Biodiversity

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Featured Articles
October 17, 2023
Waterways can disrupt riverine ecosystems 
How does barge trafficking/movement affect the ecology and biodiversity of riverine ecosystems? A study explains.
River Hooghly at Kolkata (Image Source: Yercaud-elango via Wikimedia Commons)
May 20, 2023
Seeing the ‘unseen’: a spotlight on lesser known inhabitants of freshwater ecosystems
Freshwater biologists Sameer Padhye and Avinash Vanjare talk about smaller and lesser known animals that live in freshwater ecosystems and the importance of studying them. 
Freshwater ecosystems, under threat (Image Source: Biologia Life Science LLP)
January 25, 2023
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.
A view of the Veeranam lake in Tamil Nadu (Image Source: Giri9703 via Wikimedia Commons)
January 6, 2023
Greater Chennai Corporation to set up 'sponge parks' to prevent street flooding
News this fortnight
Natural spaces such as water bodies and vegetation in cities can act as sponges and absorb rain and prevent flooding (Image Source: IWP Flicker photos)
December 4, 2022
Small scale inland open water fisheries of India
What is the status of inland fisheries in India? Read these situational analysis reports to know about inland fisheries, the life of the fisherfolk, governance and tenure in inland fisheries and threats to the sustainability of inland fisheries.
Fishing in an irrigation canal in Kerala (Image Source: Martin Pilkinton via Wikimedia Commons)
August 2, 2022
Floods in Assam - a boon or a bane for fish diversity?
The frequency and intensity of floods is on the rise in Assam spelling doom for fish biodiversity.
Life during floods in Assam (Image Source: Kausika Bordoloi via Wikimedia Commons)
Delhi to amicably settle water dispute with Haryana
News this week
Seetha Gopalakrishnan
Posted on 05 Jun, 2018 07:14 AM

Delhi Jal Board decides to withdraw all cases against Haryana to amicably settle water dispute
The parched Yamuna (Photo courtesy: The Indian Express)
Thane creek flamingo sanctuary formally notified
Policy matters this week
Seetha Gopalakrishnan
Posted on 29 May, 2018 12:07 PM

Maharashtra government notifies Thane creek as flamingo sanctuary
Thane Creek hosts a variety of migratory birds. (Picture courtesy: The Indian Express)
Disappearing waters of The Himalayas
A photo exhibition focuses on the changing lifestyles of local communities in the Himalayas with changes in their environment.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 14 May, 2018 12:01 PM

Delhi’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
Anicuts affect Mahanadi's flow
While the three anicuts on the Mahanadi are hampering its free flow, another one is being planned by the government.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 26 Apr, 2018 01:02 PM

Gopal 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)
Environmentalists irked by draft CRZ notification
News this week
Seetha Gopalakrishnan
Posted on 24 Apr, 2018 12:17 PM

Environmentalists fear new CRZ rules will favour infrastructure over coastal ecosystems
Coastal areas might be opened up for ecotourism and infrastructure development.
Coastal areas likely to be opened up for development
Policy matters this week
Seetha Gopalakrishnan
Posted on 24 Apr, 2018 11:54 AM

Environment ministry issues draft Coastal Zone Regulation notification
Fishers depend on the sea and the coast for their livelihoods.
Power play chokes Korba
The video tells the story of residents of Korba and nearby villages who are affected by the fly ash from power plants which makes Korba the fifth critically polluted area in the country.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 11 Apr, 2018 02:05 PM

Korba 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.
Mangar Bani: NCR's green patch calls for help
With the threat of urbanisation looming large, the sacred grove of Mangar Bani begs for attention.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 27 Mar, 2018 02:39 PM

According 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)
Centre fails to see the wood for the trees
The latest FSI report says India is getting greener. A closer look at the story behind the numbers says otherwise.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 13 Mar, 2018 03:38 PM

As 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)
Arsenic-affected village gets water after two decades
Kaudikasa village’s two decades of struggle with arsenic contamination in drinking water ends with a new government scheme.
Makarand Purohit
Posted on 12 Mar, 2018 05:41 AM

Kaudikasa 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.
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