Book Review · Rivers

Book Review: Is a River Alive?

Guest blog by Dr. Ruchi Shree

Is a River Alive? (By Robert Macfarlane, 2025, Hamish Hamilton, an imprint of Penguin, London) is a narrative of hope in despair. The author, a nature writer and Professor of Literature and the Environmental Humanities has written numerous bestselling books.  Some of them are Underland, Landmarks, The Old Ways, The Wild Places and Mountains of the Mind which have been translated into many languages and won numerous prizes around the world. His writings have been widely adopted for different modes of creative expressions namely music, theatre, film, radio, and dance. Macfarlane’s this book, a detailed account his journey of three rivers across three different continents (South America, North America and Asia) is equally personal and political.  This book on rivers is equally about mountains, seas, birds and all other living beings.

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Delhi · Urban Rivers · Yamuna River

A beginning of the Pipe Solution: Policy Intervention To Reduce Phosphates in Detergents

Guest Article by: Manu Bhatnagar

Consequent to INTACH’s efforts with the Yamuna Monitoring Committee [YMC] of NGT the following results were obtained in 2021:  

“The Delhi government on Monday (June 14, 2021) banned the sale, storage, transportation, and marketing of soaps and detergents not conforming to the latest BIS parameters to curb pollution in the Yamuna river. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had in January (2021) accepted recommendations of the Yamuna Monitoring Committee (YMC) which had suggested directing the Delhi government to issue orders “prohibiting sale, storage and transportation and marketing of detergents which do not conform to the revised BIS standards”. All the authorities concerned, including local bodies, civil supplies department and district administrations having control over shops and other establishments dealing with sale, storage, transportation and marketing facilities for soaps and detergents in Delhi should ensure the compliance of directions through strict vigil and surprise checks, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) said in an order issued on Monday. 

In its report submitted to the NGT, the YMC had also suggested that all the manufacturers of soaps and detergents be directed to disclose the ingredients present in the product and display the same on the package.” – The above as reported in Business Standard of 15 June, 2021. [i]

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Dams · Rivers

Review of fascinating Dams, Rivers related developments in American continent in 2017

Brazil Announces the End of Mega-Dams in the Amazon The Brazilian government has announced it will stop building mega-dams in the Amazon, according to reports in the Brazilian newspaper O Globo and in an article published in Mongabay. This is great news indeed. Congratulations to everyone in Brazil Campaign.  https://www.internationalrivers.org/resources/brazil-announces-the-end-of-mega-dams-in-the-amazon-international-rivers-statement-16587 (3 Jan 2018) Continue reading “Review of fascinating Dams, Rivers related developments in American continent in 2017”