/regions/political
Political
Coastal areas likely to be opened up for development
Posted on 24 Apr, 2018 11:54 AMEnvironment ministry issues draft Coastal Zone Regulation notification
![Fishers depend on the sea and the coast for their livelihoods.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/fishers_coast.jpg?itok=fr5ml3kc)
ACT one: Anti-dam, pro-people
Posted on 23 Apr, 2018 02:22 PMTenzing Lepcha, the lead activist of Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT), is proud of his work in the last year. “All this was overgrown,” he says pointing at the orderly farm.
![Tenzing Lepcha sits at the hearth of his farmstay. (Pic courtesy: Chicu)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/alternatives_cover.jpg?itok=lO_5M9QC)
Uttarakhand braces itself for dry days
Posted on 20 Apr, 2018 08:09 PMLokesh Verma, a farmer from Nainital’s Chanfi village, says this is the third year in a row that he is bearing losses in agriculture. “I have lost around Rs 2 lakh and there’s a debt of Rs 70,000 to pay off. I grow strawberries, guavas and peas in my 15 bighas of land, but there is not enough water in the hills to irrigate crops properly,” he says.
![Lokesh Verma at his farm. (Pic courtesy: 101Reporters)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/lokesh_verma_in_his_farm_in_chanfi_village_in_nainital_courtesy_101reporters.jpg?itok=6lLGQ0KW)
Treating sewage with plants
Posted on 17 Apr, 2018 04:56 PMA radical new method is fast emerging as an effective and sustainable solution to increasing pollution in urban lakes. Called floating treatment wetlands (FTW), they are artificial islands with plants that stay afloat on the lake. The plants clean the lake through hydroponics system, resulting in a cleaner, beautiful lake and an improved habitat for creatures that depend on it.
![Floating treatment wetland at Neknampur lake. (Pic courtesy: 101Reporters)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/ftw_in_neknampur_lake_1jpg.jpg?itok=w-cuqU_j)
NGT appointed team inspects Bengaluru lakes
Posted on 17 Apr, 2018 04:49 PMNational Green Tribunal forms commission to inspect Bengaluru lakes
![Bengaluru's infamous Bellandur Lake (Picture courtesy: Deccan Chronicle)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/bellandur-deccan_chronicle.jpeg?itok=Z03MYY1R)
Indian monsoon recovers after decades of decline
Posted on 17 Apr, 2018 02:08 PMAs the parched Indian subcontinent eagerly awaits the monsoon, all indications are that it will be a normal monsoon, especially since no El Niño is in the offing for 2018.
![Recovering rainfall is a good sign. (IWP Flickr photos)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/3223419462_426c128130_z.jpg?itok=E1TWhH67)
IMD predicts a normal monsoon
Posted on 17 Apr, 2018 12:03 PMIndia Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday forecast that the monsoon this year will be normal, with rainfall of 97 percent of the long period average (LPA) with an error of plus or minus five percent.
![A normal monsoon is good news for India's economy. (IWP Flickr photos)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/9319697485_dfcb31cdcc_z_0.jpg?itok=fyNlj0yV)
Cauvery water not very polluted, says study
Posted on 17 Apr, 2018 11:10 AMKSPCB says Cauvery water can be used for drinking after conventional treatment
![Cauvery river water falls under Category-C. (Picture courtesy: Deccan Chronicle)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/cauvery_water.jpeg?itok=CqcE57KZ)
Tourism increases black carbon in air
Posted on 16 Apr, 2018 03:25 PMIn a significant input for the growing debate on global climate change, a study by researchers at the Dehradun-based Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG) has found that there is a remarkable increase in the concentration of black carbon in the atmosphere near the pilgrim town of Gangotri in Uttarakhand during the two annual tourist seasons of April to June and during September and Octobe
![Black Carbon Monitoring Station at Chirbasa near Gangotari. (Photo credit : Dr P.S. Negi, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/black_carbon_monitoring_station.jpg?itok=MEB8Ao5L)
Tackling fluorosis by following Nalgonda's lead
Posted on 15 Apr, 2018 04:21 PMFluorosis continues to be a regional issue in Telangana to this day, even decades after the first cases were discovered in Nalgonda in 1937. More than three lakh people in the district are affected with skeletal and dental fluorosis, a stigma that has stuck for generations.
![Shifting to non-fluoride affected food and increased nutrients is necessary to deal with fluorosis (Image: Fluoride Knowledge and Action Network)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/nalgonda.jpg?itok=zw0lbNVz)