By Sahana Ghosh* In early April 2015, as wind-borne dust particles, remnants from a major dust storm in the Gulf region, made its way towards the Indian peninsula, a group of citizen scientists and researchers strategically fanned out and placed prepared Petri dishes at vantage points in the west Indian state of Maharashtra by the Arabian Sea. … Continue reading How a dust storm transported microbes more than 2000 km across Arabian Sea from Gulf to Maharashtra
South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP) note on the implications for India in the Climate Risk Index Briefing Paper “Global Climate Risk Index 2020: Who Suffers Most from Extreme Weather Events? Weather-Related Loss Events in 2018 and 1999 to 2018”: The Climate Risk Index Briefing Paper “GLOBAL CLIMATE RISK INDEX 2020: Who … Continue reading GermanWatch Report: Can India not assess its climate risk and vulnerability?
In a judgment on November 29, Australia’s New South Wales Supreme Court has held the State of Queensland, Wivenhoe Dam operators and engineers are responsible for "inappropriate operation of the dam”, leading to the devastating Brisbane 2011 floods. A South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP) note on the relevance of the judgment … Continue reading Dam operators held responsible for Australia’s Brisbane 2011 floods: Relevance for India
By Bhanu Sridharan The Thoothoor group of villages in Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu has a long history of targeted shark fisheries. Shark fishermen from the region undertake month-long risky journeys to international waters in search of sharks. With shark populations declining in India and across the world, scientists are concerned about overexploitation and call for … Continue reading Can a village specialised in shark fishing have lessons for India’s fisheries?
By Akhtar Hafeez* The province of Sindh is grappling with an acute water shortage, a crisis which the government hopes to address through the construction of more dams along the Indus river. While fundraising for these megastructures continues in Pakistan, fisherman and delta communities along the river fear the worst, as they are transported back … Continue reading Dam construction, other upstream activities dry up Indus: Pak fish people’s livelihood at stake
By Nikhil S Dixit* Mumbai has about 5,300 acres of salt pan land and of that, about 1,800 acres may soon be opened up for a central government scheme providing low-cost housing projects. While the dominant partner of the current ruling alliance, the Bharatiya Janata Party, has already cleared its intentions to open up the … Continue reading Important for Mumbai’s ecology, salt pans are protected under the coastal regulatory zone rules
In an in-depth report, authored by Rutger Willem Hofste, Paul Reig and Leah Schleifer, the World Resource Institute says that as many as 17 countries, India included, which are home to one-quarter of the world's population, face extremely high water stress. Text: Once-unthinkable water crises are becoming commonplace. Reservoirs in Chennai, India’s sixth-largest city, are … Continue reading India’s groundwater resources severely overdrawn, largely to provide water for irrigation
