/topics/ecology-and-environment
Ecology and Environment
Election update: Its hills vs plains in Manipur
Posted on 04 Mar, 2017 05:33 PMThe key issue in the Manipur Assembly election is the ongoing economic blockade in the state, which, in turn, is attributed to the present government’s decision to
![A Manipuri family. (Source: Coffee Table Book, Government of Manipur)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/manipuri-smile-gom.jpg?itok=sdrnIfcQ)
When money grows on trees
Posted on 27 Feb, 2017 10:57 AMNature is the source of much value to us every day. Yet it mostly bypasses markets, escapes pricing and defies valuation.
![At the watershed level, the valuation of forests may help design user pay schemes.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/8687224359_160de5fb9a_b.jpg?itok=F6JF6udw)
Maharashtra goes Doha for water
Posted on 22 Feb, 2017 12:02 PMThere was a time when the farmers of Yavatmal district depended completely on rainfed agriculture. That was before the introduction of Doha, a water harvesting structure by NGO Dilasa Sansthan in 2014. Farming changed drastically after that, something which Sitaram Kove, a 40-year-old farmer of Rajini village in the district, will vouch for.
![A Doha canal at Rajini village. (Source:Dilasa)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/32946607735_41d5bf934b_z.jpg?itok=OpbC7zxH)
‘We have more hardy, nutritious grains than GM can offer’
Posted on 16 Feb, 2017 05:59 PMFarming can’t be sustainable without the seeds which are best suited to the location, water availability, soil type and weather. According to records, there were 1.10 lakh varieties of rice in India till 1965. After that, the Green Revolution happened, which pushed for hybrid varieties.
![At his farm in Odisha, Deb conserves 1,200 traditional varieties of rice.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/rice_1.jpg?itok=p7pUHDnD)
A watered-down scheme
Posted on 16 Feb, 2017 12:25 PMIn November 2011, the government of Madhya Pradesh sanctioned Rs 493 crore to 37 Urban Local Bodies (ULB) for drinking water supply projects under the Chief Minister’s Urban Drinking Water Supply Scheme (CMUWSS) along the lines of the Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT).
![Source:India Water Portal](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/himachal_photos_032tps.jpg?itok=TFsAaZcI)
Telangana’s groundwater crisis
Posted on 15 Feb, 2017 06:50 PMAccording to the data released by the Food and Agricultural Organisation’s AQUASTAT in 2010, at 250 billion m³ per year, India is one of the countries that uses groundwater the most. As high as 80 percent of its water is used for irrigation of which 65 percent is groundwater.
![Declining groundwater levels and the impending crisis. (Source: India Water Portal)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/pgwm.jpg?itok=0JJAc34W)
Public money wasted in the name of Ganga revival: NGT
Posted on 13 Feb, 2017 09:47 PMNGT blames Centre for wasting public money in the name of Ganga clean-up
![Polythene bags and solid waste left behind the Ganga river in Allahabad. (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/2934020101_75f5ac9828_z.jpg?itok=89hR5Glb)
Budget for water ministry increased
Posted on 06 Feb, 2017 08:19 PMBudget up by 11 and 19 percent for water and environment ministries respectively
![Budget 2017 (Source: Sourabh Phadke via IWP Flickr Photos)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/8357660968_c5df439beb_o_0.jpg?itok=sF8-oUYn)
Wetlands in Uttarakhand degraded: WWF
Posted on 06 Feb, 2017 08:02 PMNegligence behind the degradation of Uttarakhand wetlands: WWF
![Renuka lake in Uttarakhand. (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/wetland_2_0.jpg?itok=evXcGGPo)
Chennai coast chokes on oil
Posted on 06 Feb, 2017 12:05 PMDisaster struck two nautical miles off Ennore’s Kamarajar port just before dawn on January 28 when two cargo ships--LPG tanker BW Maple bearing the flag of the UK’s Isle of Man and MT Dawn Kanchipuram loaded to the brim with petroleum oil and lubricants--collided due to poor inter-vessel communicatio
![Oil sludge being manually removed from the rocky coast. (Image courtesy: The Indian Express)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/india-oil-spill-1_0.jpg?itok=FTfsU4h0)