Performing tangible actions to achieve credible solutions—making eco-friendly cleaning agents and raising awareness on chemically-intense products to control pollution.
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The unsettling sight of the Bellandur Lake—a foamy, cloudy demon gargling bubbles—and plastic litter—baffling mounds disposed irresponsibly—motivated me to act and revive our wonderful world. We all know that the climate crisis is going off the charts and the practise of ‘Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle’ is gaining alarming urgency. Thus, it’s high time that we all think about saving our nature...
A refreshingly sweet and innocent observation by a child of an otherwise very worrying issue of—river pollution—with a heartwarming appeal for water conservation.
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Once upon a time, during the holidays, I was travelling from Delhi to my village nearby. On the way, we guys came across the Yamuna River. Looking at the river, my younger brother instantly commented, “It doesn’t snow in Delhi even during winters. But here, on the river, it seems to have snowed in peak summers!”...
Water is colourless. But when we observe any large water body, it appears blue. When it has a lot of impurities (or nutrients), it can vary from red, green, white, grey, brown, black to anything that is weird and filthy. Read about some important terms related to different colours of water that we come across in common parlance or which researchers use to understand better this elixir of life.
Bluewater: ‘Why is water blue in colour?’—humans must have raised this question since time immemorial. But in 1921, this query was resolved when Sir CV Raman raised and answered it successfully...
What are Micro-Plastics?
Micro-plastics have not been defined in particular. They are just tiny particles that result from the disintegration of bigger plastic materials. However, most researchers say that any plastic smaller than 5 millimetres in size is a micro-plastic. Hence, these are really, really teeny-tiny!
Plastics are made up of polymers, which are derived from fossil fuels. A whole lot of chemicals are added to the polymers—close to 10,000—to ensure that a given plastic has the desired properties...
The Yamuna River is the largest tributary of the Ganga. It travels barely a distance of 22 km through Delhi. However, this region contributes to about 80 per cent of its total pollution load. Currently, this stretch discharges waste water from almost 22 drains into the river. Untreated effluents, containing toxins and chemicals, released from houses and industries creates froth (white foam) on the river’s surface. Algae, in addition, prevents sunlight from venturing into the depths of this river. Plus, low water level in the river causes concentration of these pollutants…
Salem is one of the largest cities in Tamil Nadu, India. More than 1 million people live here. Piyush Manush is the convener of the Salem Citizen's Forum (SCF). SCF is an informal group, involved in protecting Salem's environment. The lake was built by the British for irrigating nearby farmlands. The lake is spread across 58 acres and used to be a major water body of the city. But gradually it became a dumpsite for Salem's municipal solid waste. In 2010 SCF took over the work of cleaning the lake. But first, they had to get rid of the garbage and then desilt the waterbody.
Wetlands purify water through natural processes where aquatic plants act as bio-filters. Plants absorb phosphates and nitrates from the water and roots help to put back oxygen into the water.
Constructed wetlands are a cost-effective method of treating wastewater and polluted water bodies. These are low cost solutions and can be easily made or replicated.
Can we control the ongoing water crisis all by ourselves? It's not about whose responsibility it is, but what we are doing about it.
“When water became a commodity, I lost my freedom. More importantly, it put a financial burden on those who couldn’t afford to buy it. Today, water companies sell drinking water and advertise it being rich in minerals and full of vitamins. Big corporates such as soda companies have been buying rivers for industrial purpose and farmers have no water to irrigate their fields. As the rivers dry up, animals also start wandering and enter villages in search of water, with a threat of getting trapped or killed.
A group of students have come together to address their water worries
The aqueducts connecting the roof to the ground have been aesthetically designed as a part of the building through tiled wall depressions rather than pipes. The rainwater collected from the roof directly recharges the percolation pits. Even inside the building, there are open courtyards with steps for the water to move down and recharge the groundwater. Our sole aim as of now is to recharge the groundwater aquifer, which is a problem in a city like Gurugram, which suffers from alarming drop in groundwater levels. It is due to this, that we are privileged to support well developed green spaces without consuming the city water supply.
A Kolkata man has taken it upon himself to document life and livelihoods along the river Ganga
[The Ganga] is dying. Pollution from the factories and farms of the fastest-growing large economy in the world . . . has turned its waters toxic—BBC The Ganges, India’s holy river, is also one of the most polluted in the world . . . There are many causes of Ganges river pollution—English Online
