/regions/west-bengal
West Bengal
Farakka faces a barrage of criticism
Posted on 27 Aug, 2016 08:25 AMThe chief minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, called for the decommissioning of the Farakka barrage recently.
![The lower Ganga, just upstream of Farakka, displays bank-cutting and erosion.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/ganga_bank_cutting.jpg?itok=EwgV6iYP)
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)
Community effort saves mangroves
Posted on 04 Aug, 2016 09:52 AMCome monsoon, the villages in the Sundarbans islands witness nature’s fury with floodwaters overriding all boundaries and inundating huge tracts of land. As such, the earthen embankments, stretching to 3600 kms on the 54 inhabited islands out of a total of 102 in the Sundarbans, protect scores of people from floods and tidal waves.
![Mangroves of Sundarbans. (Source: Nature Environment & Wildlife Society - NEWS)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/plantation_sites.jpg?itok=2lWryLUA)
NGT gets strict over notification of wetlands
Posted on 30 Jul, 2016 11:53 PMNGT orders CWRA to meet every month for identification of wetlands
![A wetland in Assam. (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/11799415546_e40abe974f_z.jpg?itok=3N3TBXXj)
Ganga revival projects launched
Posted on 09 Jul, 2016 10:36 PMCentre launches 231 projects under Namami Gange
![Ganga river at Gadmukteshwar (Source: IWP Flickr Photo)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/6172024170_3151074271_z_1_3.jpg?itok=oIi2_DU0)
Kolkata's ponds on shaky ground
Posted on 01 Jun, 2016 09:38 PMUrban water bodies have an important role in the urban ecology. It is not just a source or water collected somewhere but is an integral part of life--a haven for different types of trees, insects, birds and small animals.
![College Square tank or Gol Dighi, one of the very old ponds in Kolkata](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/ponds.jpg?itok=5mDoyL8u)
Calculating the water footprint of buildings
Posted on 02 Apr, 2016 05:43 PMConstruction industry is a booming industry, with the real estate sector contributing heavily towards the country’s GDP.
![What is the water footprint of a building (Source: Wikipedia)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/ishtika_house_construction_-_saradas.jpg?itok=6EsebMMQ)
Rajya Sabha approves the National Waterways Bill 2015
Posted on 15 Mar, 2016 12:27 PMRajya Sabha gives a go ahead to the National Waterways Bill
![Navigating rivers through simple boats (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/6171495205_eb1660c853_z.jpg?itok=5IO5YWjM)
The new Indian middle class and water use in Calcutta
Posted on 27 Feb, 2016 01:54 PMAn ever expanding middle class has come to symbolise a new India which is changing individual and household consumption patterns by accessing resources and technologies beyond their availabilities.
![Water use in urban cities (Source: Wikimedia Commons)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/water_1_7.jpg?itok=e1vbDrJ-)
Centre provides relief fund to drought and flood-hit states
Posted on 05 Jan, 2016 11:19 AMRelief assistance to drought-hit Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and flood-hit West Bengal
![Drought affected area in Karnataka (Source: Pushkarv via Wikipedia)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/drought_affected_area_in_karnataka_india_2012_0_0.jpg?itok=HexPDKea)