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)
Disaster strikes Uttarakhand, yet again
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 17 Feb, 2021 11:28 AM

Uttarakhand glacier disaster: Death toll rises to 58 as rescue operation continues
Flash Floods in Chamoli, Uttarakhand (Image Source: India.com)
Bringing life to a dying stream
In Vidarbha, water harvesting restores a nala to a perennial stream
Foundation for Ecological Security (FES)
Posted on 09 Feb, 2021 08:23 PM

Located in the Ghatanji block in Yavatmal district of Maharashtra, Jarur village has seen a good monsoon this year.
The communities are aware of the importance of harvesting and storing rainwater for meeting their needs, and have established several rules and norms for use of common resources. (Image: FES)
Professor Brij Gopal, a tireless advocate of India’s rivers!
Professor Brij Gopal, a tireless advocate of India’s rivers passed away in Delhi last week. We, at the India Water Portal are extremely saddened by this news.
India Water Portal team
Posted on 03 Feb, 2021 03:06 PM

We best remember Professor Brij Gopal as someone who was very frank in his criticism of river and wetland policies. He strongly voiced the need for conserving river ecology and conceptualised the river regulation zone to offer legal protection to river floodplains from activities that could threaten the health of rivers.
River Ken in Madhya Pradesh (Image Source: Shivamd2d via Wikimedia Commons)
Breathing life into the dying rivers of Pune!
Jeevitnadi continues with its mission to breathe life into Pune’s rivers and has been awarded the prestigious Bhagirath Prayas Samman 2020 this year!
Aarti Kelkar Khambete
Posted on 25 Jan, 2021 10:45 PM

In this year’s India Rivers Week (IRW), Jeevitnadi, an organisation working on rivers in Pune city received the prestigious Bhagirath Prayaas Samman for its exemplary work on spreading awareness and undertaking steps to change the situation of rivers in the city!
Mutha, the lifeline of Pune city (Image Source: India Water Portal)
Ganga's cure lies in people's will for a change
Healing the Ganga can start in your kitchen, says Bidisha Banerjee, whose new book explores the faith and the science that define the river, and what it will take to save it.
Shriya Mohan
Posted on 25 Jan, 2021 12:51 PM

It was Bhagirath who chose to leave his kingdom and commit to austere tapasya, for a thousand years, in order to bring Ganga down from the heavens.
Ganga river at Bithoor (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Submit report on the need for clearance of National Waterway-1: NGT to MoEF
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 23 Dec, 2020 02:17 PM

NGT seeks report on the need for clearance of inland waterway projects in Ganga
Motor-driven ferries at Varanasi (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Plundered rivers, vanishing ecosystems: Sandmining in India’s west
While sandmining is increasingly killing rivers in India, what is the state of rivers in western India?
Aarti Kelkar Khambete
Posted on 16 Dec, 2020 10:51 AM

Unsustainable sandmining practices continue to be rampant in India. This has not only threatened the river ecosystems, but also led to commodification of river sand, a product in high demand in the construction industry. The high profits involved have turned sand mining into a highly competitive business with the sand mafia dominating the scene.
River sand continues to be plundered for the construction industry (Source: P Jeganathan/Wikimedia Commons)
Study using geo-tagged bottles unravels plastic pollution
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 09 Dec, 2020 04:53 PM

Plastic pollution can travel thousands of kilometres in just a few months, finds new study using geo-tagged bottles
Plastic pollution by a river (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
New packaged drinking water rules to apply from January 1, 2021
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 09 Dec, 2020 12:43 PM

Revised standards for packaged drinking water to apply from January 1st, 2021
Filtration plants in a packaging water units (Image source: Tushar Trivedi)
Illegal sand mining led to 193 deaths in two years, says report
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 02 Dec, 2020 12:00 PM

Illegal sand mining operations lead to 193 deaths in two years
Sand mining on the banks of Tapti (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
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