/topics/contamination-pollution-and-quality
Contamination, Pollution and Quality
Water warriors at work
Posted on 24 Aug, 2016 09:31 AMThe pitiful state of some of the water bodies in the country, coupled with the sheer apathy of the government, have forced some well-meaning citizens to come out of their comfort zones and make a difference. Some of these efforts, like the Puttenahalli lake in Bengaluru that is now overflowing with clean water, have been successful, while others are ongoing.
![Citizens of Udaipur get together to remove water hyacinth from the Pichhola lake.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/udaipur.jpg?itok=rqIe7sEd)
Encroachment behind Chennai floods: Panel
Posted on 21 Aug, 2016 08:36 PMEncroachment of lakes and riverbeds caused Chennai floods: Panel
![Rescue efforts during Chennai's floods. (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/23431905981_443a72901a_z_1.jpg?itok=FA3_adIr)
Staying afloat, one stepwell at a time
Posted on 19 Aug, 2016 01:09 PM"Jatene dekho utene bawri" (wherever you look, there’s a stepwell). This is how the woman standing on the threshold of her house, in the walled city of Jodhpur, told us when we asked where we could find stepwells in her neighbourhood.
![Toorji ka jhalra, one of the step ponds that attracts tourists in Jodhpur.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/_dsc0148.jpg?itok=4eDC2J_l)
UP unable to protect Yamuna, Taj Mahal: NGT
Posted on 08 Aug, 2016 11:37 PMNGT raps UP government over Yamuna's pollution near the Taj Mahal
![Yamuna river near the Taj Mahal. (Source: Ekabhishek via Wikipedia)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/taj_mahal_reflection_on_yamuna_river_agra.jpg?itok=-hUAdhMj)
Assam, Bihar reel under severe flood
Posted on 08 Aug, 2016 11:13 PMOne of the worst floods in Assam and Bihar
![Flood in Bihar. (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/2246719146_1b717bbdcf_z.jpg?itok=Nt9tLGWj)
Mines radiate disaster
Posted on 04 Aug, 2016 09:43 AMThe body of Guria Das looked like that of a three-year-old when she passed away at the age of 13. Guria was born in 1999 with a condition that constrained her growth. Her father, Chhatua Das recounts how Guria, unable to speak or move, communicated with him and his wife through gestures; a language that only the three of them could comprehend.
![Guria was born deformed. Her father Chhatua blames the radiation from indiscriminate uranium mining and the tailings ponds for her death.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/gudia_das.jpg?itok=czwWQHxJ)
Riverbed off limits, farmers fume
Posted on 01 Aug, 2016 08:23 PMChampa Devi has been working as a sharecropper on a two-acre farm at Nilothi village in west Delhi. Until a few years ago, the water she used for irrigation came from the Najafgarh drain that empties into the Yamuna river. This form of cultivation using waste water was a norm in the area till sometime ago.
![Thousands of farmers like Champa Devi (in pic) who were growing edible crops or doing fodder cultivation on the riverbed and its floodplains took the brunt of the court’s decision.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/champa-kewat_0.jpg?itok=ot4vx_ZF)
Thanks to dirty water, Indian children stunted
Posted on 30 Jul, 2016 11:39 PMIndia has largest number of stunted children in the world: Study
![Stunting in children highest in India. (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/9065795548_9bd67e75af_z.jpg?itok=g8iH93Xu)
When Godavari spews venom
Posted on 30 Jul, 2016 04:18 PMAccording to a report published by the Central Water Commission in 2015 on the status of trace and toxic metals in Indian rivers in the country, a large number of rivers in India are contaminated by heavy metals.
![Godavari river at Jayakwadi dam, Aurangabad (Source: Wikimedia Commons)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/birds_at_jayakwadi.jpg?itok=GugDi_d4)
Towards mission, clean Ganga
Posted on 25 Jul, 2016 08:50 AMIt is common knowledge that the river Ganga, considered sacred by millions of Hindus, is polluted. It is so polluted that some stretches of the river are unfit even for bathing, particularly during the lean seasons.
![Varanasi 'ghats' on the bank of Ganga river (Source: Wikipedia)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/varanasi_ghats_0.jpg?itok=QE4kZ_D2)