Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of In Re: News Item titled "Nayar river is vanishing - a yatra reveals conservation goes beyond science and policy" appearing in ‘The Down To Earth’ dated 03.06.2025. The original application was registered suo-motu based on the news item titled "Nayar …
an environmental policy has been chalked out for Haryana state irrigation department. The main objective of this policy is to create environmental awareness among the officials of the irrigation department, ensure proper and equitable use of water, keep all the water bodies free from pollution, arrest environmental degradation, improve the …
the polluted lakes of Udaipur, some of which have dried up to 60 per cent, may finally get a fresh lease of life. Acting on a petition filed by the Jheel Sanrakshan Samiti ( jss ), an Udaipur-based non-governmental organisation ( ngo ), the Rajasthan High Court has ordered the …
In the past 50 years, the Indian government has spent vast sums of money on water resource development. Programmes have focussed on irrigation development for increasing Green Revolution-style agricultural production and drinking water supply. But no specific effort has been directed to drought-proof rainfed areas which suffer from high rainfall …
With the spate of political support that the concept of rainwater harvesting has received in recent weeks from Central ministers and state chief ministers, the attack from pro-dam lobbies had to come. The government of Gujarat appears to be especially miffed as it had probably hoped that this drought would …
there are parched river beds as well as flowing rivulets; water at depths of 3-5 metres and dry wells even at 60 metres; hectares of land filled with cacti and areas lush with mango, lime, even water melon: the contrasts cannot be more stark among villages in Gujarat. On a …
The slump in rainfall, as experienced in most parts of South Africa, will result in a severe spell of prolonged drought, according to a warning issued by the Kenya Meteorological Department ( kmd ). They have predicted that the severity of this drought, which commenced last year, will be worse …
the crisis over the availability of water for humans has never assumed graver proportions than during present times. It is, therefore, natural for scientists to think of conservation and efficient utilisation. With respect to the flora, obtaining water for a handful of plants does not pose a problem. The dilemma …
Thanks to a Japanese company, Soft99, you can now "wash' your car without so much as using water. The company has developed a "wet wax' sheet, a multi-layer textile, which stores a thin bed of detergents and waxes under a layer of short fibres. As the sheet is wiped over …
for years, Dewas district in the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh, has been facing the grim prospect of desertification following the unregulated use of groundwater in the region. But it seems a people's movement launched by M Mohan Rao, district magistrate, may yet manage to avert such a fate. Say …
The wisdom of harvesting rainwater to meet growing demands and augment depleting water resources has perhaps at long last caught the attention of the Delhi government. In his address to the Delhi Assembly on the first day of the Budget session, Lieutenant-Governor Vijai Kapoor said the government was planning to …
THE world's earliest civilisations began on the banks of rivers. With time, this became an accepted phenomenon as water was essential to sustain human habitat. Unfortunately, water has been overused and abused across the world irrespective of the economic status of the region. Take, for instance, Europe. Around 60 per …
THE reds are being forced to turn green in the Nizamabad, Adilabad and Warangal districts of the Telangana region where the people have embraced the Andhra Pradesh government's joint forest management (JFM) programme in a big way. What is unusual is that forest officials move around freely in the remote …
Recently, a group of social activists visited the Telangana region to probe police atrocities against the Naxalites. What they were shown by the extremists as their concern for poor villagers was amazing: check dams, boulder-filled dams and water harvesting structures. That the Naxalites are getting involved in water conservation is …
with the Yamuna dead, Delhi's aquifers almost empty and the watertable having fallen more than 7.5 metres in less than 20 years, the state government is considering three proposals for water harvesting in the capital. All of them deal with traditional water harvesting methods, reviving the Yamuna and its ancient …
everything is picture perfect in Mahur village, about 75 km from Pune in Maharashtra. Acres of marigold and lilies in full bloom, teak trees and a variety of crops conceal its unpleasant past. This huge tract in the Western Ghats was, till the mid-1970s, barren and untended. Even vast expanses …
Dear Prime Minister, This is a year of severe drought in Gujarat and western Madhya Pradesh - an area that is well known for natural disasters of this kind. During the last general elections, your home minister, fighting for a fresh term from this region, had to face evocative slogans …
as a twelve-year-old, Gurdev Singh Hira, now a senior soil physicist at the Punjab Agricultural University ( pau ) in Ludhiana, saw the water in his well rise so fast that he could touch it with his hands. But as he grew up the water level went down to such …
as we approach the new millennium, a glass of clean, uncontaminated water seems to be a luxury, that even money cannot buy. Newspapers are awash daily with reports of fluoride-contaminated water sources. Sadly, long-term constructive policies are yet to see the light of day. Occasional studies and certain discrete temporary …
