/topics/ecology-and-environment
Ecology and Environment
Irumbuliyur Lake explains sudden floods in Chennai
Posted on 17 Dec, 2015 02:51 PMThe December 2015 rains in Tamil Nadu caused Chennai and its adjoining areas to be suddenly flooded. Huge portions of residential areas and roads were inundated for long periods of time. The rivers too flooded in an unprecedented manner, causing human loss and property damage to individuals, state and corporates.
![Irumbuliyur lake outlet from where entire rain water is expected to be drained (Source: P Sakthivel)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/irumbuliyur_lake_outlet_kalingu_0.jpg?itok=CCgtkvcP)
The importance of women in natural resources management
Posted on 16 Dec, 2015 12:40 PMAlthough the state of Uttarakhand is rich in water and forest resources, its watersheds are under threat of wasting and erosion due to decreased forest cover, faulty agricultural practices, hydrologic imbalances and natural calamities. The growing population is further increasing the pressure on natural resources.
![Hill women and natural resources management (Source: India Water Portal)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/men_women_and_mountains.jpg?itok=77M_gTlx)
A thousand streams spring back
Posted on 15 Dec, 2015 12:58 PMGovind Ram has seen the worst and best that man can do to nature.
![A view of Sahastradhara region from the ropeway (Source: Dr Umesh Behari Mathur/ Flickr)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/8541717855_a6f0d5fd51_b.jpg?itok=rqEk-lnS)
Ultratech Cement mines limestone (and villagers) in Chhattisgarh
Posted on 13 Dec, 2015 03:38 PMParaswani village in Balodabazar district, Chhattisgarh contains vast reserves of limestone, a sedimentary rock that is a primary ingredient in the cement manufacturing process. Since 1992, Ultratech Cement Ltd. (UTCL) followed by four other similar companies, have begun excavating this rock within a 30 km radius of the village.
![A view of the Ulratech Cement factory from Paraswani](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/23242374375_229a4cd22e_z.jpg?itok=ZzRNLvKM)
Choppy waters and a calm river voyager
Posted on 06 Dec, 2015 12:31 PMThe epic voyage--Nadisutra--along the Ganga may have been the high point of Emmanuel Theophilus’s recent work, but there have been many more peaks and valleys for this fervent mountaineer cum ecologist. Theo lives in a remote village near Munsiyari in Uttarakhand.
![Theophilus being awarded the ' Bhagirath Prayas Samman' (Source: Kush Sethi)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/theo_0.jpg?itok=mpGyg-J1)
Water vending machines: How equitable are they?
Posted on 05 Dec, 2015 02:34 PMA water ATM, as the name implies, is a sort of a water vending machine similar to bank ATMs except that in a water ATM, money goes in to the machine in return for water. These machines, which run on a cash as well as a prepaid card or smart card system are built, owned and operated by private companies that have rights over public resources such as land and water.
![Water vending machines at work (Source:Sarvajal)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/girls_getting_water_from_atm.jpg?itok=K9iRQ_Ri)
Springs are more than just a source of water for humans
Posted on 02 Dec, 2015 09:04 PM"If you do good work on the ground, policy will happen", says Himanshu Kulkarni of ACWADAM. This has proven to be in true at least in the case of springs.
![Springs not only provide humans with water but anchor entire ecosystems.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/banethi_spring.jpg?itok=HtPq6KL-)
Undisposed toxic waste still haunts Bhopal’s groundwater
Posted on 02 Dec, 2015 03:06 PM“When cool air blows over the city and it rains in Bhopal bringing welcome respite to its people, I fear that toxic waste is spilling into its groundwater”, says Rajesh Kumar who shows me around the 68-acre plant site of Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL).
![A poem that describes how the city was left destroyed is written on a wall near a memorial for those killed & disabled by the Bhopal gas tragedy, 1984](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/memorial.jpg?itok=J53qD4BG)
Mainstreaming India’s water and climate concerns: Reflections before COP-21
Posted on 28 Nov, 2015 12:07 PM“Climate Change has taken on political dimensions, that’s odd because I don’t see people choosing sides over E=mc2 or other fundamental facts of science!” - Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist
![INDCs will take centre stage at COP 21-UN Climate Change conference in Paris (Source: France Bleu)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/x948x533_870x489_cop-paris-perspective-cropped.png.pagespeed.ic_.qw1uhfqt2w.png?itok=2XhSqYzC)