
Mongabay series: The India Water Story
Water is an integral part of India's growth story, whether it is for the country’s growing energy needs or for maintaining food security. However, India is a water-scarce country and the overexploitation of water resources could turn into a barrier for this growth story. With The India Water Story series, Mongabay-India aims to document the status of India’s water resources and examine the link between political/economic activities and water. In this series we will look at the varied forms of water and the impacts on them, including the monsoon, pollution, access to water, business of water, aquatic biodiversity, or its industrial, domestic, and agricultural use. The series will also look into complex facets including the impact of climate change on Himalayan glaciers to India’s monsoon, contamination of water to overexploitation of groundwater, droughts to floods, pollution of water bodies to sewage treatment plants, piped drinking water to sanitation, waterways to aquatic biodiversity, and ecological flow in rivers to hydropower projects. It will further analyse how the national and state governments are spending their budgets on water-related issues and the role of India's industry in innovating to address water-associated challenges.


[Video] Bihar’s makhana and the wetlands they grow in

Environmentalists raise concerns as work on J&K’s Tawi riverfront continues

Finding gondra amid the floods

Farmers accuse a pesticide production company for distorting their crops; demand compensation and remedial action

How an equitable model of irrigation is changing this drought-prone Maharashtra region

Drought conditions force Marathwada farmers to migrate for work as sugarcane cutters

India aims to go big on sugarcane-based ethanol, but water intensity of the crop throws up concerns

[Podcast] Imprints: Lake and archive diving with Atreyee Bhattacharya

Who is extracting Goa’s groundwater?

Government claims every household in Goa has piped water; records, residents disagree

Illegal fish poisoning threatens traditional fishers in Odisha; authorities say no complaints since 2020

[Commentary] Pokkali, a GI-tagged rice variety, could be on the verge of extinction

Risk-informed planning essential to prevent floods in Kochi

Gangetic river dolphins in Assam decline in the wake of anthropogenic pressures

Authorities announce “clean up” of Loktak lake; locals fear loss of fishing commons

How Punjab’s civil society prevented an ecological disaster in already polluted Ludhiana

An upcoming port in Karnataka is shrinking space for olive ridley turtles

A road for a port cuts through the livelihoods of fisherwomen in Uttara Kannada

Karnataka’s port-development spree ignores coastal communities’ concerns
Special series
Wetland Champions
- [Commentary] India establishes the largest network of Ramsar Sites in South Asia
- [Commentary] Wetland champions: Promise from the grassroots
- The story of Jakkur lake sets an example for inclusive rejuvenation projects
- Welcome to Tsomgo lake: Please don’t litter

Environment And Health
- Gig workers in India are exposed to highly polluted air and carcinogens, finds preliminary study
- [Explainer] Living with microplastics, is not fantastic
- Residents in Haryana point to stone crushing units for their respiratory troubles and drop in crop yield
- As heatwaves projected to worsen across India, do vulnerability assessments and heat action plans suffice?

Almost Famous Species
- Hybridisation, roadkills are major threats for the Indian desert cat population
- From abundance to endangerment to revival, Kachchh’s guggal comes a full circle
- [Commentary] Why are evolutionary scientists studying the crawlies?
- The silent trade of elusive small cats in Mizoram

Eco Hope
- Green pilgrimage model balances faith and conservation
- [Video] Restoring the perennial Thamirabarani river with people power
- [Interview] Conservation scientist Joli Rumi Borah on integrating traditional knowledge in research
- [Interview] Scientist Ruth DeFries on deforestation: There isn’t one driver, there’s a different context in different places

India's Iconic Landscapes
- Studies reveal impact of land use on species diversity in rock outcrops
- Improved tiger numbers come with hidden messages on invasives, habitat connectivity
- Gymnosperms that are critical for coniferous forest health may be steadily declining in response to climate change
- Experts call for coexistence, sustainable development as tiger population is close to saturation

Beyond Protected Areas
- [Commentary] India needs a scientific response to mitigate the population of free-ranging dogs
- Hybridisation, roadkills are major threats for the Indian desert cat population
- [Video] Farmers grow paddy for wild elephants in Assam to reduce conflicts
- Megaherbivores could be a potential solution to manage invasive plants, finds study

Conserving Agro-biodiversity
- Architect of India’s Green Revolution, agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan passes away
- Excavating farmlands for highways
- Increasing carbon dioxide is making our food less nutritious
- Ecosystem-based adaptation takes nature-based, people-centric approach to agriculture

Just Transitions
- With no primary data on impacts, government approves an oil extraction technique 500 m outside forests
- Climate action not on track to meet Paris Agreement goals, says Global Stocktake report
- [Interview] Suravee Nayak on why transformative justice for women, Dalits is key for a just transition
- Promised rehabilitation eludes residents living near one of India’s earliest coal mines
