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Safe water costs 40 times more in coastal Bangladesh than cities0
- Blog
- January 18, 2021
The Third Pole Water is everywhere in coastal Bangladesh, but is increasingly undrinkable as sea level rise caused by climate change is turning water sources saline Brajasundari buys water, a new experience in previously water-abundant Bangladesh, where salt water intrusion is affecting water sources [Image by: Riyan Talha] Riyan Talha, January 5, 2021 Twice a
READ MORERopeways’ green image masks potential damage in Himalayas0
- Blog
- January 9, 2021
Ropeways are being touted by the Indian government as an environment-friendly form of transport in the Himalayas, but experts and locals say they risk disturbing fragile mountain ecosystems and disrupting livelihoods Ropeway terminal under construction in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh [image by: Meenakshi Kapoor] Meenakshi Kapoor, January 4, 2021 “We are not against the ropeway
READ MOREPakistan’s first city metro: Another ‘huge white elephant’?0
- Blog
- December 15, 2020
The Third pole Belt and Road Built under CPEC, Pakistan’s Orange Line Metro Train promised to reduce traffic and cut pollution in Pakistan’s second-biggest city, but is failing to draw commuters Currently only about 0.6% of Lahore’s population use the Orange Line, with 24% of the trains’ capacity being used [Image by: Xinhua/Jamil Ahmed] Zofeen
READ MOREHeatwaves, floods, storms new normal in pandemic year: WMO0
- Blog
- December 3, 2020
People across South Asia and China paid a heavy price in 2020 as severe cyclones, persistent heavy rain and floods set new records Flood in Kamrup, Assam, July 23, 2020. The WMO says this was one of India’s two wettest years since 1994 [Image by: David Talukdar/Alamy] Natalie Taylor, Soumya Sarkar, December 3, 2020 Climate
READ MOREEight Hindu Kush Himalayan countries issue a united call0
- Blog
- November 24, 2020
Despite serious tensions, governments recognise their joint dependence on the water tower of Asia The eight countries agreed to speak in a united voice at global climate and biodiversity negotiations [Image by: Zoonar GmbH/Alamy] Joydeep Gupta, November 16, 2020 The Hindu Kush Himalayas may finally get a united eight-country voice to safeguard its ecosystem, if
READ MOREOpinion: An equation to restore river basins in South Asia0
- Blog
- November 23, 2020
Non-profit organisation INTACH has developed a model of basin management that prioritises the flow of medium-sized and minor rivers in the Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra basins A melon field planted on the Yamuna’s dry riverbed, which flows past the Taj Mahal in Agra. The Yamuna is almost dry for most of its course downstream of
READ MOREIndia: Indigenous rights undermined for hydropower in Himachal Pradesh0
- Blog
- November 6, 2020
Villagers in the northern Indian state say they have been left out of a crucial decision on the second and third stage of a hydropower project with huge environmental risks The Sutlej river in Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh. Local communities worry that hydropower projects upstream will dry up their supply of water for irrigation [Image by:
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Water pollution: Arsenic water is slowly poisoning millions of Indians in Ganga basin0
- Blog
- November 4, 2020
Over 30 years since high levels of arsenic were found in groundwater in West Bengal, little has been done to avert the slow-burn health crisis. Indu Devi, 35, of Chapar village of Moinuddinagar block in Samastipur district of Bihar. She is suffering from lesions on her hands and feet but she never bothered to find
READ MOREIndigenous residents protest huge coal mine plan in India0
- Blog
- October 21, 2020
West Bengal government’s dream to develop the world’s second-largest coal mine becomes a nightmare as elections loom Residents from indigenous communities protesting the plan to start a coal mine in Birbhum district of West Bengal, India [Image by: Gurvinder Singh] Gurvinder Singh, October 9, 2020 Sunita Hansda almost broke down at the thought of
READ MOREPakistan government aims to protect new parks but neglects the old0
- Blog
- October 17, 2020
The Third Pole The government has expressed a commitment to increase protected areas as part of its Green Stimulus package, but its failure to pay the salaries of wardens at key national parks exposes a flawed approach to conservation Over 4,000 of the screw-horned goat, the markhor, are found in the Chitral Gol National Park
READ MOREAir pollution in winter could exacerbate the severity and spread of coronavirus in South Asia0
- Blog
- October 15, 2020
Long-term exposure to pollutants before the pandemic may be associated with severe symptoms from Covid-19 and a greater risk of death. Air quality in Delhi slipped to ‘poor’ for the first time in three months in October. | Reuters 15 October 2020 Soumya Sarkar, Zofeen Ebrahim & Ramesh Bhushal The dramatic drop in air pollution after large swathes of
READ MOREPakistani military in charge, provinces sidelined in a revived CPEC0
- Blog
- October 5, 2020
A new CPEC Authority aims to centralise decision-making and take autonomy away from the provinces where the corridor’s key projects will be built. This makes the future of CPEC and its environmental consequences even more opaque A coal power plant in Sahiwal, Punjab. Six coal plants have been built under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor so
READ MOREIgnored minority peasants crushed by poverty after Sindh floods0
- Blog
- October 2, 2020
While the media focused on havoc in urban centres, rural Sindh – particularly marginalised minorities – suffered badly in heavy rains this year due to displacement and loss of income An elderly displaced woman peasant sits on a roadside near her cot while trying to cover her face on Digri road in Digri taluka of
READ MOREGlacial lakes become more deadly as Himalayan ice melts0
- Blog
- September 29, 2020
Researchers map the most dangerous lakes and call on China and Nepal to work together to reduce the threat of catastrophic flooding A glacial lake in front of Ama Dablam, a mountain in Nepal [Image by: Zoonar GmbH/Alamy] Ramesh Bhushal, September 29, 2020 New research has found that more glacial lakes in the Himalayas are forming,
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