Categories for Eco-Watch
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A climate change wake-up call
A new McKinsey Global Institute report, ‘Climate risk and response: Physical hazards and socioeconomic impacts’, suggests that many assumptions about the potential damage climate risk could cause need to be revisited. The report finds that climate change is already having... View Article
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Nilogon for fluoride removal from groundwater
Groundwater contamination has emerged as an alarming issue in India and a recent UN report reveals that India ranks 120th among the 122 countries in terms of water quality index. As high as 70 percent of the water supply in... View Article
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Holistic approach needed to clean the ganga
The National Mission for Cleaning Ganga was set up in 2014 and the Namami Gange programme was launched the year after, with a budget outlay of Rs. 20,000 crore. The implementation of the flagship programme was followed by the framing... View Article
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How local democracy is solving water issues in southern Rajasthan
While most parts of the country are facing a water crisis, here’s a case from the arid state of Rajasthan, where decentralized initiatives are solving water issues. Dungarpur in southern Rajasthan has exemplified how community participation with local level planning... View Article
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How Delhi’s air pollution emergency links back to water
The link between water and Delhi’s air pollution crisis A study, “Tradeoffs Between Groundwater Conservation and Air Pollution From Agricultural Fires in Northwest India,” published in Nature Sustainability, reveals how water-use policies require farmers to transplant rice later in the... View Article
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Manipur’s floating lake at risk
Loktak, the largest freshwater lake in North East India is also known as the ‘floating lake’ for the numerous phumdis or masses of vegetation it supports. The phumdis float around on the lake’s surface due to decay from the bottom.... View Article
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Farm ponds change farmers’ fortunes
While enhanced irrigation coverage has been hailed as an important way to improve agricultural productivity, it continues to lag behind in India and agriculture continues to be rainfed, subject to the vagaries of the monsoon. High groundwater dependence for irrigation... View Article
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Hydropower in the Himalayas: Potential and risks
Worldwide, the demand for energy has risen significantly and quickly, leading to serious impacts on environmental sustainability and hindering global efforts to mitigate climate change. Hydropower, a leading renewable option has the additional benefits of water storage for agriculture and... View Article
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Sabuja Bahini of Dhansar Village transforming barren hilly terrain into lush green territory
A group of resolute village students and youths felt the inevitability of safeguarding their neighboring environment and thus formed ‘Sabuja Bahini'(Green Regiment). Emerging as crusaders in reviving green cover all along the barren hills and terrains, they have triggered penchant... View Article
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Rajasthan’s ancient yet ever-evolving water heritage
The state of Rajasthan has an immense range of ancient and ingenious water harvesting systems, like the famous johads or step wells managed by communities in the arid Thar desert, which receives very low rainfall. A recent book ‘Wise water... View Article
