
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.


Lucknow, a case study for permanently disappearing aquifers in north India

Accelerating rate of groundwater depletion in Punjab, worries farmers and experts

[Commentary] Water tariff could be a tool to improve water use efficiency in domestic sector

Industries dump chemicals into fields, pollute Ajnar river in Madhya Pradesh

Once the lifeline of villages, ponds in Haryana turn into garbage sites

[Video] When sand mining alters a river, flooding farmlands in Spiti

As Lohari village is submerged for a dam, homes, farms and memories are drowned

Hard constructions continue to erode Kerala’s coastline, leaving communities stranded

Fish famine, livelihood loss because of upcoming Vizhinjam port, say fishers of south Kerala
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
- Industrial water pollution threatens residents in Haryana’s Kundli area
- [Photos] Maharashtra’s female farm workforce struggles in the shadows of floods
- Sewing their way to a sustainable menstruation
- Continued fluoride contamination of groundwater is a glaring public health issue in central India

India's Iconic Landscapes
- North India’s hills are feeling the heat too, but differently
- [Commentary] Is expansion of aquaculture in the Indian Sundarbans an ecological threat or a pathway to sustainable development?
- One year of Similipal forest fire: The hits and misses
- Grasses spur mangroves to grow in an erosion-riddled Sundarbans patch

Beyond Protected Areas
- West Africa’s illegal online bird trade finds most buyers in South Asia
- Habitat changes may be causing sarus cranes to form breeding trios
- New gharial hatchlings in Nepal a hopeful sign for the critically endangered reptile
- Plastic, glass and other waste materials found in elephant dung in Uttarakhand

Conserving Agro-biodiversity
- Farmers fear low fruit production as Kashmir records decline in precipitation
- Scientists sequence chickpea genome which could inform crop improvement efforts
- [Video Explainer] What is the significance of the Biological Diversity Amendment Bill and why did it face opposition?
- Tackling agrobiodiversity loss in Odisha’s Similipal protected area

Just Transitions
- Unaccounted deaths lay bare the dark side of sand mining
- In the midst of coal shortage reports, a coal mine extension is approved in pristine Hasdeo forests
- As India looks to shift to renewables, Jharkhand’s coal mine workers fear loss of jobs and social security
- Are power lines turning Kutch into a bird graveyard from a bird paradise?
