Articles

Is the draft EIA notification 2020 anti-environment?
The draft notification is alleged to dilute the process and standards for environmental clearances for industries.
Villager looking at mining devastated areas in Goa (Image: Frederik Noronha; Wikimedia Commons; CC A-S A 4.0 International)
Holy waters, unholy outcomes!
A study found that mass bathing events in the Kshipra river not only led to high pollution, but also to the presence of multidrug resistant pathogenic bacteria in its waters, posing a risk to health.
A priest offers water to the sun at Ramghat on the Kshipra river at Simhastha (Image Source: Makarand Purohit)
Drying veins of Ganga: Can we have ‘Nirmal Ganga’ with dying tributaries?
There is an urgent need to prioritise uninterrupted river flow over unpolluted flow in the Namami Gange programme.
The Baand river is nearly dry even when the region saw above normal monsoon this year. Much of the riverbed is encroached by farms. (Image: Adeel Khan and Praharsh Patel)
Swachh Survekshan 2020: Indore tops in cleanest city category
News this week
Clean road near Pardesipura, Indore. (Source: India Water Portal)
Next phase of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban to focus on water treatment
Policy matters this week
Next phase of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban to focus on water treatment (Image source: India Water Portal)
Book review: Future Earth
The book outlines how to reverse the short- and long-term effects of climate change over the next three decades.
Climate change (Image: Kai Stachowiak; Public domain pictures)
Decentralised governance key to handling Covid-19
There is a positive correlation between the panchayat raj system and effective handling of Covid-19, says Mani Shankar Aiyar.
A first time Sarpanch of Lahora Gram Panchayat in Rajasthan’s Tonk District, stands committed, guiding the community with her political acumen. (Image: UN Women;CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
With no food on their plate, people seek government help
Incessant rains and floods continue to batter Bihar killing people and livestock, while putting more lives at risk as people continue to wait for government help.
Flood water enters Chanchalia village. (Image source: Umesh Kumar Ray)
Think, before you have your cup of tea!
Women workers from tea plantations in India are overworked and underpaid. Voiceless, without any rights at the workplace, and their health compromised, they continue to suffer in silence.
Women workers at a tea plantation in Assam (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Water projects get priority in MGNREGA amidst COVID-19
Efforts needed to better utilise MGNREGA funds to deter vested interests from misappropriating.
Work in progress at an MGNREGA site (Image: UN Women/Gaganjit Singh)
Livestock rearers and fishers bear the brunt of cyclone Amphan
Ravaged by the severe tropical cyclone that struck the region this summer, the livestock and fishes have taken a hit, impacting people's livelihoods.
The Amphan swept away the chicken coops and other domestic animals. This is Anup Bhakta standing with one of the few goats left after the storm. (Image: WaterAid, Subhrajit Sen)
Locals struggle with WASH issues post-Amphan
Cyclone Amphan wreaks havoc in the Sunderbans at a time when the country was already battling a large spread of Covid-19.
Having no source of water is proving to be extremely difficult for the people living in the Sundarbans. (Image: WaterAid, Subhrajit Sen)
Gender-sensitive response to the climate crisis
Gender-transformative approaches are needed for climate adaptation, to lessen the stresses that force people to migrate.
Women and girls spend a considerable amount of their time in fetching water. (Image: Romit Sen)
Groundwater extraction: NGT gets strict with commercial entities
Policy matters this week
NGT gets strict with commercial entities (Source: IWP Flickr album)
Monsoon experiences a countrywide deficit of 10 percent in July
News this week
July experiences rain deficit of 10 percent (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Amphan’s impact on farming and livelihood in Sunderbans
Millions of people's homes were swept away and farmlands destroyed during cyclone Amphan in Sunderbans.
Betel (popularly used in paan) plantation is a major occupation in the Sundarbans. Pulak Bhakta is assessing the damage done to his plantation right after Amphan. The plantation is spread over two and a half bigha of land. According to Pulak, the total loss he has suffered is around INR 3 lakhs. Pulak already bears the burden of a loan which he had taken to set up his plantation. His future seems uncertain and bleak now. (Image: WaterAid/ Subhrajit Sen)
Building awareness to changing behaviour: A paradigm shift with digital technology
Use of online training has not only helped rural and urban residents and government in Maharashtra to become more aware, but also empowered them to take collective action to tackle the pandemic.
Rural training at the doorstep (Image Source: UNICEF)
Banking on rainwater harvesting
National Water Mission’s campaign aims at creating rainwater harvesting structures in various parts of India.
As a part of the campaign, work is being done on various interventions such as water for productive use, improving irrigation practices, creating water recharge structures (Image: Pikist)
Understanding Atal Bhujal Yojana through the program guidelines
The program envisages promoting panchayat led groundwater management and behavioural change with a primary focus on demand-side management.
Community participation is expected to facilitate bottom-up groundwater planning process to improve the effectiveness of public financing and align implementation of various government programs on groundwater in the participating states (Image: Water Alternatives, Flickr Commons)
Bihar floods: 'Living on 2.5 Kg flattened rice’
Only 4,18,490 of the 56.53 lakh people have been evacuated from the floods so far, and people are forced to survive on meagre rations provided by the government.
Locals engaged in repair of broken embankment in Darbhanga (Source: Umesh Kumar Ray)