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A part of the Bateshwarsthan Ganga Pump Nahar Priyojna (Bateshwarstahn Ganga Canal Project), in Bhagalpur district of Bihar collapsed on September 19, a day before the state’s Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was supposed to inaugurate it. Release of water in full capacity was blamed for the accident. The cost of the project is estimated at Rs 389.31 crore. “The breach in canal happened due to release of water in full capacity, the incident has not caused any damage to the newly-constructed part of the project,” the state’s water resources minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh said. No one was hurt and the damage was limited to water entering the residential areas of the National Thermal Power Corporation’s (NTPC) station at Kahalgaon and adjoining areas such as Siddharth Nagar and Kutahri Kali Sthan, according to the Hindu. “Rs 389.31 crore dam collapses ahead of inauguration. The CM was to inaugurate the dam with much fan fare. Yet another dam collapses due of corruption,” ...

One of the most historical water bodies, Hauz-e-Shamsi, is shrinking. Residents around this water body fear its extinction. Once spread over 100 hectares, this water body (locally known as the Shamsi talaab) has shrunk into a patch of filthy water over the years. Rainwater from nearby catchments is the only source of water to the lake. Due to concretisation, there has been a massive loss in water restored to the lake. “Loss of catchments, dumping of waste, sewage discharge and lack of political will are some of the cited reasons behind the present state of Shamshi talab,” says Lalit Gupta, secretary of the Shamsi Talaab Resident Welfare association (Mehrauli). The water reservoir comes under the purview of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). “Seeing the dismal state of water body, we went to the ASI for support for cleaning and maintaining sufficient water by redirecting surplus water from nearby sewage treatment plants. We only got assurance of regular cleaning, which was als...

The day (June 7) ended with as many as 1,001 voluntary commitments registered on the UN Ocean Conference site. The meeting is unique as the call of action, which would be adopted on June 9, is not mandatory. Even a legally binding Paris agreement is not very successful, so why should voluntary commitments work? However, experts at the meeting feel that these would work better. They feel that the time taken over the negotiations is not worth the outcome. Carl Gustaf Lundin, the director of International Union for Conservation of Nature's Global Marine and Polar Programme says that negotiations generally lead to mediocre agreements as countries do not like to be told what to do. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea which was ratified in 1994 has still not been signed by countries like the USA. The International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments took 10 years to be negotiated upon and just got ratified. During this t...

In the north lies Lake Victoria—Africa's largest lake. To the west is Lake Tanganyika—the continent's deepest lake known for its unique species of fish. Situated parallel to Lake Tanganyika is Lake Rukwa, a water body in southwestern Tanzania that has the largest population of crocodiles in the country. In the words of January Makamba, Minister of State in the Vice President's Office for Union Affairs and Environment, the ecologically-sensitive region has experienced "colossal environmental degradation". This observation was made in October 2016. Six months later, in April 2017, the Shared Resources Joint Solutions (SRJS) Initiative was launched in collaboration with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Netherland (IUCN NL) and World Wildlife Fund, Netherlands (WWF NL) with an objective saving the lake and the entire Rukwa-Katavi landscape from further degradation. First, the concern The alkaline Lake ...

Ocean sciences are led by a small number of industrialised countries although collecting data and taking the measure of the ocean’s health is a global priority considering the economic and environmental stakes involved, according to the Global Ocean Science Report, compiled by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. The Report advocates increased investment into research and calls for greater international scientific cooperation. The Global Ocean Science Report: The Current Status of Ocean Science around the World, will be presented at the United Nations in New York on 8 June, World Ocean Day, as part of the United Nations’ Ocean Conference taking place until 9 June. “The publication marks a turning point in that it is the first such tool developed to help inform countries’ and stakeholders’ decisions and investments in favour of the ocean. It will also play a major role in assessing progress towards meeting Sustainable Development Goal 14, adopted by the United Natio...

In a crackdown on Narmada Bachao Andolan’s 'Rally for the Valley', the Gujarat police has taken social activist Medha Patkar, Prafulla Samantara, Sunilam, Aradhna Bhargava, Madhuresh Kumar and Himshi Singh in custody along with 60 others. The crackdown happened in Chhota Udaipur district in Gujarat today (June 7). Today was the last day of the three-day-long rally to protest against the government for not carrying out proper rehabilitation and resettlement work for the project affected people of Sardar Sarovar Dam. The rally had travelled through different villages of Dhar, Kukshi, Badwani and Jhabua district in Madhya Pradesh, Nandurbar district of Maharashtra and was going to visit the Jeevanshala (a school run by Narmada Navnirmaan Abhiyan) of Chimalkhedi in Maharashtra. However, the protestors were detained at Kavta checkpost in Kavta village of Chhota Udaipur district. “We had reached the Chhota Udaipur district today morning around 10 AM. The Gujarat police stopped...

The United Nation’s Ocean Conference is set to commence at the body’s headquarters in New York on June 5, world environment day. The meeting is a step ahead in achieving the world’s 14th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 14)—conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. It will see participation from over 5,000 delegates and continue till June 9. The UN plans to finalise the text for its zero draft “Call for Action” by the end of the conference, along with reports of seven partnership dialogues planned during the meeting. In addition, stakeholders have been invited to give voluntary commitments to ensure that the oceans remain clean and provide a robust blue economy. SDG 14 specifies targets to manage and protect marine and coastal ecosystems; set up as system to regulate harvesting of fish and end overfishing; conserve at least 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas and prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies which contribu...

Standing in the middle of the Thar Desert, I wonder which one is more difficult to put up with. Travelling in the scorching sun with barely a few trees to offer shelter, walking on loose, slippery sand, or being mocked for questions that appear silly to the women in one of the country’s driest places—Khadero ki Dhani, a hamlet in Jaisalmer district that receives the lowest rainfall in Rajasthan. “Don’t you get tired by the multiple trips to the beri every day?” I ask Nakata Devi, 75, who is drawing buckets of water one after another from the lone source of water in the vicinity. The beri is essentially a traditional percolation well with a narrow mouth that catches and stores rainwater, and is located a kilometre from the hamlet. “I do. This is my seventh round since morning. But do I have a choice? We need water. Even the animals need to drink,” Nakata says as she pours water into concrete troughs placed next to the beri. But more than helplessness, her voice appears laced with sar...

Economic and social wellbeing of most Kenyans are directly linked to the wetlands. They support key economic pillars—water services, agriculture and tourism. But the country’s lakes, ponds and swamps are shrinking. Flash floods in Kenya have become common and lack of enough wetlands to hold back any massive overland flow is causing loss of property and damage to crops. The country is also experiencing severe water shortage that has damaged crops and left 2.6 million people in need of aid. On both the occasions, Kenyans are feeling the absence of wetlands like lakes and floodplains that can safeguard communities against disasters by absorbing excess rainfall during floods and the stored water would be later available in times of drought. But the increasing frequency of extreme weather events cannot be the only reason why Kenya's wetlands are under threat. Human activities responsible for shrinking area of wetlands During the current drought, farmers and herders are comp...

Some 30-40 years ago, two villages in drought-prone southern Maharashtra came into the limelight for adopting simple water-harvesting techniques that turned around the fate of their residents. Ralegan Siddhi and Hiware Bazar lie in a rainshadow area in Ahmednagar. They faced severe water shortage in the late 1970s and 1980s and their fightback was even hailed by the government. But last summer, when the region was facing severe drought, Ralegan Siddhi had to again seek government help and ask for a supply of water tankers. Hiware Bazar, on the other hand, did just fine. How did things fall apart at Ralegan Siddhi and how has Hiware Bazar managed to fulfil its water requirement? The most famous resident of Ralegan Siddhi, social activist Anna Hazare, who played a major role in the revival of the village, has the answer. Once Ralegan became water-secure, he says, village residents started growing crops of their choice and extracted water at a breakneck speed to improve productivity. H...

In a hearing on the Bellandur Lake fire case, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday ordered the closure of all industries situated in the vicinity of the lake. This was done to prevent industrial units from dumping treated or untreated waste into the lake. Taking a suo motu cognisance, the NGT ordered that no industry would be allowed to operate in the area unless effluent emissions are under permissible limits. Industries found violating the order will be sealed. The green bench order also prohibits dumping of municipal solid waste as well as construction and demolition waste into the lake or in the buffer zone. Individuals, industries and builders found violating the order will be fined Rs 5 lakh. The Karnataka pollution control board, the Bangalore development authority and the lake development authority will be personally responsible for implementing the orders. These authorities will have to nominate a member each not below the rank of additional secretary in the Karnata...

April is gearing up be an historic month for India’s contaminated waterways. In late February, the country’s Supreme Court mandated that all polluting industries must ensure that waste water discharges meet quality standards by installing effective primary effluent treatment facilities by March 31 2017. The Conversation River and lake pollution is a major problem across much of India, and regulatory inertia toward industrial waste water has exacerbated the situation. The court’s decision represents a watershed moment in the governance of natural resources. Gujarat’s challenge The issue is particularly salient in the drought-prone industrial state of Gujarat. Numerous efforts over the years have not stemmed widespread discharge of untreated effluents, which has reduced the biodiversity and regenerative capacity of its water bodies. Coastal areas in this western state have seen a 15% decline in high-value fish stocks, and many rivers are facing extinction of fish communities. In...

When it comes to universal access to drinking water and sanitation, many still lack access to safe and sustainable water supply and sanitation services. As the world embarks on Sustainable Development Goal 6 related to clean water and sanitation, the GLAAS 2017 report led by the World Health Organization (WHO) on behalf of UN-Water focuses on the key role of financing in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sectors. It is estimated that 660 million people do not have access to improved drinking water sources and over 2.4 billion people do not have access to improved sanitation, according to the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme in 2015. Increased spending needed The report says that countries are not increasing spending fast to meet water and sanitation targets. It adds that countries will not meet their global aspirations of universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation unless steps are taken to use financial resources more efficiently and increase efforts to...

The seas near Mumbai, Kerala and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are among the worst polluted in the world, according to a new study that mapped marine pollution around the world. Seabirds and fish are severely affected by the marine litter, as shown in the latest analysis by researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research in Germany. For the first time, the researchers have compiled 1,237 scientific studies on marine litter into a single, comprehensive database called Litterbase. In 2016, Down To Earth reported how plastic production has surged over the past 50 years, from 15 million tonnes in 1964 to 311 million tonnes in 2014. Our neighbour, Sri Lanka, has also been struggling to prevent beaches from becoming a dumpyard. Marine pollution in Mumbai, Kerala and the Andaman & Nicobar Island Going by the analysis of plastic debris on beaches in Mumbai, on an average, 68.83 items are littered per square metre at four beaches—...

s it easy to catch fish? Going by reports of indiscriminate fishing, bycatch and overfishing, it seems like merely putting a net in the water will guarantee a fisherman his catch. But even with over one hundred species of fish in Indian waters, it takes skill to make a living from fishing. Fishing techniques are learnt from years of experience. It is a body of knowledge that is not written or recorded. While some of this knowledge is transmitted orally across generations, much of it comes from practice. When a fisher can tell the availability of fish just by looking at the colour and currents of the sea, it reflects a connection with nature that combines knowledge with practice. Fisherfolk know something about the marine environment that other people don’t. In seven years of talking to fisherfolk across India, I have repeatedly come across one sentiment: “How can you be a fisher if you don’t know the sea?” Knowledge, occupation and identity are integrally linked in fisherfolk’s mind...

Darkness was hidden by darkness in the beginning, with no distinguishing sign, all this was water. The life force that was covered with emptiness, that One arose through the power of heat. Desire came upon that One in the beginning, that was the first seed of mind. The Poetry of Creation, Rig Veda, Book 10, Hymn 129 This excerpt of a hymn from Hinduism’s most sacred texts represents one of humankind’s earliest written inquiries into how Earth was formed and how all life came to be. Like other religious texts, it attributes the creation of water to some inexplicable divine force. And yet, one cannot miss the uncanny reference to scientific phenomena we have come to research or accept today. Written around 4,000 years ago, the poem recognises water as the prerequisite for creation of all life on Earth and alludes to an immense source of heat or energy from which water arose. Most of all, it also speculates that water existed right from the beginning of Earth’s formation, a possi...

Supreme Court has set March 31 as the new deadline for all the Sewage Treatment Plants and Common Effluent Treatment Plants to meet the water quality norms set by the Pollution Control Boards. A SC bench lead by JS Kehar said that individual industries as well as industrial clusters found flouting these norms will face closure notice along with civil and criminal proceedings. Hearing a Public Interest Litigation filed by Vadodara-based Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti (PSS), the three- member bench has transferred the matter to the regional courts of National Green Tribunal (NGT). The apex court has asked Member Secretary of state pollution control boards, chairpersons of environmental board of the states and Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to critically monitor several polluted clusters as well to ensure that the norms of the pollution control boards are met. Further, the Bench, comprising Justice Kehar, Justices D Y Chandrachud and Sanjay K Kaul, asked mun...

How is the Chite river threatened? We have been involved with the restoration of the Chite river since 2009. The growing population has been encroaching upon the origin as well as the floodplains of this small river. The most disturbing trend is the encroachment near the river's origin. If there is no timely intervention, it could lead to the death of this river. Although the Chite is a small river and not used for irrigation or for drinking water, its importance lies in the sentimental value attached to this river.   Could you elaborate what you mean by sentiment attached with this river? The Chite is the most popular river in Aizawl, capital of Mizoram. In the 1960s and 70s, we as youngsters would bathe in its waters. We didn’t have any other source of enjoyment at that time. Poet Rokunga has composed many poems and songs about this river. According to a legend, a young boy Fiara Tui was often troubled by his cruel step-mother. In the spring one year, water was scarce. Pe...

Judicious use of wastewater to grow crops will help solve water scarcity in the agriculture sector. At a time when we need to produce more food to feed an ever-increasing population, wastewater can be used by farmers either directly through irrigation, and indirectly by recharging aquifers. Using wastewater in the backdrop of water scarcity due to climate change formed the basis of talks in Berlin during the annual Global Forum for Food and Agriculture. “…globally, only a small proportion of treated wastewater is being used for agriculture, most of it municipal wastewater. But (an) increasing numbers of countries—Egypt, Jordan, Mexico, Spain and the United States, for example—have been exploring the possibilities as they wrestle with mounting water scarcity,” says Marlos De Souza, senior officer with the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) land and water division. Managing a critical resource wisely Water is vital for food production and climate change threatens this m...

Researchers at the Indian Science Congress discussed technologies that could help the country achieve its goal of cleaning River Ganga and the Swachh Bharat mission. Technologies, which are generally used to reduce pollutants, sewage and industrial waste that enters river, are crucial for this. To this effect, the Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) in Chennai has developed some technologies that are ready for commercialisation. Dry tanning, which eliminates the use of polluting chromium and water, is one of the techniques. Enzymes are used for dehairing and opening up of the leather fibres for further treatment. Calling it a game-changing technology, B Chandrasekaran, director of the institute, informed that it has been given to 50 tanneries in Kanpur. According to him, the industry is not only controlling pollutants, but it is also saving 20 per cent of the operational cost as they now do not have to import chromium. To adopt the technology, the industry would need to mod...