by Ranjan K. Panda The ability of rivers to sustain biodiversity and deliver ecosystem services is governed by the degree to which their natural flow regime and connectivity are maintained. No matter how one perceives a river, whether based on its existence, importance to human or key to progress, if rivers are destroyed, civilisations will perish. In India, dams are often symbols of development in the popular mind. It’s important to build public perceptions around the ecosystem values of rivers, writes Ranjan K. Panda in this commentary. The views in this commentary are that of the author. The other day I asked my friends on social media: What is that one word which comes to their mind when they see a river? Hundreds of them replied and almost everyone said they felt river means water, life. Many equated rivers with freedom, flow of life. For many years I had been wondering if fellow human beings had completely distanced themselves from rivers. These responses dispr...
By Azeefa Fathima “I have had an interest in farming since childhood. On India’s 50th Independence Day in 1997, my friends and I planted 100 teak saplings in our school. VIRUDHUNAGAR: With 50 different types of trees on half an acre at Sundarapandiam village in Virudhunagar’s Watrap, Dr M Subburaj has created a ‘carbon sink’ in an effort to increase oxygen in the atmosphere. A carbon sink is anything that absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases. The 41-year-old Hyderabad professor began working on his ‘Project Oxygen Factory’ during the first wave of the pandemic; back in his hometown owing to the lockdown, he had plenty of time to think and work. Ten of his friends were ready to help him in his venture. “I have had an interest in farming since childhood. On India’s 50th Independence Day in 1997, my friends and I planted 100 teak saplings in our school. Harking back on it, I wanted to do something that would benefit the environment but, at the same time, st...
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