Biodiversity

Pashan lake, the pride of Pune, is dying! Water hyacinth continues to invade the lake and pollution levels in the lake are high, threatening its once rich biodiversity. How did this happen?

On January 13, 1957, the then Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru inaugurated the Hirakud dam, calling it the temple of modern India. It has submerged more than 360 villages (1,23,000 acres of land) and displaced 26,561 families.

The Western Ghats is one of the eight hotspots of biological diversity in the world and is spread across six states—Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The forests in the Western Ghats are the water towers of peninsular India.

India is a pioneer among developing countries in establishing a “green court” to deal with environment-related litigations. Established through an Act by the government of India, the National Green Tribunal (NGT), a quasi-judicial body has ensured speedy justice on several green cases.

PM Modi inaugurates the controversial Sardar Sarovar Project

Ousteri lake is the largest water body in the Puducherry region.

"The world has enough for everyone's needs, but not enough for everyone's greed”--Mahatma Gandhi 

In the afternoons these days, Basai wears a deserted look. Known as a bird’s delight and privileged by the protected status of a national park, the wetland is located just eight kilometres from Sultanpur bird sanctuary in Gurugram in Haryana. No birds can be spotted foraging the soil of the Basai wetland or its waters.

One of the tributaries of the Yamuna, the Ken, is a major river of the Bundelkhand region of central India and flows through two states, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. River Ken regulates groundwater recharge and provides vegetation found on its banks.

In our effort to make space for infrastructural developments, India's green cover is declining at an alarming rate. The overall mangrove cover in the country stands at 4,740 sq. km., which is 0.14 sq. km of India’s overall geographical area.