People do pay for latrines

New housing to reuse water

Polluted to the brim

Heightened risk

“Superbug” gene levels in microbes are 60 per cent higher in the upper Gangetic areas during pilgrimage season

Coliform will count

Mired in sewage

Temple town Guruvayur adamant on dumping its sewage in backwater villages despite stringent laws, opposition

The town farmers built

News 360°- Briefs

Ganga bazaar

The Modi government has invested hugely in its mission to clean the Ganga, inviting companies and countries to offer their technological expertise.…

Why excreta matters? Sunita Narain answers

Darkling waters

The Bagmati loses its way in Kathmandu amid political vacuum and urban chaos

Gutter will sparkle

Ludhiana is going all out to clean up Buddha Nallah, the sole receptacle of its industrial filth

New plan, old problem

The proposed Sewerage Master Plan 2031 that promises to end Delhi's drainage troubles underestimates the wastewater volume of the city

Kumbh: time to come clean

Doubts dog toilet-building campaign

Over half a billion, which is nearly half of the country’s population, defecate in the open

Can faith heal?

Billed as the largest gathering of humanity in recorded history, Maha Kumbh has commenced in Allahabad. Over the next few weeks, pilgrims will …

Living on the edge

Coastal South Asia is fragile and vulnerable to climate change impacts. Yet, governments are setting up industries, ports and promoting tourism …

Centre and state join hands to clean the Yamuna

A Special Purpose Vehicle has been created to enable officials to clean the river on the lines of the Sabarmati riverfront model

Science & Technology - Briefs

Why better sewage management in Chennai will help fight floods

Down To Earth Editor Sunita Narain explains how the city's three rivers and 320 tanks and lakes that worked as flood barriers are used mostly for …

Proposed new standards on water quality a sheer waste

In absence of proper sewage treatment facilities, the new draft will not be able to ensure quality of both drinking and bathing water

Sewage treatment plant failure leads to jaundice outbreak in Shimla

More than 1,000 people get jaundice as city’s sewage mixes with the drinking water supply

The power of sewage

Maharashtra is all set to use treated sewage water in thermal power plants. Can this move be scaled up?

'78% of sewage generated in India remains untreated'

Analysis and reporting by Centre for Science and Environment and Down To Earth magazine reveal how Indian cities are disposing of excreta in an …

Dry cleaning Hussainsagar

Telangana plans to first empty Hyderabad's great lake and then refill it with rainwater. Experts say it is nothing but a harebrained plan