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Participatory development needed for eco-sensitive Himalayan region
A comprehensive review of the many development projects in the planning and early implementation stages needs to be done Posted on 31 Jan, 2023 02:38 PM

The residents of Joshimath in Uttarakhand are coming out in protest. Land subsidence in the region has put their lives, houses, and town at risk and impacted the surrounding land. As part of the relief efforts, at-risk families are being shifted to temporary relief centres, and work is underway on building transition centres, where they can stay till a long-term solution can be worked out.

Need to declare Himalayas as an eco-sensitive zone (Image: Bibek Raj Pandeya, Wikimedia Commons)
Heavy metals poison Veeranam lake in Tamil Nadu
This study found large deposits of heavy metals in the tissues and organs of water birds, crabs and fish inhabiting the lake indicating heavy metal contamination of the lake waters. Posted on 25 Jan, 2023 02:26 PM

Wetlands in India, under threat!

A view of the Veeranam lake in Tamil Nadu (Image Source: Giri9703 via Wikimedia Commons)
Blue-green infrastructure solutions for resilient cities
A 10-city study on the impacts of urbanization on natural infrastructure in India Posted on 23 Jan, 2023 06:57 PM

Urban development in all forms impacts the natural landscape, changing vegetation cover, infiltration rates and hydrological (surface and sub-surface) flows. With increasing urbanization urban areas lose a host of natural infrastructure and ecosystem services as ecosystems are modified, degraded and/ or shrunk.

Study indicates that blue-green spaces in core-city and peripheral areas are differentially impacted by the growing urban footprint (Image: Emmanuel Dyan)
Can rice residues be turned into wealth?
Institutional support, monetary and proper implementation of laws along with policy framework can solve this issue, says a state-of-the-art review in crop residue burning in India Posted on 22 Jan, 2023 11:26 AM

Sustainable management of surplus paddy residue in the Indo-Gangetic plain is a back-breaking task for farmers due to lack of viable options. Eventually, farmers prefer to incinerate it mindlessly.

A controlled burn on long-term conservation agriculture trials (Image: CIMMYT)
Preventing floods through grassland conservation
This study found that replacing natural grasslands and forests by exotic species increased the likelihood of flooding during extreme rainfall events in the Nilgiris. Posted on 21 Jan, 2023 02:54 PM

Erratic rainfall patterns and the risk of floods in mountain landscapes

Grasslands interspersed with pockets of montane Shola forests in the Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu (Image Source: Anand Osuri via Wikimedia Commons)
Local recycling of moisture via wetlands and forests high in North-East India
Floods in Brahmaputra greatly increases the surficial water availability in low lying floodplains and wetlands, promoting enhanced recycling via evaporation. Posted on 21 Jan, 2023 09:49 AM

North-East India, home to the wettest place on the planet (Mawsynram), is a major biodiversity hotspot.

The region with its vast wetlands and forest cover is akin to the Amazon (Image: Ashwin Kumar, Wikimedia Commons)
How to save Joshimath?
The sinking town points to the climate change risks faced in vulnerable areas such as the Himalayas Posted on 17 Jan, 2023 01:12 PM

On January 7, 2023 Joshimath city in Uttarakhand was declared a land subsidence zone. About 60 families have been moved to temporary relief centers from their houses that have become unlivable. Another 90 families are yet to be shifted to safer places. Joshimath city has a total of 4500 buildings out of which 610 have suffered major cracks.

Warnings were being given for some decades that Joshimath would sink one day (Image: Vaibhav, Wikimedia Commons)
Creating a pool of water quality trainers at scale
Developing core skills of trainers through the Trainer Certification Program Posted on 11 Jan, 2023 10:52 AM

According to the Global Water Quality Index, India ranks 120th out of 122 countries in water quality, its ability and commitment to improving it.

Strengthening skills of participants to impart training in their respective work areas (Image: INREM Foundation)
Building communities of practice on water quality
Water Quality Practitioners from across the country connect every week to discuss water quality issues and ground level challenges, explore possible solutions through the Guided Mentoring programme on Water Quality. Posted on 09 Jan, 2023 01:50 PM

Healing traditions in India have withstood the test of time. Not many of us need to be taught to mix a pinch of haldi in a glass of milk to cope with sore throat, now famously known as turmeric latte, or to add a pinch of dry ginger to our tea when we catch a cold.

Snapshot of a Guided Mentoring session being conducted virtually on Zoom Platform (Source: INREM Foundation)
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