-The Hindu Despite the dense forest cover in the Western Ghats, Kerala had only about 19% resilience while Sikkim had 100%. Chennai: The increasing variations in rainfall, frequent drought and heat waves along with changes in evapotranspiration tend to alter the hydrological balance. This is turn affects the ecosystem productivity. A study was therefore carried out in India to assess the resilience of terrestrial ecosystem to drought at the district and State...

-The Hindu Kerala has a unique opportunity to put in place climate-resilient water management The recent floods in Kerala saw heroic rescues from raging rivers swollen by unprecedented rains — and the opening of shutters of major dams. There were allegations of ‘human blunders’ while the government said it could have done little else. The truth is that India has not learnt its lessons from recent floods, in Assam, Bihar and Tamil...

-The Hindu What Dhrubajyoti Ghosh closely observed and learnt from Kolkata’s wetland communities If ever there was someone who lived true to his name, it was Dhrubajyoti Ghosh. In Sanskrit, “Dhrubajyoti” refers to the light (jyoti) emitted by the pole star (dhruva tara). The ecologist, who passed away in February, was unwavering in his commitment to the cause he lived for and fearlessly defended: saving the ecologically critical East Kolkata Wetlands from...

-VillageSquare.in Strict parameters set by the central government has made it tougher for the states to declare a drought and seek relief funds from New Delhi Mumbai (Maharashtra): The Indian government is leaving no stone unturned to fight the occurrence of drought in the country. The Manual for Drought Management, released in December 2016 by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, prescribes “new scientific indices and parameters” for a “more...

-Livemint.com The river interlinking project will adversely affect land, forests, biodiversity, rivers and the livelihood of millions of people Interlinking of rivers is a very expensive proposal. It has huge adverse environmental impacts on land, forests, biodiversity, rivers and the livelihood of millions of people. It is a socially disruptive proposition. It will not only add to climate change impact (destruction of forests means destruction of carbon sinks, and reservoirs in tropical...