/topics/ecology-and-environment
Ecology and Environment
Capital punishment
Posted on 20 Jan, 2017 08:37 PMIt may come as a surprise to many that Delhi, a bustling metropolis and home to a population of over 18.6 million, has one of the largest stretches of forests in the country bang in the middle of the city.
![Kamala Nehru forest in the northern part of the ridge is home to several historical monuments. (Source: Harsha NH, Wikimedia Commons)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/entrance_to_kamla_nehru_ridge_area_delhi-harsha-nh.jpg?itok=FZgWI6Ys)
No man's land
Posted on 18 Jan, 2017 09:39 PMFrom its rather benign origins connoting a type of land classification, the term poromboke has transformed into something grotesque over the years. This term had been in use since the Cholas denoting stretches of land reserved for shared communal use which cannot be bought or sold.
![The Ennore creek choked by fly ash. (Screen grab from the Chennai poromboke paadal)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/poromboke2.png?itok=KbRRvrpb)
Acquired lands lay barren, SC questions states
Posted on 16 Jan, 2017 12:11 PMWhy are lands acquired from farmers barren? SC asks states
![Women farmers protest against land acquisition (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/sundari_protest_0.jpg?itok=f7pxz7Py)
State of rivers goes south
Posted on 14 Jan, 2017 05:40 PMAt a time when the government’s attention is steered towards the concerns of the northern rivers like the Ganga and the Yamuna, it is seldom that the polluted rivers of the south India come up for discussion.
![Water-borne litter in Salem, Tamil Nadu. (Source: Parvathisri, Wikimedia Commons)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/water-borne_litter_in_salem_tamil_nadu_india-parvathisri-wikimedia-commons_0.jpg?itok=Y5QZTdyg)
The doer from the Thar
Posted on 10 Jan, 2017 10:53 PM“Can you see the alternating bands of light and shadow in the sky?” Chattar Singh asks me. When I nod in affirmation, he continues, “This is Mogh. There are clouds where the sun is setting right now. If we get a favourable wind, these clouds will reach here and we may get rain by night. In desert, people live by such clues from nature.”
![Despite all the great work, Chattar Singh's demeanour remains unassuming. Source: Farhad Contractor](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/chattar_0.jpg?itok=M6B0FQSh)
Maharashtra gears up for irrigation projects
Posted on 09 Jan, 2017 10:14 AMMaharashtra approves cost overrun in irrigation projects, set to complete Gosikhurd project
![Irrigation canal from the Bhima dam, Maharashtra (Source: Nvvchar on Wikipedia)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/irrigation_canal_taking_off_from_the_dam_0_1.jpg?itok=Q_jAYiNI)
States fail to tackle groundwater crisis
Posted on 09 Jan, 2017 09:52 AMA majority of states fail to stop overexploitation of groundwater
![A well in Rajasthan (Source: IWP Flickr photos)](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/27560459605_dd7aeae4a2_z_0.jpg?itok=1_nCY7wm)
Invite to the conference on conservation science and sustainable development
Posted on 07 Jan, 2017 10:34 PMIn order to celebrate 20 years of ATREE and to call attention to current challenges in biodiversity conservation, environment and development, ATREE has organized a two day international conference in January, 2017.
Curious case of disappearing fish
Posted on 07 Jan, 2017 09:41 PMJaman Ram, a resident of Bhikia Sain, a tehsil in Uttarakhand, remembers fishing with his father in the Ramganga. “We could catch 80-100 kilograms of fish a day. That is no longer possible,” he says. Shafiq of Haldwani shares an unsettling memory of the Ramganga. As a young man on a holiday, he was paddling in the river near Marchula when the rock he was standing on shifted.
![Mahseer swim in the bracing waters of the Ganga in Uttarakhand.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_articles/public/iwp/mahseer_cover.jpg?itok=nP3lGpGC)