Turkmenistan intends to create a huge lake in the desert by filling a natural depression with drainage water. Critics say it's a bad idea that could even spark a war.

This is Dhirubhai Ambani's birthplace. Located right on the coast, it is one of the hundreds of villages along Gujarat's 1600-km coastline which have been inflicted by salinity of soil. Kukasvada, which has a population of 10,000, does not have sweet water wells. Villagers have stopped getting drinking water in the taps. The few rich families here purchase water from private tankers at Rs 350 per 1,000-litre. Others travel several kilometres to fetch water.

Ganga Express Way is a project of the Uttar Pradesh Government. According to this, an eight-lane road is to be constructed along the left side of the River Ganga, between Noida and Ballia. This correspondence deals with a critical analysis of the project in amalgamation with environmental concerns. (Correspondence)

Rapid urbanization causes disorganized and uplanned growth of towns and cities. The pressure of an ever growing population becomes a burden on the limited civic amenities which are virtually collapsing. Asymmetrical growth of urban centres consumes agricultural land adjacent to these, resulting in lower agricultural productivity.

A Decision Support System (DSS)on bio-drainage for reclamation of salt affected and waterlogged lands was developed using Visual Basic (VB) protocols. The DSS permits the user to interactively enter input information viz., the area available for plantation, average annual rainfall, initial and desired water table depth, soil type and the plantation type.

A decision support system was developed for reclamation and management of alkali soils. The decision support system identified different reclamation and management techniques as land levelling, gypsum requirement and its addition, cultivation of tolerant crops, cultural practices, afforestation, groundwater recharge, groundwater use and surface drainage.

The erratic and heavy rainfall last year has turned a large part of the deep desert country into a vast submerged landscape.
Barmer District, Thar Desert, Rajasthan has an average rainfall of 280 mm annually, but during the monsoon of 2006 it received about 600 mm of rain within 2

Desertification involves many countries featuring different ecological, economic, and social conditions. In Mediterranean Europe, high human pressure, economic development, and climatic changes combine to produce land consumption, soil erosion, salinization, and fire risk, all considered as key factors to start desertification processes.

For drylands with low inherent levels of biological productivity, coping with climate change presents particular problems. The world’s drylands cover over 40 % of the global terrestrial area and house more than 2 billion inhabitants MEA, (2005). The world’s poorest people live in these areas and they will be hit hardest by the adverse effects of climate change. The effects will manifest themselves not through increased temperatures per se but rather via changes in hydrological cycles characterised by both increased droughts and paradoxically, increased risks of flooding.

the proposed dam on the Pedhi river in Maharashtra has sparked protests in the state. People of Bhatkuli tehsil in Amravati district have threatened to intensify agitation against the proposed

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