Rajasthan

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Is it worth the salt?
Unregulated salt production near Sambhar lake is not just causing health problems among salt workers, it is also depleting groundwater and ruining the ecosystem of the wetland. Posted on 12 Dec, 2017 12:22 PM

The fields are silvery white with raw salt crusts in the vicinity of Nawa, a small town on the northwestern banks of Sambhar lake, India’s largest inland lake. Nawa lies about 90 kilometres east of Jaipur. Also an extensive saline wetland and a Ramsar site, the blinding white salt flats stretch as far as one can see.

Ramachander Singh, a salt worker who has been raking salt for decades now at this salt pan or kyari dotting the lake bed of Sambhar, Rajasthan.
For a better Bandi
Mahaveer Singh Sukarlai was awarded the Bhagirath Prayas Samman at the India Rivers Day 2017 for his valiant effort to safeguard the integrity of the Bandi river in Pali. Posted on 01 Dec, 2017 05:12 PM

A seasonal river in Pali, Rajasthan, the Bandi is nothing short of a sewer. The textile town has witnessed rampant industrial growth, raw sewage discharges and toxic contamination of its waters. The river, which is devoid of lean season flow, is polluted up to 55 km downstream. The river water is unfit for drinking as well as irrigation.

Mahaveer Singh Sukarlai speaks at the India Rivers Day.
Solar mamas to light up their homes
A Rajasthan institute trains women from inaccessible villages of poor countries to make their villages solar energy efficient. Posted on 20 Nov, 2017 11:19 AM

In her mid-30s, Lino Lameko works as an assistant at the office of the national women’s council in Funafuti, the capital of Tuvalu. She has come all the way from the Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean to Tilonia, a small village located in Ajmer in Rajasthan to become a “barefoot solar engineer”.

Over 1000 women from all over the world have come to Barefoot College to become barefoot solar engineers. (Image: Barefoot College)
Salt and sweet: When sun turned saline water potable
A Rajasthan village gets to drink sweetwater despite high salinity in its groundwater, thanks to a solar-powered desalination unit. Posted on 18 Oct, 2017 07:08 PM

Solawata, a small village in Jaipur district is barely 10 kilometers away from Sambhar, India's largest saline lake which is a major centre of salt production that produces about two lakh tonnes of salt a year. On our way to the village from Sambhar, we see caravans packed with bright coloured camel saddles parked on the road.

Villagers operate the solar-powered reverse osmosis desalination plant that provides safe drinking water to the community at Solawata.
World Culture Festival: New panel contradicts report
Policy matters this week Posted on 01 Aug, 2017 02:19 PM

No compaction of soil on the World Culture Festival site: New panel to NGT

Front view of the giant stage under construction for the World Culture Festival. (Source: Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan)
Maharashtra wetlands face threat
News this week Posted on 01 Aug, 2017 01:49 PM

Illegal slums on Maharashtra mudflats cause loss to state

Sewri mudflts in Mumbai (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Playing the soil health card
Is the soil health card scheme introduced to improve the economic condition of the farmers by bettering the health of the soil effective? Posted on 01 Aug, 2017 11:49 AM

Decades of skating over environmental concerns have clearly cost us dear. The folly of pursuing better crop yields using chemical fertilisers in an indiscriminate manner has been surfacing lately. “Decades of agricultural abuse using fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides have taken its toll on us.

The electrical conductivity of a diluted soil sample is being tested as a measure of soil salinity. (Image:CSIRO, Wikimedia Commons; CC Attribution 3.0 Unported)
Maharashtra mandates drip irrigation for sugarcane
Policy matters this week Posted on 25 Jul, 2017 04:32 PM

Maharashtra cabinet decides on drip irrigation for sugarcane cultivation 

A sugarcane farm (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Seed of doubt
While several studies confirm that GM crops can have serious impact on the safety of both humans and environment, the government is going ahead with GM mustard. Posted on 21 Jun, 2017 05:30 PM

Signs of mustard aphid, a key pest of the mustard crop appeared predictably in November last year in Dinesh’s farm. Drifting across the open green fields, it landed on the tender leaves of the mustard crop. “It sets in November during the flowering and pod bearing stage of the crop and lasts till January.

Opposition to GM mustard intensifies in India. (Image: Swadeshi Kheti)
Centre asks states to prepare for monsoon failure
Policy matters this week Posted on 16 May, 2017 10:20 AM

Centre urges states to gear up for possible monsoon failure

A community well (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
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