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 … More 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 … More India’s groundwater resources severely overdrawn, largely to provide water for irrigation

A series of civil society consultations were held in Udaipur (Rajasthan), Bhavnagar (Gujarat), Dahanu (Maharshtra) and Constitution Club of India (New Delhi) on adverse impact of mining on people’s livelihood and health, especially vulnerable sections such as tribals, women and children, and how illegal mining has made things worse. Detailed notes of each of the … More Consultations in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi on impact of mining on livelihood, health

Excerpts from “The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate”, a summary for policymakers formally approved at the Second Joint Session of Working Groups I and II of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and accepted by the 51th Session of the IPCC, Principality of Monaco, September 24, 2019: Sea level continues to … More Coastal communities exposed to multiple climate-related hazards, including tropical cyclones

Disputing a prevailing view that suggests groundwater levels have been increasing in South India due to increasing rainfall and political interventions, a recent study, “The Groundwater Recovery Paradox in South India” by Tejasvi Hora  Veena Srinivasan  Nandita B Basu, says, such a view is “skewed by the problem of survivor bias, with wells with data … More To prove groundwater levels going up in South India, wells that go defunct taken out of data analysis

Chandra Vikash, an Indian Institute of Management (IIT), Kharagpir, and Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kolkata alumni, currently chief mentor and innovation coach as also convener the Global Academy for Indigenous Activism (GAIA) Innovation Lab, in a letter to Dr  Chinmay Pandya, pro-vice-chancellor,  Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya, Haridwar, has said that recently, as part of team of … More Importance of indigenous learning to achieve UN goal of combating desertification, drought

By Amruta Pradhan* Three rivers (among some others) with a total length of 44km traverse through Pune city. Mula river flows a distance of 22.2 km, Mutha River 10.4 km and Mula-Mutha River 11.8 km. Plight of these rivers is well known. They have been featured in the list of 300 most polluted rivers of … More Pune riverfront project treats flood plain as urban land which can be subjected to any use