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Biodiversity
Disappearing waters of The Himalayas
Posted on 14 May, 2018 12:01 PMDelhi’s Jor Bagh metro station is the site of an ongoing photographic exhibition with thought-provoking images and narratives exploring escalating water crises Indian and Nepal Himalayas face.
![The photograph titled 'Nainital: Changing landscape in the Himalayas'. Image: Toby Smith, Pani-Pahar series](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/lead-pani-pahar.jpg?itok=FH-Uggvg)
Anicuts affect Mahanadi's flow
Posted on 26 Apr, 2018 01:02 PMGopal Nishad, a fisherman in his early 40s, is frustrated that there is hardly any fish left in the Mahanadi’s basin at Pitaibandh due to the lack of water in the basin. This basin is located near Rajim-Nawapara in Chhattisgarh, the proposed site for the fourth anicut on the Mahanadi.
![Anicut on the Mahanadi basin at Rajim-Nawapara (Source: India Water Portal)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/41425163831_0d3d44336d_o.jpg?itok=6SrFogy4)
Environmentalists irked by draft CRZ notification
Posted on 24 Apr, 2018 12:17 PMEnvironmentalists fear new CRZ rules will favour infrastructure over coastal ecosystems
![Coastal areas might be opened up for ecotourism and infrastructure development.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/ennore_creek_-_fish_boats.jpg?itok=gQUtQ_Sd)
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)
Power play chokes Korba
Posted on 11 Apr, 2018 02:05 PMKorba in Chhattisgarh is an industrial area which has a significant number of coal mines and thermal power plants. Fly ash is a byproduct of the thermal power plants and has become a significant problem for the residents of Korba now.
![Fly-ash dust at CSEB thermal power plant in Korba.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/9370438100_3a1eff0088_z.jpg?itok=MziXG-X2)
Mangar Bani: NCR's green patch calls for help
Posted on 27 Mar, 2018 02:39 PMAccording to the local legend, Mangar Bani, a green patch between Faridabad and Gurgaon, was home to a Baba (a holy man), Gudariya Das Maharaj around 500 years ago. Popular among the local Gujjar herdsmen, the dominant community of the area, the Baba asked them to treat this forest as a sacred grove, the forested abode of a local deity.
![Mangar Bani, with its trees, plants, birds and animals, is an ecological hotspot but it is finding it hard to keep builders and land grabbers at bay. (Image: Pradip Krishen, Facebook)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/mangar-bani-pradip-krishen-facebook.jpg?itok=Es_PNvwy)
Centre fails to see the wood for the trees
Posted on 13 Mar, 2018 03:38 PMAs per the biennial State of Forest Report (SFR) 2017 by the Forest Survey of India (FSI), the total forest and tree cover in India increased during the period 2015 to 2017 by 0.94 percent. The increase in the forest cover has been of the order of 6,778 sq km and that of tree cover was about 1,243 sq km.
![India’s forest cover stands at 21.54 percent while its dense forest cover is about 12.26 percent, as per the State of Forest Report, 2017. (Image: Tridib Choudhury, Wikimedia commons, CC BY SA-4.0)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/tridib-chowdhary.jpg?itok=uUHAvbIr)
Arsenic-affected village gets water after two decades
Posted on 12 Mar, 2018 05:41 AMKaudikasa is a small village with a population of just 350 people in the Ambagad Chowki block of the Rajnandgaon district in Chhattisgarh. Despite its small size, Kaudikasa village has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Severe health problems have been reported from the village, thanks to acute arsenic contamination in its groundwater.
![Yuvraj Singh, a former sarpanch of Kaudikasa near the tube well reported to have the highest level of arsenic contamination.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/38815330440_fb9d5c937f_z.jpg?itok=vO6sXoDQ)
Islands float on Delhi lake
Posted on 08 Mar, 2018 06:09 AMLocated in the Hauz Khas urban village in the busy metropolis of Delhi is an exquisitely landscaped lush green patch. This deer park, with spotted deer, peacocks and numerous birds, leads to an incredibly beautiful lake. As per a plaque at the site, the lake is a part of the medieval (13th century) city of Delhi Sultanate.
![Phytoremediation principle is used to convert Hauz Khas lake into a water purifying wetland ecosystem. (Image: Tarun Nanda)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/lead-evolve.jpg?itok=7W7CAm0W)
Hot springs harbour microbial diversity
Posted on 28 Feb, 2018 08:31 PMMicroorganisms can be found in almost every habitat in the environment owing to their capacity to adapt and to survive. Some of them can withstand extremely hot environments such as natural hot springs. Studying such organisms can help in understanding not just why they are so hardy but may also yield new and useful chemicals.
![The team of scientists from the National Collection of Industrial Microorganisms (NCIM) who are conducting the study at the National Chemical Laboratory, Pune. (Pic courtesy: ISW)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/ncl_dharne_grp.jpg?itok=crE1sfmN)