Amita Bhaduri
Ways to keep arsenic away
Posted on 11 Oct, 2016 10:12 PMFor villagers at Madhusudan Kathi, the handpumps serving water from an unprotected source led to arsenic contamination, making water from these pumps risky to drink.
![Arsenic removal unit developed by Arup Sengupta, Lehigh University, Bethlehem at Howrah, West Bengal. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/arsenic_removal_unit.jpg?itok=SFeqo1VW)
Dealing with urban waste
Posted on 03 Oct, 2016 11:17 PMWhen it comes to managing huge piles of waste, Indian metros have a monumental task in hand. As per 2011 figures, Delhi is the biggest waste generator with 6800 tonnes of waste being produced daily.
![Pushpa leads the struggle against Bhalaswa landfill that contaminates Delhi's groundwater.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/pushpa-who-has-been_leading-the-struggle-of-bhalaswa-people-to-clean-water2_0.jpg?itok=xHu5JtfH)
Power crisis: Time to go green
Posted on 08 Sep, 2016 06:33 PMDespite the severe water management crisis India is going through, hydro energy continues to be the second leading source of power, next only to thermal-based energy in the country. Hydropower generates over 16 percent of India’s electricity.
![Tehri, a hydropower dam in Uttarakhand (Source: Mayank Gupta, Wikimedia Commons)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/tehri-wide_angle-mayank_gupta-wikimedia-commons.jpg?itok=hIGyIrZV)
Water warriors at work
Posted on 24 Aug, 2016 09:31 AMThe pitiful state of some of the water bodies in the country, coupled with the sheer apathy of the government, have forced some well-meaning citizens to come out of their comfort zones and make a difference. Some of these efforts, like the Puttenahalli lake in Bengaluru that is now overflowing with clean water, have been successful, while others are ongoing.
![Citizens of Udaipur get together to remove water hyacinth from the Pichhola lake.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/udaipur.jpg?itok=rqIe7sEd)
Mines radiate disaster
Posted on 04 Aug, 2016 09:43 AMThe body of Guria Das looked like that of a three-year-old when she passed away at the age of 13. Guria was born in 1999 with a condition that constrained her growth. Her father, Chhatua Das recounts how Guria, unable to speak or move, communicated with him and his wife through gestures; a language that only the three of them could comprehend.
![Guria was born deformed. Her father Chhatua blames the radiation from indiscriminate uranium mining and the tailings ponds for her death.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/gudia_das.jpg?itok=czwWQHxJ)
Riverbed off limits, farmers fume
Posted on 01 Aug, 2016 08:23 PMChampa Devi has been working as a sharecropper on a two-acre farm at Nilothi village in west Delhi. Until a few years ago, the water she used for irrigation came from the Najafgarh drain that empties into the Yamuna river. This form of cultivation using waste water was a norm in the area till sometime ago.
![Thousands of farmers like Champa Devi (in pic) who were growing edible crops or doing fodder cultivation on the riverbed and its floodplains took the brunt of the court’s decision.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/champa-kewat_0.jpg?itok=ot4vx_ZF)
Once a drain, now a sewer
Posted on 05 Jul, 2016 09:33 PMOriginally a darya (creek), locally known as Nizammuddin darya, Barapullah is a key drain of Delhi today. Barapullah gets its name from a pul (bridge) built across it by the then emperor Jahangir's chief eunuch, Mihir Banu Agha.
![Construction debris of the Barapullah flyover project chokes the nallah.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/barapullah_elevated_corridor.jpg?itok=psADdBUW)
Subarnarekha is dying. Who’s responsible?
Posted on 28 May, 2016 05:46 PMIt would not be an exaggeration to say Subarnarekha (Line of gold) is a film that left an indelible mark on Indian cinema. The film, by Ritwik Ghatak, is inspired by a river by the same name and narrates the reality around the river which flows through the present day Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha, before draining into the Bay of Bengal.
![India’s steel city dumps its waste into Subarnarekha, the river of gold](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/subarnarekha-mango.jpg?itok=A1X24JKt)
Two states, a canal and a river
Posted on 17 May, 2016 11:21 AM‘Jat’ reservation and the rampage on a canal
![Munak canal to check seepage losses along the Western Yamuna Canal and to augment its supply](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/munak-clc1.jpg?itok=zfYuvxf_)
A lac cooperative’s success story
Posted on 17 May, 2016 11:04 AMThe farmers of Jharkhand have long been depending on lac farming for their livelihood. Lac, a resin extensively used in preparation of a range of products - from cosmetics to ammunition - is cultivated on a variety of trees, mostly fruit-bearing and shady trees like Ber, Kusum, Palash and Sal.
![TRCSC promoting lac based products like bangles through training of over 200 women members of SHGs](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/bangles.jpg?itok=8daPJtaf)