-Down to Earth While last year, the state’s 14,679 villages were hit by drought, this time 20,000 villages are already facing drought-like conditions The Maharashtra government has identified 201 talukas in 32 districts that are facing water scarcity owing to deficient rainfall in the southwest monsoon season. As per a preliminary list of drought-affected areas, which is available with the Down To Earth, maximum drought-affected talukas are in Jalgaon district (13) followed by...

-TheWire.in The Narendra Modi government has initiated many projects to clean up the Ganga, but pollution has increased at several sites where the river's water is monitored. The water is not fit for drinking, bathing or domestic purposes. Professor G.D. Agarwal, the prominent environmentalist who spent several years for the cause of cleaning up river Ganga, passed away on October 11. He had been on a fast for 112 days. Professor Agarwal...

-Livemint.com The production of ‘mahua’ is finally entering the formal economy as new initiatives seek to upscale this indigenous drink, selling it across the country and even the globe It is a cloudy morning in Nangur village in Bastar district, Chattisgarh. It is a settlement of a little over 400 families, considered fairly large in these parts. We make a bumpy journey down a narrow, unpaved road intermittently shaded by sargi (sal)...

-The Times of India CHANDIGARH: Waste dumped in landfill sites is contaminating surrounding groundwater in the Tricity, according to a PGI study published recently in an international journal. Scientists fear non-segregation and unregulated dumping of the garbage has deteriorated the quality with the passage of time, an alarming sign. Experts say that once the groundwater becomes polluted, contamination persists and becomes difficult to treat due to physical inaccessibility. Concentrations of heavy metal ions...

-Down to Earth India's most comprehensive study ever is important in the face of the Centre denying health repercussions due to uranium contamination of groundwater India has put its largest ever groundwater testing for uranium contamination on high gear. Started by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in 2014, the testing drive, which had slowed down, has again picked up in recent months. The drive is to be finished by 2019 and...