A familiar curtain of toxic smog enveloped the National Capital Region (NCR) and its neighbouring areas in the last week of October, marking the start of the pollution season that…
Marine organisms take piggyback rides on plastic, rubber, glass, foam sponge, metal and wood debris to reach the shores of southeastern India, raising concerns about local biodiversity conservation, a new…
Pharmaceutical drugs are widely used in healthcare to prevent and treat diseases. There are pills, syrups, or shots for almost every known health concern. However, there is growing evidence that…
Strolling on the streets of Bichhri village, one sees water containers of all sizes kept outside or hung on the windows of most houses. One such house, half-built, covered with…
The legacy landfill in Kodaikanal, a hill town in the Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu, caught fire about four months ago. Attempts were made to douse it but even months…
It is early August and Kolar is shades of brown and green. Unexpected showers in the previous months have lifted the spirits of the farmers here. Called the land of…
A new study has confirmed the presence of microplastic contaminants in Jhelum river, locally known as Vyeth, in Jammu and Kashmir. The study suggests that improper municipal solid waste (MSW)…
Plastic is pervasive in our lives – now in everything, everywhere, all at once. But plastic’s most sinister avatar is the one that’s barely visible - microplastic. It is less…
A new study by scientists from Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal investigated the effect of anthropogenic waste on the construction of birds’ nests and recommended limiting…
Thamirabarani is a perennial river in south India that flows through the districts of Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu. Originating from the Western Ghats, the life-giving river dribbles, sprints…
A popular snack in India, makhana, is the seed of a water lily species, Euryale ferox, found in south and east Asia. When harvested, it is actually a tough blackish…
A new study by the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata, found the first record of plastiglomerates in the Indian sub-continent on Aves Island in the Andaman archipelago.…
The Dhapa landfill, a major unsegregated solid waste dumping ground in Kolkata, has been growing for over three decades, since 1987. It is set to be cleared by June 2024,…
Ten state pollution control boards across the Indo-Gangetic Plain, which faces severe air pollution, have a surplus of funds each year, finds a recent report by the Centre for Policy…
Fifty-two-year-old Subhash Vaishnav lives in Gulabpura town in the Bhilwara district of Rajasthan. He wakes up at 5 a.m. every day, and after finishing his daily chores at home, he…
Twelve days on, smoke is still billowing. On March 2, 25-ft-high ‘hills’ of garbage, extending over 40 acres at the Brahmapuram waste plant in Kochi caught fire, blanketing Kerala’s commercial…
India is the fourth-largest producer of agrochemicals in the world, declared agricultural minister Narendra Singh Tomar, at a speech in September 2021. Speaking at the 41st annual general meeting of…
Off the tourist trail and away from the resorts that crowd Munnar’s lush hills in the Western Ghats is a two-storey red-brick building that overlooks tea gardens, eucalyptus plantations, mountains…
Environmental activists in Mizoram have slammed the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL) for not following environmental laws and regulations, while undertaking highway projects in the state. These projects…
When COVID-19 started spreading in 2020, humans across the world ran through 4.5 trillion doses of myriad pharmaceuticals. In 2021, India alone sold 3.5 billion pills of just one drug…