Rivers

Featured Articles
November 25, 2022 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)
October 30, 2022 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 11, 2022 In an effort to inform the general public, especially citizen activists, policymakers, researchers, and students, about the current status of the Vrishabhavathi river, Paani.Earth has created the necessary maps, data, analysis, and information to drive conservation awareness and action around the river.
Vrishabhavathi river (Image Source: Paani.Earth)
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)
September 5, 2022 In an attempt to present a perspective on how rivers are used and abused, a map of the Bengaluru rivers illustrate how waste flows through natural river corridors, polluting the rivers and altering their status.
Vrishabhavathi river flow at Thagachguppe Bridge, Kumbalgodu (Image Source: Paani.Earth)
August 11, 2022 This could lead to water quality crisis reinforcing the need for basin-specific management strategies
Around the world, more than a fifth of nitrogen released by human activity ends up in aquatic ecosystems (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
All hopes lost for the flood-hit in Bihar
People in Bihar are struggling with the floods for a month now, while the government has turned a blind eye to their plight. Posted on 11 Sep, 2020 08:06 AM

“We went through a lot of trouble over the month. By God’s grace, we are still surviving."

Havoc of floods in Saharsa (Source: Umesh K Ray)
Nashik civic body frees Godavari using riverfront development funds
News this week Posted on 08 Sep, 2020 03:57 PM

A civic body frees a river instead of concretising it, for the first time

Godavari river (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Empowering, involving local communities crucial for reviving Yamuna: Study
A user-friendly water quality index could be created to help riverine communities take informed decisions. Posted on 07 Sep, 2020 12:56 PM

There aren’t many studies on understanding the socio-economic impact of river pollution, and the handful of those available miss out on capturing the voices of the local communities who are most affected by river pollution.

To improve the participation of the riverine communities in river clean-up activities, a platform can be set up as a governance mechanism. (Image: Thommen Jose, CC BY-SA 4.0)
Swollen rivers engulf houses and erode banks wreaking havoc in Bihar
Swollen rivers engulf houses and erode banks in Bihar while the government turns a blind eye to this annual misery. Posted on 04 Sep, 2020 08:16 PM

Floods coupled with erosion increase the woes of Bihar

Erosion due to floods in Ganga river (Source: Umesh Kumar Ray)
Ganga's riverine communities in troubled waters
The fishing community is the most vulnerable as its members come into direct contact with the river water and thus, suffer the maximum impact of pollution. Posted on 01 Sep, 2020 03:04 PM

A large section of the population living in the Ganga river basin still depends on the river for daily use activities and livelihood. Hence, the cleaning of the Ganga river’s water and making it safe for use remains a major goal for policymakers.

There is a need to formalise the traditional occupation of riverine fishing by providing proper licensing facilities to allow for targeted policies for the community in order to mitigate the livelihood challenges being faced by it. (Image: Pikrepo)
Holy waters, unholy outcomes!
A study found that mass bathing events in the Kshipra river not only led to high pollution, but also to the presence of multidrug resistant pathogenic bacteria in its waters, posing a risk to health. Posted on 28 Aug, 2020 05:52 PM

Rivers are revered and considered holy since times immemorial in India and mass bathing in some rivers is an age-old ritual. A holy dip and a holy sip of the river waters are considered to be a highly purifying. But is the dip really cleansing at all when almost all the rivers in India are known to be highly polluted?

A priest offers water to the sun at Ramghat on the Kshipra river at Simhastha (Image Source: Makarand Purohit)
Drying veins of Ganga: Can we have ‘Nirmal Ganga’ with dying tributaries?
There is an urgent need to prioritise uninterrupted river flow over unpolluted flow in the Namami Gange programme. Posted on 27 Aug, 2020 05:22 PM

India’s Himalayan rivers have been a cradle of civilisational development and a centre for faith and culture for ages. Ganga being a fertile basin has been a significant contributor to our agricultural economy as well as our river-based agrarian development.

The Baand river is nearly dry even when the region saw above normal monsoon this year. Much of the riverbed is encroached by farms. (Image: Adeel Khan and Praharsh Patel)
Swachh Survekshan 2020: Indore tops in cleanest city category
News this week Posted on 25 Aug, 2020 09:19 PM

Indore once again tops the Swachh Survekshan 2020 in the cleanest city category

Clean road near Pardesipura, Indore. (Source: India Water Portal)
Next phase of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban to focus on water treatment
Policy matters this week Posted on 25 Aug, 2020 08:26 PM

Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban: Next phase to focus on water treatment and toilet waste disposal

Next phase of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban to focus on water treatment (Image source: India Water Portal)
With no food on their plate, people seek government help
Incessant rains and floods continue to batter Bihar killing people and livestock, while putting more lives at risk as people continue to wait for government help. Posted on 20 Aug, 2020 04:44 PM

For about last three weeks, Dhananjay Kumar along with his wife and children have been living on the embankment under their plastic shed following the late night July floods that submerged their house.

Flood water enters Chanchalia village. (Image source: Umesh Kumar Ray)
×