Ecology and Environment

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/topics/ecology-and-environment

Featured Articles
September 2, 2024 The strategic objectives and challenges of India's BioE3 Policy
The transition to a bio-based economy could affect various stakeholders (Image: GetArchive; CC0 1.0)
August 30, 2024 This article traces the evolution of the legislative framework for water pollution in India and its implications for wastewater treatment standards in the country. 
Open drains in Alwar (Image Source: IWP Flickr photos)
August 2, 2024 There is a need for a multi-faceted approach to disaster management, combining advanced monitoring, early warning systems, community preparedness, and sustainable land use practices to mitigate future risks.
Aftermath of a 2022 landslide on Nedumpoil ghat road (Image: Vinayaraj, Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0)
July 10, 2024 Millions of trees are fast disappearing from India's farmlands. What are its implications for agriculture and the environment?
Disappearing trees over Indian farmlands (Image Source: WOTR)
June 9, 2024 India’s funding jumped from $225 million in 2018 to $1.5 billion in 2023, marking a compounded annual growth rate of 140%
Green startups: Powering a sustainable future (Image: Needpix)
June 7, 2024 Scientists question effectiveness of nature-based CO2 removal using the ocean
Ocean ecosystem (Image: PxHere, CC0 Public Domain)
Ultratech Cement mines limestone (and villagers) in Chhattisgarh
The people of Parswani were promised jobs, healthcare and water. Now, after signing an MOU, they just about get polluted water for irrigation purposes. Posted on 13 Dec, 2015 03:38 PM

Paraswani 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
Death toll in Chennai rises to 450
News this week Posted on 07 Dec, 2015 08:26 PM

Chennai rains claim 450 lives

Chennai roads take a beating (Source: IWP Flickr Photo)
Choppy waters and a calm river voyager
Emmanuel Theophilus was awarded the ' Bhagirath Prayas Samman' at the India Rivers Day 2015 for his valiant and untiring effort to safeguard the integrity of the Mahakali River. Posted on 06 Dec, 2015 12:31 PM

The 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)
Water vending machines: How equitable are they?
Water ATMs have been in use in India for a decade but who are they helping and are they fulfilling their objective, which is to provide safe and clean drinking water to the poor at a low cost? Posted on 05 Dec, 2015 02:34 PM

A 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)
Springs are more than just a source of water for humans
Springs exist in the most biodiverse regions of the country and anchor entire ecosystems. That fact must be respected while undertaking springs conservation work. 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.
Undisposed toxic waste still haunts Bhopal’s groundwater
A report says that many locals in Bhopal are dealing with “high rates of birth defects, rapidly rising cancer rates, neurological damage, chaotic menstrual cycles and mental illness". 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
Mainstreaming India’s water and climate concerns: Reflections before COP-21
India’s INDC commitments show that it is serious about climate change but to effectively deal with the issue, all nations must actively engage in reducing their emissions. 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)
New CGWA guidelines mandate NOC for industries to extract groundwater
Policy matters this week Posted on 24 Nov, 2015 05:45 PM

Industries can extract groundwater only after obtaining a NOC: CGWA

Groundwater, a scarce resource (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Be careful while bathing if you're in these six districts of UP!
News this week Posted on 24 Nov, 2015 11:30 AM

UP's rivers and groundwater are loaded with harmful effluents: CPCB

View of the Yamuna in UP (Source: IWP Flickr Photo)
India needs to radically overhaul its water institutions
Can India draw some lessons from the Singaporean water story? Prof Asit Biswas, founder of the Third World Centre for Water Management in Mexico, talks to India Water Portal. Posted on 23 Nov, 2015 09:53 PM

There was a recent report in the Times of India on how Singapore, listed among the 20 smallest countries in the world, made water management and conservation efforts over the years. What lessons can India, a mammoth country draw from this small but densely populated country?

India's water sector: Endemic corruption and public apathy (Source: K N Balraj, IWP Flickr Photos)
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