Forests

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May 19, 2024 The surprising connection between Wikipedia, beaches, and your water bottle.
A top down image of a lush green forest in a sacred grove in Meghalaya (Image created by: Sreechand Tavva)
May 11, 2024 Deforestation, expansion of agricultural land, encroachment into forested areas, and unplanned urbanisation alter landscape connectivity, fragment habitats, and increase fire ignition sources.
Uttarakhand's wildfire wake-up call (Image: Pickpic)
May 8, 2024 What is the ecosystem based approach to water management? How can it help in solving the water woes of states in the Deccan Plateau?
An ecosystem based approach to water management (Image Source: India Water Portal)
May 26, 2023 Orans are traditional sacred groves found in Rajasthan. These are community forests, preserved and managed by rural communities through institutions and codes that mark such forests sacred. Orans have significance for both, conservation and livelihood. The author visited two orans in Alwar district in Rajasthan and in this article, she writes about her observation.
Since ancient times, communities in Rajasthan have preserved these orans, and their lives have been inextricably entwined with them. (Image: Ranjita Mohanty)
April 26, 2023 Carbon market can play a role in rewarding environmental stewardship
The motivated young farmer proudly showed his 80 guava trees that he planted for the first time in the village and made a profit of INR 6,000. He is the second generation. His-father made the first attempt at agroforestry in 2010. He is motivated to adopt innovative practices and does not want to migrate to a larger city. (Image: Yasmeen Telwala)
Disappearing waters of The Himalayas
A photo exhibition focuses on the changing lifestyles of local communities in the Himalayas with changes in their environment. Posted on 14 May, 2018 12:01 PM

Delhi’s Jor Bagh metro station is the site of an ongoing photographic exhibition with thought-provoking images and narratives exploring escalating water crises Indian and Nepal Himalayas face.

The photograph titled 'Nainital: Changing landscape in the Himalayas'. Image: Toby Smith, Pani-Pahar series
Western Ghats a source of moisture for monsoon
A new study points out that the evapotranspiration from the vegetation over the Western Ghats accounts for one-quarter of the rainfall over peninsular India. Posted on 05 May, 2018 04:55 PM

The mountain range that runs along the west coast of peninsular India from Tamil Nadu through Kerala, Karnataka, and Goa to Maharashtra is known as the Western Ghats and is very well known for its majestic beauty. It is also among the top eight biodiversity hotspots in the world.

Western Ghats provides moisture for rainfall. (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Power play chokes Korba
The video tells the story of residents of Korba and nearby villages who are affected by the fly ash from power plants which makes Korba the fifth critically polluted area in the country. Posted on 11 Apr, 2018 02:05 PM

Korba in Chhattisgarh is an industrial area which has a significant number of coal mines and thermal power plants. Fly ash is a byproduct of the thermal power plants and has become a significant problem for the residents of Korba now.

Fly-ash dust at CSEB thermal power plant in Korba.
Mangar Bani: NCR's green patch calls for help
With the threat of urbanisation looming large, the sacred grove of Mangar Bani begs for attention. Posted on 27 Mar, 2018 02:39 PM

According to the local legend, Mangar Bani, a green patch between Faridabad and Gurgaon, was home to a Baba (a holy man), Gudariya Das Maharaj around 500 years ago. Popular among the local Gujjar herdsmen, the dominant community of the area, the Baba asked them to treat this forest as a sacred grove, the forested abode of a local deity.

Mangar Bani, with its trees, plants, birds and animals, is an ecological hotspot but it is finding it hard to keep builders and land grabbers at bay. (Image: Pradip Krishen, Facebook)
Centre fails to see the wood for the trees
The latest FSI report says India is getting greener. A closer look at the story behind the numbers says otherwise. Posted on 13 Mar, 2018 03:38 PM

As per the biennial State of Forest Report (SFR) 2017 by the Forest Survey of India (FSI), the total forest and tree cover in India increased during the period 2015 to 2017 by 0.94 percent. The increase in the forest cover has been of the order of 6,778 sq km and that of tree cover was about 1,243 sq km.  

India’s forest cover stands at 21.54 percent while its dense forest cover is about 12.26 percent, as per the State of Forest Report, 2017. (Image: Tridib Choudhury, Wikimedia commons, CC BY SA-4.0)
Arsenic-affected village gets water after two decades
Kaudikasa village’s two decades of struggle with arsenic contamination in drinking water ends with a new government scheme. Posted on 12 Mar, 2018 05:41 AM

Kaudikasa is a small village with a population of just 350 people in the Ambagad Chowki block of the Rajnandgaon district in Chhattisgarh. Despite its small size, Kaudikasa village has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Severe health problems have been reported from the village, thanks to acute arsenic contamination in its groundwater.

Yuvraj Singh, a former sarpanch of Kaudikasa near the tube well reported to have the highest level of arsenic contamination.
Islands float on Delhi lake
Floating wetlands have been constructed on Hauz Khas lake in an attempt to naturally restore it. Posted on 08 Mar, 2018 06:09 AM

Located in the Hauz Khas urban village in the busy metropolis of Delhi is an exquisitely landscaped lush green patch. This deer park, with spotted deer, peacocks and numerous birds, leads to an incredibly beautiful lake. As per a plaque at the site, the lake is a part of the medieval (13th century) city of Delhi Sultanate.

Phytoremediation principle is used to convert Hauz Khas lake into a water purifying wetland ecosystem. (Image: Tarun Nanda)
Dam of consequences
Despite controversies around the Pancheshwar dam proposal and the panic it is creating among the villages around, the project is progressing fast. Posted on 14 Feb, 2018 05:27 AM

River Mahakali snakes its way through the hills and valleys of Nepal and Uttaranchal, collecting its water from the numerous streams it receives on the way. Also known as Sharda in India, the river forms the international boundary between India and Nepal.

The project is expected to submerge 11,600 hectares of mountain area.
Book Release and Discussion on ‘Alternative Futures: India Unshackled’, a book edited by Ashish Kothari and K. J. Joy
The book is a collection of 35 essays containing dreams, visions, and pathways of reaching a just and sustainable India.
Posted on 22 Jan, 2018 10:40 AM

Alternative Futures: India Unshackled is a riveting new book that brings together scenarios of an India that is politically and socially egalitarian, radically democratic, economically sustainable and equitable, and socio-culturally diverse and harmonious.

Alternative Futures: India Unshackled
A remarkable, first-ever collection of 35 essays on India’s future, by a diverse set of authors – activists, researchers, media practitioners. Posted on 22 Jan, 2018 10:39 AM

Alternative Futures: India Unshackled is a book that brings together scenarios of an India that is politically and socially egalitarian, radically democratic, economically sustainable and equitable, and socio-culturally diverse and harmonious.

Alternative Futures: India Unshackled
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