/topics/ecology-and-environment
Ecology and Environment
The Little Rann of Kutch
Posted on 19 Jul, 2017 03:13 PMHow often does one get to experience a terrain that is as dramatically transformative as The Little Rann of Kutch? With changing seasons, it adorns itself with different landscapes, thus, completely shifting shape, its functions and appeal.
![The Little Rann of Kutch (Image source: India Water Portal)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/rann_of_katch_small.jpg?itok=QhoK53I5)
Renuka raises crucial questions
Posted on 18 Jul, 2017 05:48 AMWhen I meet Puran Chand, an activist in the forefront of the anti-Renuka dam struggle, he dictates from the two much-thumbed pages of his notebook the several objections he has against the government’s plan for the rehabilitation of people displaced by the Renuka dam.
![The opening of the header tunnel for Renuka dam has already been constructed.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/renuka_cover.jpg?itok=E1yKx550)
Urbanisation: Pushing farmers out of fields
Posted on 17 Jul, 2017 02:46 PMA dominant characteristic of a peri-urban site is its transition out of an agrarian economy due to industrialisation and urbanisation. This usually manifests in the form of agricultural land either left barren or sold for developmental activities and farmers and agricultural labourers looking for an alternative source of livelihood.
![Agriculture is slowly vanishing from peri-urban areas. (Source: SaciWATERS)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/saciwaters_blog.jpg?itok=dXCvzwlQ)
Floating national park calls for help
Posted on 13 Jul, 2017 05:43 AMIn a country as diverse as India where the mountain meets the ocean and deserts blend into forests, one hallmark of beauty that is often left out of the travel catalogues is the outstanding Loktak lake in Manipur.
![Loktak lake (Source: India Water Portal)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/loktak_lake_0.jpg?itok=S4L9132p)
Locals create hurdle for the Ken-Betwa river link
Posted on 11 Jul, 2017 11:36 AMPanna locals stand against Ken-Betwa river link
![A map of Ken-Betwa river link. (Source: Shannon via Wikipedia)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/yamunarivermap_2_1.jpg?itok=CZWBMT3B)
Managing willows in Wular lake
Posted on 10 Jul, 2017 05:07 AMThe devastating flood in 2015 in the Kashmir valley affected more than 2.5 lakh houses and displaced about 5.5 lakh people. The economic loss was massive.
Many researchers and experts believe that careful conservation and protection of the lakes, ponds and wetlands in the Kashmir valley could have reduced the scale of the devastation to a large extent.
![Wular lake seen from Saderkote Park. (Source: Wikipedia)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/1200px-wular_lake.jpg?itok=g6TBwWlr)
Uttarakhand against living person status to rivers
Posted on 04 Jul, 2017 02:04 PMUttarakhand challenges living person status to Ganga and Yamuna rivers, moves SC
![Ganga river at Kachla, Uttar Pradesh (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/6172025486_d2b794f518_z_1_1.jpg?itok=9QNXKJeh)
The good clams of Ashtamudi
Posted on 03 Jul, 2017 08:03 PMSpanning an area of 61 sq km, the Ashtamudi lake is considered the gateway to the backwaters of Kerala. While the lake on the outside radiates with natural beauty, there is a notable treasure nesting deep within its waters--the short-neck clams.
![(Source:Ken Hammond, Wikimedia)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/littleneck_clams_usda96c1862.jpg?itok=CyX-J2gJ)
Power at play in water business
Posted on 03 Jul, 2017 05:49 AMThe informal water market plays a crucial role in meeting the drinking and domestic water security of peri-urban communities. The increasing reliance on private informal water vendors in all our study villages speaks of their significance.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/saciwater1.jpg?itok=ZnxfBqt4)
A jungle comes to the city
Posted on 02 Jul, 2017 01:56 PMIt’s July now and the temperature is slowly dipping in Delhi. Only a few migratory birds wintered at the Yamuna biodiversity park remain. Others have left for Central Asia and Siberia. Some species of summer terrestrial migrants are expected to arrive while some others can be seen enjoying the park’s wetlands.
![Black spotted butterfly at Yamuna biodiversity park. (Image: Prabhmeet Singh, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/1200px-black_spotted_butterfly.jpg?itok=t7rKYcWY)