.jpg)
MOST POPULAR
- Man-made reasons for Uttarakhand disaster 1
- Dhari Devi idol goes missing 2
- Pedestrian questions 14
- Gujarat pollution board gets a makeover in efficiency 33
- Transition failure 1
- Where all did extreme events cause disasters last decade
- Rains over past three days extreme weather event: scientists 1
- Monsoon arrives early; kills over 30 people in Uttarakhand
- Rush of hydropower projects on Ganga, tributaries
- Out of turn
- Don’t just cash in on tigers 18
- Pedestrian questions 14
- Weather dice is loaded 13
- “Come elections, our forests are looted” 10
- Odisha's waterman 6
- Kudankulam meltdown 5
- Contaminating millets 4
- Risk of corruption clouds Andhra Pradesh solar bids 4
- Waging war on state 4
- Is Ganga losing its resilience? 4
FOLLOW US ON
Western Ghats
The link with a hole
Issue Date: Apr 30, 2003
A committee that was set up under the state irrigation department on August 26, 2000, is evaluating the plan. While its chairperson, G S Paramasivaiya, mentioned that the river would be diverted "purely by gravity", he refused to divulge details about the scheme's assessment criteria on the pretext that the interim feasibility and technical reports were "confidential". Down To Earth has, however, obtained copies of the two documents dated March 23, 2001, and October 2002, respectively. From a logical viewpoint, they are an awkward read.
Mountain biodiversity tops Montreal meet agenda
Issue Date: Apr 15, 2003
the entire gamut of activities that threaten ecosystems in the mountain regions dominated discussions at the meeting of the scientific advisory body to the Convention on Biological Diversity (cbd): from habitat fragmentation, poaching and wildlife trade in the Himalayan belt to grazing pressure, encroachment and fuelwood demand in the Western Ghats.
Satellite mapping of flora hotspots
Issue Date: Feb 28, 2003
indian scientists have digitally mapped rich flora spread over an area of about 84,000 square kilometres of thick forest. The first phase of this exercise was conducted in the biodiversity hotspots of the northeast, western Himalaya and Western Ghats with the aid of state-of-the-art satellite technology.
Charaka and Sushruta reborn
Issue Date: Jun 15, 2002
The planners of Bangalore University's new BioPark, located within Jnana Bharati -- the 1,200-acre campus grounds situated about 30 kms outside the city -- say it is a novel venture. Since 2000, 300 acres of the envisaged 800-acre park have been covered with three lakh saplings.
Satellite Maps Forests
Issue Date: May 15, 2002
The hills are alive with tradition. One method killsslashes and burnsthe other is healingand sustains. In the northeast hills of India are found medicinal plants that are treasured for their life giving potential. Tribals use these plants to kill pain and treat diseases.
Mapping the reek
Issue Date: Jan 31, 2002
for thousands of years now, a stumpy tree prized for its heartwood and sandal oil, has been a source of pride for India. Yes, it is none other than the sandalwood tree. However, indiscriminate harvesting and rampant poaching have left the once luxuriant stands in shambles. It is feared that such a loss may have jeopardised the genetic resources of the tree.
Butterflies slip off...
Issue Date: Sep 30, 2001
neither agricultural plantations nor selectively logged areas can provide for forest butterfly species, prove results of two recent research undertaken in the Western Ghat region of India.
These new findings show that many of the butterfly species in the region, particularly those adapted to living inside rainforest habitats, are prone to extinction when natural forest habitat is altered.
Silence broken, again
Issue Date: Aug 15, 2001
it is not all quiet in the Silent Valley. Still resounding with the echoes of India's first environment movement, this precious tract of rainforests in Kerala's Kundali hills of Western Ghats, is threatened once more. As the Kerala government plans to revive a hydroelectric project in the valley, which was shelved in 1981, environmentalists across the country are in a tizzy.
There is never enough water
Issue Date: Aug 15, 2001
These are amazing statistics but if you are interested in the subject of water and recognise its importance for human survival and development, they are a major warning call. I was in Kerala last week for the release of our new book Making Water Everybody's Business: Practice and Policy of Water Harvesting . P Basak, executive director of the Kerala government's Centre for Water Resources Development and Management ( cwdrm ), who helped to organise the meeting reeled out one water statistic after another.
Scared to leap
Issue Date: May 31, 2001
The Himalayan newt, also called the Indian salamander, takes shelter among bamboo stumps in and around the hills of Darjeeling. It lives close to calm and still waters. During the monsoons, it feeds on algae, water beetles and bugs. After the showers, it leaps down on insect larvae, snails, slugs and earthworms. During the dry period of the year, it manages just as well by eating termites, wood lice and insects infesting rotting bamboo stumps.
