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 …
Do industry and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) make strange bedfellows? Not anymore, apparently. In what could be a trend-setting partnership, UNEP and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) have come out with a report titled "Industry, Freshwater and Sustainable Development". Dubbed the "wake up call to …
Noah saved the world from a flood. Today, an effort of similar proportions is required to deal with a different kind of problem: an unprecedented shortage of freshwater. In Noah's absence, governments of the world made an attempt in this direction in New York (April 15 to May 1) at …
The doomsday predictions of wars being fought over water indicate the world's precarious position with regard to water. Though 70 per cent of the planet is covered by water, only 2.5 per cent of water is freshwater. Of this, nearly 70 per cent is frozen in the ice caps of …
the ecological carnage that Jhabua has witnessed in the last five decades is sporadically mentioned in official records. Elder residents, however, remember how the dense forests once enveloped the district. "Hardly 60 years ago, my home was surrounded by dense forests," says 90-year-old Dholji of Samoi village. "The forests belonged …
the pebbles in the fields have become potatoes in the Hathipawa microshed of Jhabua district. In Phoolgaodi village, the villagers are celebrating the Year as the year of the Grass. In 40 ha of degraded government land, the watershed mission took up pasture development, where the production of more than …
When he was the irrigation minister in Madhya Pradesh, Digvijay Singh realised that big dams would only bring him unwanted unpopularity and fail to solve the problems of the largely tribal people of his state. "I realised that big dams were not going to help achieve sustainable growth," he said …
The marriage of Joint Forest Management (JFM) with watershed treatment under one mission was the touchstone for recovery of Jhabua. Even before the guidelines for watershed management were issued by the ministry of rural development, Government of India, in late 1995, the mission had commenced with the formation of 20 …
this is an amazing story. A story that shows that India can start eradicating poverty very fast and very cheaply. This is the story of the degradation and the regeneration of Jhabua - a poor tribal district of Madhya Pradesh bordering Gujarat. In 1985, when I first visited the district, …
the pre-eminent position attained by groundwater in the field of irrigation in India must be duly recognised. It accounts for well above 50 per cent of the total irrigated area. Water management policies should aim at bolstering and upgrading the Central Groundwater Board and its research programmes. The state groundwater …
The National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) organised the Third Agricultural Science Congress in collaboration with the Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana, Punjab, on March 12. The three-day-long seminar which concluded on March 15, discussed the changing aspects of agriculture over the past 50 years and emphasised the need to …
march 22 was celebrated as World Water Day, a reminder that the water resources abounding the earth are being stressed out mainly due to the increase in human population. On March 21-22, Morocco hosted the world water forum to focus on the water scarcity around the world. According to the …
Planning for a mega-city in a poor developing country like India is not easy. Large investments are needed to keep the environment clean and to provide basic services like clean air and water, schools, hospitals, proper transport and road space. If the political leadership does not have adequate financial resources …
The South Korean non-governmental organisation Citizen's Coalition for Economic Justice (ccej), recently launched the Green Family campaign. The campaign specifically aims at the reduction of domestic waste and the conservation of water and energy. Attempts are also being made to simultaneously change people's behavioural patterns and values through environmental education. …
IMPATIENT shifting sand dunes and acacia shrubs dot the desolate landscape of Churu district, the gateway to the Thar. Almost invariably, the highest summer temperature is recorded here. Drinking water sources are scarce. The wells are very deep and the water saline. The erratic piped water supply doesn"t even meet …
FOUR related phenomena threaten to increase the water crisis in the 21st century: a natural upper limit to the availability of fresh water; increasing population; pollution; and delay in completing ongoing projects. Water policy planners, therefore, must choose the most efficient method of conservation and use of existing resources. This …
The growing problems in providing adequate drinking water to urban populations is a consequence of the lack of long-term planning and inefficient management of urban water usage.
Ya apo divya uta va sravanti khanitrima uta va yah svayamjah samudrartha yah suchayah pavakasta apo deviriha mamavantu Apah Suktam, Rigveda, VII. 59.2 "May the waters that are in the sky, or those that flow (on the earth), those (whose channels) have been dug,* or those that have sprung up …
A JAPANESE company has introduced a bathing system that helps conserve water. The Full Time Bath enables the same water to be used for upto a month of body-scrubbing. The computer-controlled system, equipped with double-filtration and anti-bacterial function, keeps the recycled water as sparkling clean as tap water. The company …
A BARREN hillock in Agali village in Kerala's Palakkad district is now verdant with forests worth lakhs of rupees, as a result of natural farming -- farming without any external inputs -- by two school-teachers, Vijayalakshmi and Balakrishnan. They have made 8 ha of degraded land cultivable through mulching, water …
A CONSORTIUM of organisations and individuals is opposing the construction of a hotel in the catchment area of the Kandalama reservoir in Sri Lanka. The consortium is worried the drawing of groundwater for the hotel's needs will affect the tank's water-level.
