Rivers

Featured Articles
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)
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 11, 2022
Visualizing the Vrishabhavathi river to keep it alive
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
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)
September 5, 2022
Rivers of Bengaluru: A map-infographic reflects the rivers’ state
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
India’s rivers in trouble due to high fertilizer load and heavy monsoons
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)
Groundwater depletion: NGT raps green ministry on inaction
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 15 May, 2019 11:40 AM

NGT raps green ministry for failing to curb depletion of groundwater
Groundwater depletion adds to water woes. (Image source: IWP Flickr photos)
Only 37 percent of world’s long rivers free flowing
A study finds out dams and reservoirs diminish diverse benefits offered by healthy rivers.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 14 May, 2019 05:02 PM

A little over a third of the world's 246 long rivers remain free-flowing, as per a study by a team of 34 international researchers, including those from McGill University in Canada and World Wildlife Fund India.
Pancheshwar dam on Mahakali river is feared to break the natural flow connectivity of river. (Image: Vimal Bhai)
Namami Gange: Only 10 out of 100 sewage projects done
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 07 May, 2019 03:49 PM

Under Namami Gange mission, only 10 out of 100 new sewage projects completed
Polythene bags and solid waste left behind as water recedes in the Ganga river. (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
MGNREGA fails to help drought-hit states
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 01 May, 2019 07:07 PM

MGNREGA's performance unsatisfactory in drought-stricken districts in 2018-19
Labourers build check dams under MGNREGA. (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Water level falls in India's major river basins: CWC
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 01 May, 2019 06:45 PM

Water level in India’s major reservoirs and river basins in a precarious state: CWC
Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Mapping pollution hotspots in Yamuna
A sensor network system is being used for mapping and monitoring the water quality of river Yamuna.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 01 May, 2019 10:38 AM

The Yamuna was considered a nurturing and life-enhancing goddess in the past. Legend has it that bathing in the sacred waters of the Yamuna, the sister of Yama, the god of death, frees one from the ordeal of death. The 1376-km river is a tributary of the Ganga and originates in the Yamunotri glacier in the lower Himalayas.
A project, conceptualised by a team of researchers from the University of Chicago, US helps demonstrate that scalable water quality mapping systems can detect and predict water contamination (Image:India Water Portal)
Water management: Still a neglected electoral issue?
India is facing a major water crisis and a number of water sector challenges remain unaddressed even today.
Himanshu Thakkar
Posted on 25 Apr, 2019 12:04 PM

India is on the brink of a major water crisis. With drought looming over the southern and western parts of the country, the existing water resources are in peril. Rivers are getting more polluted, their catchments, water-holding and water-harvesting mechanisms are deteriorating and groundwater levels are depleting at an alarming rate.
India's water woes need urgent attention. (Image Source: India Water Portal)
High proportion of antibacterial agents in Ganga: Study
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 24 Apr, 2019 02:21 PM

Ganga laden with high proportion of antibacterial agents: Study
Ganga river at Gadmukteshwar (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
NGT adamant on committees to manage biodiversity
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 24 Apr, 2019 10:46 AM

NGT seeks report on constitution of Biodiversity Management Committees
A negelcted wetland in Punjab (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Making water available for all
Civil society activists champion alternatives to conventional water management solutions implemented by the government.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 23 Apr, 2019 06:48 PM

India, the second largest population in the world, is facing a water crisis with over 600 million people facing acute water shortage, as per a report by Niti Aayog, the government think-tank. India’s water crisis is expected to worsen, threatening the country’s food security as over 80 percent of our water is used in agriculture.
The pollution rates of the river Hindon are alarming. Despite work by conservation groups, the efforts on the part of the government to fix the problem remain uncertain. (Image: Hindi Water Portal)
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