Book Review

Book Review: An odyssey through waterbodies

Guest Article by: Abhilash Khandekar 

Book Review : “Shades of Blue—Connecting The Drops In Cities” by Harini Nagendra & Seema Mundoli, Penguin/Viking, Pages: 334, Price: Rs 499/- 

The scarcity of water,  how we use and misuse it and thus the very importance of this very precious resource is yet to dawn upon most Indians. Not that different awareness campaigns in various parts of the country are not held regularly. The media stories about deep water crisis, the plight of most of our rivers and lakes is all known yet criminal neglect of the water sector continues. Be it drinking water in our homes or hotels and other uses like factories, agriculture–all come from the very limited fresh water available to the mankind—0.5%. Over 96% water lies in seas and oceans and is salty; of the 3% of fresh water available, much is locked up in ice, snow and glaciers. So, the humankind have to rely only on the 0.5% water for survival. Authors Harini Nagendra and Seema Mundoli teach sustainability at the Azim Premji University, Bengaluru. They have already published highly readable book—Cities and Canopies which talk about a select important species of trees mostly found in urban areas.

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Dams · Wetlands

North East Wetlands Review 2017: “Remove Ithai Barrage on Loktak Lake”

MANIPUR

Loktak lake is the largest freshwater lake near Moirang in Manipur state. In local language Loktak means end of stream. The lake is referred as the “lifeline of Manipur” as it is highly productive and provides habitat to biota and livelihoods to people. The lake is an Important Bird Area (IBA) and is widely famous for the phumdis (heterogeneous mass of vegetation, soil and organic matter at various stages of decomposition) floating over it.

In 1990, the lake was included under Ramsar Convention as a ‘Wetland of International Importance’. But over the years, NHPC’s hydropower projects specially Ithai Barrage have led to severe impact on the lake eco-system and serious disturbance in local community.  Despite this, NHPC has been pushing more hydro projects on the lake streams. As a result, local people and concerned have univocally and repeatedly started protesting against proposed hydro projects and demanding removal of Ithai barrage. And the demand have only grown louder in 2017.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loktak_Lake

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