Land Degradation and Livelihoods

Land Degradation, Environment and Food Security, G P Obi Reddy and Dipak Sarkar, Sr. Scientist & Incharge, GIS Section, National Bureau of Soil Survey & Land Use Planning.

In developing countries like India, land degradation has been hastened in recent times due to burgeoning population and the amplified exploitation of natural resources. Land degradation undermines livelihood opportunities – triggers poverty, migration and food insecurity.

Sustainable Land Management, Staff Reporter, Iris Publications, New Delhi.

India accounts for about 2.4 percent of the world’s geographical area but supports about 17 per cent of the world’s human population and more than 15 percent of its livestock.

Cleaning Soils with Phytoremediation, M. L. Dotaniya Scientist and Manju Lata, Scholar, Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal.

Heavy metal pollution has led researchers to look for its containment in various ways. Of the several chemical and physical technologies available, phytoremediation, the use of plants to remediate environmental media, is being pursued as a new approach to low cost cleanup of contaminated soil.

Waste Resource Risks and Challenges of Sustainable Waste Management, Sanjeev Agrawal, Scientist D, Central Pollution Control Board, New Delhi.

Waste can be a resource instead of being the increasing solid, liquid and gaseous burden that it has become. Urban solid or liquid waste management is considered as one of the most recognised, serious and immediate environmental risks confronting municipal authorities in developing countries.

Waste Management, Regional Approach to municipal Solid Waste Management, Amiya Kumar Sahu, Founder and President, National Solid waste Association of India (NSWAI).

Increasing urbanisation and changing lifestyles are generating an enormous quantum of waste that small or even big cities cannot manage independently. To meet the challenge, a regionally organised management of solid waste has been under consideration in our nation. Economy of scale along with pulled professional, technical and human expertise makes such an option viable.

Wastewater Management in Urban India, R M Bhardwaj, Senior Scientist, Central Pollution Control Board, New Delhi.

The growing urban population and the developmental activities in rural India, both exert pressure on water supply and sewage systems. The existing infrastructure is incapable of meeting the ever-increasing demands for domestic as well as industrial water. The author argues that a judicial use of appropriate technologies is the answer to overcome the problems.

Update: Waste Watch, Staff Reporter, Iris Publications, New Delhi.

Waste management is an essential and basic service that needs social engineering and technical interventions. We need to streamline waste management policies in the country for the upkeep of an environmentally sound nation. As responsible citizens we are demanded to recyle and reuse - and keep a lookout for illegal and unhealthy dumping practices.

Artificial Recharge and Sustainable Management of Groundwater, K C Naik, S K Verma, J R Verma and M M Sonkusare, Regional Director, Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), NCCR.

With the increase in demand, withdrawal of groundwater has increased manifold over past few decades resulting in the long-term decline in groundwater levels. A higher rate of withdrawal over several years with heavy pumping coupled with rapid urbanisation has reduced the natural recharge of aquifers. Rainwater harvesting and guiding the non committed surface runoff to a depleted aquifer are ideal solutions for mitigating the problem.

Kashmir: Trek to the Great Lakes, Dr S Srinivasan, Practicing pediatrician in Delhi.

An energetic bunch of 32 trekkers left the slopes of Sonamarg a week earlier, weathered trials and tribulations to emerge humbled by the sheer majesty of Kashmir’s beauty.