Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has welcomed today’s Supreme Court order banning the use, sale, production and export of endosulfan with immediate effect. This landmark judgment comes on the heels of India’s grudging acceptance at the Stockholm Convention that endosulfan is a serious health hazard and that it should be banned.

Watch public hearing proceeds of a port project in Gujarat.

CSE welcomes the shift in Indian government's position on on endosulfan at the Stockholm Convention and wants government to expedite the phase out as its health hazards are now known & accepted.

Every Indian city, worth its salt, was known by its water body. Structures -- tanks, lakes, step wells and the channels to convey rainwater –determined the city’s water manners. Today, these water bodies are a shame – encroached, full of sewage, garbage or just filled up and built over. In state after state, citizens and NGOs have filed legal cases for protection of lakes. And the courts have responded with dramatic verdicts, which provide the learnings for how these water-systems can be regenerated for the city’s future. This comprehensive database by CSE tracks the cases on important lakes of India in courts.

Dal Lake is one of the world's largest natural lakes. In 1200 AD, the lake covered an area of 75 sq km. By the 1980s, only 25 sq. km survived, and today this lake stretches over barely 12 sq. km.

Unplanned urbanisation and spiralling population have resulted in severe water crisis in Delhi. The state-run water utility, DJB, is fighting a losing battle to plug the gap between demand and supply. Majority of the citizens depend primarily on groundwater to meet their daily requirements, as DJB’s service is inadequate and erratic.

Naini Lake is a natural freshwater lake, of tectonic origin, located amidst Nainital city of Uttarakhand. It is lunar-shaped and has an outlet at the south eastern end. Naini Lake is one of the four lakes in Kumaon hills, the three other being Sattal Lake, Bhimtal Lake and Naukuchiyatal Lake. Balia Nala is the main feeder-stream of the lake.

Bhimtal, is the largest of all the lakes covering 72 ha. Lake Naukuchia tal is the deepest of all, with a maximum of 40.8 m. The lake region of Bhimtal, Naukuchiatal and Sattal is unique for its biodiversity since it falls in the blend zone of Paleastic and Indo-Malayan zoo-geography.

Ecological degradation begun in this lake due to excessive inflow of sediments and sewage from surrounding areas and pollution caused by dumping of solid waste in the water body. From time unknown the villagers of Khurpa tal (leaving downhill of the lake) is dependent on the springs generated below the Khurpa tal.

The Chandola Lake, spread over an area of 1200 hectare, has dried up due to neglect. The government has allowed large-scale encroachment on this water body. It is being for agriculture, as well as for other purposes like processing of waste oil and plastics. Kharicut, the lake’s feeder canal is choked with filth and garbage.