Northern Plains

Environmentalist Robert Swan, the first person to walk the North and South Pole, was in Delhi last year. He launched phase IV of Project Search, which aimed to promote environmental awareness and sustainable lifestyles among students. Swan noted that not many Delhiites scored highly on topics of environmental awareness.

Bottled drinks are commonplace and we often reach for them without a thought. We may even feel good about our purchase as we read about the companies' commitment to water security' printed on the label. 

What does 'being water positive' really mean for the villages where manufacturing plants are situated ? This article examines the case of one such plant in Mehdiganj, PO Benipur, Arajiline block, Dist Varanasi and its effect on the groundwater levels in the area. The village has led an agitation against 4 specific negative impacts of the plant, acheiving moderate but measurable success.

This year, the movement comes to a crisis point as despite a warning by the Central Groundwater Development Board, the plant applies for a four-fold expansion.  

Source of video: thenitindas

Guest post: Amita Bhaduri

West Delhi’s dusty neighbourhood, Shadi Khampur now has its own museum, in the traditional brick-and-mortar sense. I live nearby, have worked out of an office here and am familiar with the alleyways. But I got to know only now, what life in the neighbourhood was like. Its rich history and its connect to larger narratives from the past, like the series of land acquisitions in Delhi, the Emergency, and the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 which had gone largely undocumented and unarchived have been chronicled in the Neighbourhood Museum of Local History of Shadi Khampur, at Studio Safdar, a cafe cum bookstore.

Neighbourhood Museum at Studio Safdar

Source: Facebook page on “Public Art Project at Studio Safdar”

This article in Economic and Political Weekly,  by analysing various budget documents, attempts to capture the quantum of budgetary outlay for Water and Sanitation Services (WSS) in the slums of Bawana and Bhalaswa in Delhi. Further it captures various systemic weaknesses that impede the effective delivery of WSS in these two slum areas. 

 The second edition of the book came out in 2008 just after the devastating Bihar floods in the year when the river thundered down from the Himalayas on its way to the sea sweeping half of Bihar.

The main sources of groundwater contamination are industrial, municipal and agricultural wastes (both solid and liquid), rocks, sludge and slimes, refuse, pesticides, herbicides, effluents from livestock and poultry farms. Many pollutants are even able to penetrate into groundwater aquifers.

The river has attained the distinction of being perhaps the river attracting the most judicial attention in india, after the Ganga. This report analyses the various laws and judicial decisions pertaining to the Yamuna and their effects on the river.

It aims to inform, enlighten and suggest solutions to bring back the river Yamuna to a healthy and resilient state. 

Following media reports about arsenic contamination in Ballia, and a complaint addressed by the people of Ballia to the Ministry of Rural Development, a National Level Monitor was requested to enquire into the issue of water quality.