Ecology and Environment

This book by NAAS and ICAR builds-on and integrates work done by different institutes of the ICAR and the Department of Space in the area of degraded and wastelands in India. NRSA had already published the state level and country level information earlier. In addition, the nature and causes of the land degradation, and the degree and extent of damaged lands needed to be determined, so that appropriate management strategies could be designed and implemented in a defined time-frame to bring these lands to ‘productive health’. 

These "Guidelines for Assessing the Risk to Groundwater from On–Site Sanitation (ARGOSS)" were developed to provide guidance on how to assess and reduce the risk of contamination of groundwater supplies from on–site sanitation systems and are aimed at those responsible for planning low cost water supply and sanitation schemes. The manual developed by the British Geological Survey has been field tested between 1999 and 2003.   

This report prepared by the Indian Network for Climate Change Assessment (INCCA) provides an assessment of impact of climate change in 2030s on four key sectors of the Indian economy, namely agriculture, water, natural ecosystems & biodiversity and health in four climate sensitive regions of India, namely the Himalayan region, the Western Ghats, the Coastal Area and the North-East Region. This is the for the first time that such a comprehensive, long term assessment has been undertaken based on rigorous scientific analysis for the 2030s (all previous assessments were for the 2070s and beyond). 

The Ministry of Environment and Forests today notified the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010. These Rules have been drafted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests to ensure better conservation and management and to prevent degradation of existing wetlands in India.

The report by Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses is premised on the fact that India is facing a serious water resource problem and is expected to become 'water stressed' by 2025 and 'water scarce' by 2050. It raises fundamental questions about the forces driving water demand and the political dynamics of riparian relations, both in terms of hindrances and opportunities, amongst states in the subcontinent. Rivers, a crucial source of water resources, physically link upstream and downstream users and at the same time create barriers.

Lake Tahoe, seen here from Emerald Bay, was one of the primary validation sites for the global lake study. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The Peer Water Exchange (PWX) was awarded the 2010 Intel Environment Award today. PWX, a project of Blue Planet Network, is a combination of process, technology platform, and people designed to unlock the global capacity and creativity of individuals, philanthropies, businesses and implementers to solve the global safe drinking water and sanitation crises.

The Mizoram state has three types of (natural) lakes: valley lakes, tectonic/landslide lakes and artificial reservoirs, but the only lake of significance is Palak Dil, which is a natural lake in a depression in the hills. Palak Dil may possibly be a combination of valley and tectonic lakes. Locally in Mizoram, lakes are called dils. There are many such dils scattered all over the state, but they are tiny pools or marshy depressions such as Rengdil, Tamdil and Mampui Dil (Choudhury 2002). The Palak Lake is situated within the Mara Autonomous district Council, which is a region inhabited by the Mara Tribe. The Maras are distinct from the majority Mizos and in the Mara language the Palak Lake is referred to as Pala Tipa.

Sanitation/Wastewater

• India tops the list of nations lacking toilets
• India hunts for a Rural Toilet Design, 1000 Euros up for grabs
• 82% of rural India deprived of three basic necessities of life — tapped drinking water, electricity connection and sanitation
• There are 700 million cell phone connections in India, but only half this number of Indians have access to private toilets, says a UN study

Water Governance in Motion: Towards Socially and Environmentally Sustainable Water Laws focuses on the work undertaken by International Environmental Law Research Centre IELRC on water law reforms in India. It seeks to provide a broader understanding of the conceptual framework informing existing water law and ongoing reforms.