Asia Water Wire - Environment

THAILAND: River Diversion Plans For Whose Benefit?

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 23:57:41 -0500

By Kornpan Winwong - Newsmekong*

BANGKOK, Aug 4 (IPS) - Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej’s plans to divert water from rivers in neighbouring Laos to help feed agricultural production faces stiff opposition from activists, who argue the ambitious projects could threaten the environment and local people’s lives.

Water Aplenty, Nor a Drop to Drink

Thu, 22 May 2008 00:18:40 -0500

By Keya Acharya

NEW DELHI, Apr 18 (IPS) - Over 37.7 million people in India are affected by water-borne diseases due to contaminated drinking water supply and an estimated 1.5 million children die of diarrhoea each year, according to newly available statistics.

IRAN: Fishing In Troubled Caspian Waters

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 04:45:00 -0600

Analysis by Kimia Sanati

TEHRAN, Feb 11 (IPS) - The unresolved issue of dividing the Caspian Sea among its five littoral states has become a sensitive one for many Iranians who allege a concession to Russia may be in the making by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government, in return for supporting Iran’s nuclear policies.

INDIA: More Dams Come Up But Irrigated Area Declines

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 04:18:02 -0600

By Bharat Dogra

NEW DELHI, Feb 7 (IPS) - Recent official irrigation statistics have revealed a curious situation in which, after spending 25 billion U.S. dollars on various irrigation projects during 1990-2004, the actual area under irrigation declined from 17.4 million hectares to 14.3 million hectares in the period.

CHINA : Coveting Neighbourhood Energy Resources

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 01:02:20 -0600

By Antoaneta Bezlova

BEIJING, Jan 25 (IPS) - Even as it expands economic cooperation with its wary South-east Asian neighbours, China’s thirst for energy is compelling it to resurrect territorial claims to resources-rich spots in the region that have lain dormant for years.

SOUTH-EAST ASIA: Lao Dam To Feed Thai Energy Hunger

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 00:58:44 -0600

By Johanna Son and Jaime Lim

BANGKOK, Jan 21 (IPS) - News reports that initial work has begun on the Nam Ngun-3 hydropower project in Laos are a stark reminder of Thailand’s increasing reliance on its neighbours to satisfy its appetite for energy.

AUSTRALIA: Activists Split Over Policy on Japanese Whaling

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 00:19:26 -0600

By Stephen de Tarczynski

MELBOURNE, Dec 26 (IPS) - As Australia continues to call on Japan to abandon its whaling program, leading environmental groups are divided in their response to the government’s plan to stop Japanese whaling.

INDONESIA: Forgotten Islands Raise Their Voice

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 02:37:07 -0600

By Ramesh Jaura

NUSA DUA, Bali, Dec 13 (IPS) - 'SIDS' and 'AOSIS', the two agitating words heard repeatedly ten years ago in one of Japan's large cities Kyoto, appear to have evaporated in the tropical heat of the Indonesian island Bali.

Q&A: 'Melting Himalayan Glaciers Threaten India, China'

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 23:43:09 -0600

By Ann Ninan

NEW DELHI, Dec 12 (IPS) - Precious little is expected to emerge from the ongoing United Nations climate change conference in Bali, but climatologists and scientific experts warn that time is rapidly running out for planet earth.

ENVIRONMENT: Pacific Islands Get Climate Change to Water Summit

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 21:10:20 -0600

By Kalinga Seneviratne and Evelyn Agato

BEPPU, Japan, Dec 5 (IPS) - It could have been a Pacific Islands summit on climate change. Of the nine heads of state attending the first Asia Pacific Water Summit (APWS), underway in this Japanese town, seven are from the islands and more concerned with global warming than anything else.

SOUTH KOREA: 'Flush Out the Toilet From the 'Water-Cycle'

Sun, 25 Nov 2007 22:05:23 -0600

By Zofeen Ebrahim

SEOUL, Nov 25 (IPS) - The one message that came across at the just concluded general assembly of the World Toilet Association (WTA) was that conventional flush toilets are not only environment unfriendly but are also a serious public health hazard.

FIJI: Waste Threat Pushes Villagers into Action

Sun, 25 Nov 2007 22:02:37 -0600

By Shailendra Singh*

VUNISINU, Fiji, Nov 24 (IPS/AMIC) - If villagers so used to eating fish caught fresh from the sea begin resorting to tinned fish to supplement their diets, there must be something really wrong somewhere.

THAILAND: Locals Rue Decline of the Bang Pakong River

Sun, 18 Nov 2007 21:58:53 -0600

By Prangtip Daorueng*

CHACHOENGSAO, Thailand, Nov 16 (IPS/AMIC) - "The river has changed. It has become narrow and unusually dry in the dry season," says fisherman Pohnpaisarn Wimonrat. "There is no longer enough fish for a small fisherman like me to catch."

ASIA: Water Worries Plague Region

Sat, 03 Nov 2007 22:08:59 -0500

By Irfan Shahzad*

KARACHI, Pakistan, Nov 2 (IPS/AMIC) – Access to safe water may be touted as a human right, but inadequate supplies, crumbling water systems and the galloping needs of growing populations are forcing experts, government utilities and funding agencies ponder over devising sustainable water service networks in Asia’s teeming cities.

ENVIRONMENT-CHINA: Liao River in Deep Trouble

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 07:06:38 -0500

By Jie Cao*

TIELING, China, Oct 19 (IPS/AMIC) - “When I was young, if we had visitors, we’d go to the river to catch fish with a net. We could catch many big fish of different kinds,” recalled septuagenarian Xie, who lives in this village in the north-eastern Chinese province of Liaoning. “At that time, there were big willows on the riverbank, so the villagers could relax under the trees in summer.