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)
Namami Gange not holding water
The Ganga clean-up drive may go on but won’t yield result without better planning, execution and coordination between Centre, states and stakeholders.
Swati Bansal
Posted on 24 Nov, 2016 10:42 AM

After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power with Narendra Modi as the prime minister of the country on May 26, 2014, the new government initiated several key programmes with the protection of the environment in mind. One of the major programmes that gained momentum instantly was the Ganga river rejuvenation.
The Ganga at Varanasi (Source: India Water Portal Flickr Photos)
Water sharing: Beyond economic concerns
It is important to look at rivers from an ecological point of view to solve transboundary water issues amicably.
Jayanta Bandopadhyay
Nilanjan Ghosh
Posted on 15 Nov, 2016 11:49 AM

The Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) basin is the third largest river flow system in the world with an annual runoff about 1,150 billion cubic meters (BCM) and the peak outflow of 1,41,000 cumecs.
The lower Ganga, just upstream of Farakka, displays bank cutting and erosion. (Source: India Water Portal)
NGT raps Delhi government over air pollution
News this week
Sabita Kaushal
Posted on 14 Nov, 2016 05:59 AM

Environment minister calls Delhi pollution 'emergency situation'
Delhi shrouded in smog. (Source: Jean-Etienne Minh-Duy/Flickr)
Sutlej Yamuna Link canal row intensifies
Policy matters this week
Sabita Kaushal
Posted on 14 Nov, 2016 05:44 AM

SC sets aside Punjab's order quashing water-sharing agreement with Haryana
Satluj river, Punjab (Source: Harpreet Riat/Wikimedia Commons)
Angry, swirling waters
When the twisted model of Uttarakhand’s development goes wrong, a river lashes out killing many. A new book tries to shed light on what went wrong to cause the great Kedarnath disaster.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 07 Nov, 2016 09:55 PM

“The gravity of the Kedarnath disaster in June 2013, which killed thousands of people, shocked the public almost to the point of numbness”... begins the forward by Bill Aitken in Hridayesh Joshi’s account of the disaster Rage of the river: The untold story of the Kedarnath disaster. It’s a sentence which will whirl in your mind while you read Joshi’s book.
Gori floods (Source: Chicu Lokgariwar, India Water Portal)
Kerala declares its districts drought-hit
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 07 Nov, 2016 09:51 AM

All 14 districts in Kerala have been declared drought-hit
Parched land during drought in India. (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
MGNREGA facing fund crunch
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 07 Nov, 2016 09:30 AM

More fund over the budgetary allocation sought for MGNREGA
Labourers build check dams under MGNREGA. (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Should wildlife suffer in the name of water?
Ken-Betwa river-linking project, if realised, will wipe out a portion of the Panna Tiger Reserve with its flora and fauna. The government, however, is adamant about its plan.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 06 Nov, 2016 09:47 PM

Set in India-ka-dil, Madhya Pradesh, is the unending expanse of Panna.
Ken river flows through Panna tiger reserve. (Source: K Gagan, Wikimedia Commons)
Maha battle over water
The Mahanadi’s water is important for both the farmers and industries of Odisha and Chhattisgarh. Instead of squabbling over it, the states need to come up with a plan to use the water judiciously.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 03 Nov, 2016 12:07 PM

It’s a battle that dates back to 1957. Two states of India--Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Odisha--have fought fiercely over the water of the Mahanadi they share. When Chhattisgarh was carved out of MP in 2000, it inherited both the Mahanadi and the conflict with Odisha over its water.
Mahanadi river
Saving inland fisherfolk
Inland fishermen are fast disappearing. With inshore fishing picking up pace in India, this community needs to be saved.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 03 Nov, 2016 06:07 AM

In his late 30s, Nilesh Heda is a renowned expert on issues related to fishing communities and wetland ecology. While doing his PhD on fish diversity, he worked with the fishing communities in Vidarbha in Maharashtra.
Dr Nilesh Heda
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