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News and Articles
Planetary consequences of the mismanagement of land resources
Posted on 26 May, 2022 09:13 AMUnited Nations Convention to Combat Desertification's (UNCCD) evidence-based flagship Global Land Outlook 2 (GLO2) report states that “as food prices soar amid rapid climate and other planetary changes, “crisis footing” needed to conserve, restore and use land sustainably.” The report is the most comprehensive consolidation of information on the topic ever assembled.
![Every country can design and implement a tailored land restoration agenda to meet their development needs. (Image: PxHere)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/2022-05/land.jpg?itok=MB5heNmv)
Non pesticide management – a viable alternative
Posted on 25 May, 2022 11:27 PMA recent study ‘Impact of large-scale, government legislated and funded organic farming training on pesticide use in Andhra Pradesh, India: a cross-sectional study’ assessed the impact of the Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming (APCNF) programme.
![The APCNF policy promotes zero synthetic chemical inputs (Image: Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming Facebook Page)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/2022-05/ap.jpg?itok=P5KC7EPr)
One water, one data
Posted on 25 May, 2022 02:58 PMAny large-scale water security program by the government needs two things: [i] continuous data - given the dynamic nature of water - its annual replenishment depends on how much rainfall occurs and what farmers decide to grow in that agricultural cycle; and [ii] people who understand this data and continue to maintain the implementation post-intervention.
![Participatory programs such as JJM require a large amount of village-level information on water (Image: Arpit Deomurar, FES)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/2022-05/lead.jpg?itok=uScEju-Z)
Transparent urban river pollution monitoring
Posted on 25 May, 2022 09:33 AMUnprecedented expansion and anthropic activities amongst other reasons lead to choking of urban rivers with municipal and industrial sewage. Around 63% of the total 62 million litres/ day generated sewage is dumped in Indian urban rivers without treatment, as per a Central Pollution Control Board report submitted to National Green Tribunal, India.
![Ulhas river near Khandpe village (Image: Ganesh Dhamodkar, Wikimedia Commons)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/2022-05/ulhas.jpg?itok=pCX0_0Ck)
Droughts reduce India's GDP by 5 percent in twenty years
Posted on 24 May, 2022 08:37 PMDroughts reduced India’s gross domestic product by 2-5 per cent over 20 years from 1998-2017: Report
![India, vulnerable to droughts (Image: Pixabay; hbieser)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/2022-05/drought.jpg?itok=pzSvRMKk)
Pond water reuse from a circular economy perspective
Posted on 24 May, 2022 08:06 PMPonds are increasingly getting polluted mainly due to the discharge of wastewater from residential areas, sewage outlets, solid waste dump sites, livestock rearing sites (e.g., dairy, poultry), and fertilizers and pesticides from farmers’ fields.
![Wastewater generated from households in the catchment area of a pond contaminates its waters (Image: Wikimedia Commons)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/2022-05/heavy%20metal.jpg?itok=NORc-_QL)
Ministry weakens protections against coal mine expansion
Posted on 24 May, 2022 08:02 PMMinistry weakens protections against mine expansion using coal shortage excuse
![Work in progress in coal mines in Jharsuguda (Image Source: Makarand Purohit)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/2022-05/Coal%20mining%20Odisha.jpg?itok=eOfnbEUW)
Bamboo stick handwashing station
Posted on 19 May, 2022 10:38 AMSafe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) are the essential components to lead a healthy life. Correct, consistent, and continuous practices of WASH behavior, particularly hand hygiene can help prevent infections and spread of diseases.
![Handwashing, to prevent waterborne diseases (Image Source: Biswarup Ganguly via Wikimedia Commons)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/2022-05/Washing_1.jpg?itok=UUSzGBjc)
Enabling better water governance
Posted on 18 May, 2022 02:41 PMWhen UNICEF brought borewell rigs to India in early 1970s to help deal with water shortage, little did we know that it would become a tool for privatising the groundwater in the decades to come. Today, this practice of treating groundwater as a private resource has led to over-exploitation and an increase in mineral contamination as we drill into deeper aquifers in search of water.
![Rice farmer irrigating from a shallow well to complement irrigation water from the Nagarjuna irrigation scheme in Krishna river basin, Andhra Pradesh (Image: François Molle, Water Alternatives)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/2022-05/groundwater.jpg?itok=1Cm3Wikx)
Stained and smiling
Posted on 12 May, 2022 12:03 PMIn the scorching heat, villagers stood with glasses of water in their hands and smiles on their faces in an eagerness to offer all that they had with utmost kindness to bring comfort to people on a hot summer day, oblivious to the quality of water they were offering.
![Stains, irregularities, and pits are common manifestations of dental fluorosis. (Image: Sehgal Foundation)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/2022-05/Dental-Fluorosis.jpg?itok=N4gkiZPd)