Rivers

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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)
Inform us about future hydel projects: Pakistan to India
News this week Posted on 23 Jan, 2017 08:50 PM

India should inform us about its future hydel projects: Pakistan

Chenab river (Source: Wikipedia commons)
No man's land
The state of the poromboke lands in Chennai signifies the deteriorating nature of its ecology. Saving them is important not just to preserve a tradition but also to safeguard growing urban spaces. Posted on 18 Jan, 2017 09:39 PM

From its rather benign origins connoting a type of land classification, the term poromboke has transformed into something grotesque over the years. This term had been in use since the Cholas denoting stretches of land reserved for shared communal use which cannot be bought or sold.

The Ennore creek choked by fly ash. (Screen grab from the Chennai poromboke paadal)
Acquired lands lay barren, SC questions states
Policy matters this week Posted on 16 Jan, 2017 12:11 PM

Why are lands acquired from farmers barren? SC asks states

Women farmers protest against land acquisition (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
TN suffers the worst north-east monsoon in 140 years
News this week Posted on 16 Jan, 2017 11:50 AM

Tamil Nadu declares drought

TN farmers in the midst of a crisis. (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
State of rivers goes south
Rivers turn muck in many stretches in south India calling for action before they dry up completely. Posted on 14 Jan, 2017 05:40 PM

At a time when the government’s attention is steered towards the concerns of the northern rivers like the Ganga and the Yamuna, it is seldom that the polluted rivers of the south India come up for discussion.

Water-borne litter in Salem, Tamil Nadu. (Source: Parvathisri, Wikimedia Commons)
Maharashtra gears up for irrigation projects
Policy matters this week Posted on 09 Jan, 2017 10:14 AM

Maharashtra approves cost overrun in irrigation projects, set to complete Gosikhurd project

Irrigation canal from the Bhima dam, Maharashtra (Source: Nvvchar on Wikipedia)
States fail to tackle groundwater crisis
News this week Posted on 09 Jan, 2017 09:52 AM

A majority of states fail to stop overexploitation of groundwater

A well in Rajasthan (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Curious case of disappearing fish
Fish species are rapidly disappearing from Himalayan rivers. Dams are not the reason. Human activity is. Posted on 07 Jan, 2017 09:41 PM

Jaman Ram, a resident of Bhikia Sain, a tehsil in Uttarakhand, remembers fishing with his father in the Ramganga. “We could catch 80-100 kilograms of fish a day. That is no longer possible,” he says. Shafiq of Haldwani shares an unsettling memory of the Ramganga. As a young man on a holiday, he was paddling in the river near Marchula when the rock he was standing on shifted.

Mahseer swim in the bracing waters of the Ganga in Uttarakhand.
A water worried year in a nutshell
From river disputes to the failure of the Ganga clean-up plan and the interlinking of rivers, water conflicts dominated most of 2016. Posted on 07 Jan, 2017 08:13 AM

The year 2016 was eventful, to say the least when it comes to the water scenario in the country. The year saw severe droughts affecting 33 crore people across 10 states.

The Cauvery river at Hogenakkal, Karnataka
Changing coast affects livelihood
While sundry development and infrastructure projects beautify the Chennai coastline, fishermen are left to fend for themselves. Posted on 07 Jan, 2017 07:05 AM

Going by the statistics from the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Tamil Nadu’s coastline is densely populated with 573 fishing villages along 13 coastal districts. The story is slightly different around the urban and peri-urban coastline, thanks to the ongoing gentrification of the coastline in most parts of urban India.

Chennai coast on a busy day.
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