadhyay
Suman Bhowmick
Vikas Rai
Posted on 10 Jan, 2012 10:24 PM

The introduction begins witha brief overview of wetlands: their nature and services offered. These wetlands are ecosystems with water that is static or flowing and characerized by emergent , floating and submerged aquatic vegetation. Some of the services provided by wetlands are fish and fiber, water supply, water purification, flood regulation, recreational opportunities and tourism. It then details the importance of wetlands for water purification.Toxins enter the wetlands through farms, factories and runoff. These toxins are broken down or otherwise buried using a variety of bacteria. 

Location map of Keoladeo National park

Location map of Keoladeo National Park

Subscribe to Lakes, Ponds and Wetlands