Saving the degraded river basin

Assam shows how water needs can be met without disturbing a river’s ecology

Manor Din: Arupjyoti Saikia on how the Burmese invasion of Assam transpired

It is a story of court intrigues that took place in the final decade of the 600-year-old Ahom Kingdom, one of India’s greatest polities

‘No govt support’, villagers of Majuli river island build bamboo embankment to prevent erosion

The flood prevention measures by the state of inferior quality 

What is the best time for rhino translocation in Assam? December, says study

Adult rhinos are the best candidates for translocation, a new study has said

Book Excerpt: The tale of how silk travelled from China and spread worldwide

Aarathi Prasad tells the fabric’s millennia-old history in her new book

Quest for Modern Assam: The vast canvas of a small state and its struggle for identity and modernity

Arupjyoti Saikia’s book does not disappoint; in the space of just over half a century, it covers the breathless changes that have …

What do the top climate change stories of 2021 tell us

Climate change to affect water availability, alter food production: UN report

Water mediated many climate change impacts on agriculture, said the report

Peninsular river basins in India more likely to face widespread flooding than transboundary rivers: Study

Researchers looked into drivers of widespread flooding in seven Indian subcontinental river basins

Assam floods 2023: Around 34,000 people affected; IMD predicts heavy rain for next 5 days

Assam gets 2,818 millimetres of rainfall in a year and has received nearly 10 per cent of the rains in the last 10 days

Ganga, Brahmaputra, Indus water levels to rise by 2050: New IPCC report

In the Indus, runoff is expected to increase due to accelerated snowmelt; in the Ganga and Brahmaputra, it would be due to more precipitation, …

Indo-Gangetic Plain drying up? Water storage declined, ‘stream flow’ rose in Ganga, Indus basins last year, says WMO

Half a billion people live in the Indo-Gangetic Plain across Pakistan, Nepal, India and Bangladesh  

Talking with the Chinese on the Brahmaputra

An Indian academic shares her experience of interacting with her Chinese peers on the transboundary Brahmaputra river, their mutual concerns, and …

Embankments are temporary, not permanent solutions to floods: Experts

In the wake of floods in Assam and Bihar, experts question the practice of only using embankments for flood mitigation

Live storage in India’s reservoirs increases by 1%

India’s 143 major reservoirs had live storage of 147.631 BCM or 83% of these reservoirs’ total capacity

How locals are trying to save the dying Deepor Beel

Some initiatives, along with bettering the health of the beel, have also provided employment to women from the community

Indus river system among world’s most vulnerable water towers: Study

The research, which looked at 78 global water towers, said they were at risk, mostly due to the threats of climate change

Killing the Ganges river dolphin, slowly

The impact of the Jal Marg Vikas Project on Ganges River dolphins, in both the Ganga and Brahmaputra, could be catastrophic

Assamese villagers become trailblazers in adaptive agriculture

From seed banks to rainwater harvesting, one village on the Brahmaputra has spread innovative agriculture through the region – as farmers …

‘It is high time India has a law that recognises climate migrants’

Down To Earth speaks to Member of Parliament, Pradyut Bordoloi,on the Climate Migrants (Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2022

Here is what Assam can do to prevent floods

It can strengthen embankments, dredge rivers, address river erosion and take wise policy decisions

Raised shelters, changing crop patterns: How Assam is adapting to frequent floods

Assamese villagers are adopting climate-proofing or flood-resilient mechanisms to cope with floods better

Daily Court Digest: Major environment orders (May 16, 2019)

Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal

Climate crisis in North East India: Monsoon variations should ring alarm bells NOW

Over the past century or so, rainfall in the region, along with the flood-drought cycle, has changed character for the worse. The phenomenon has …

Assam floods: 85% of Kaziranga submerged, 9 one-horned rhinos dead

The national park is home to more than 2,000 one-horned rhinos, the largest population of this species in the world