Jal Shakti minister calls for expedited e-flow studies, emphasises stakeholder consultations for river sustainability
Chairing a high-level meeting on the environmental flows of the Ganga River and its tributaries, Patil underscored the need to reassess the 2018 Environmental Flow Notification.
New Delhi, Jul 24 (PTI) Jal Shakti Minister C R Patil on Thursday directed officials to expedite ongoing environmental flow (e-flow) studies and ensure broad-based consultations with stakeholders, calling it a 'vital step in achieving long-term ecological and economic sustainability.' He stressed that evaluating the effectiveness of current programmes would help improve decision-making in water management.
Environmental flows refer to the quantity, timing and quality of water required to sustain freshwater ecosystems and the livelihoods that depend on them.
Over the years, river systems like the Ganga and Yamuna have suffered from reduced flows due to dams, barrages, pollution and encroachments.
To address this, the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has approved several scientific studies.
The National Institute of Hydrology (NIH) Roorkee has been tasked with assessing e-flows in the Chambal, Son and Damodar rivers; IIT Roorkee is evaluating the Ghaghara and Gomti sub-basins; and IIT Kanpur is studying the Kosi, Ganda and Mahananda rivers.
Patil said the initiative marks a shift toward a more inclusive and scientific approach to water governance.
He called for timely evaluations to ensure that efforts are aligned with the goal of preserving river ecosystems and maintaining ecological balance. PTI UZM AMJ AMJ
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News18
3 hours ago
- News18
Neanderthals likely ate fermented meat with a side of maggots
Agency: PTI Last Updated: Indiana, Jul 26 (The Conversation) Scientists long thought that Neanderthals were avid meat eaters. Based on chemical analysis of Neanderthal remains, it seemed like they'd been feasting on as much meat as apex predators such as lions and hyenas. But as a group, hominins – that's Neanderthals, our species and other extinct close relatives – aren't specialised flesh eaters. Rather, they're more omnivorous, eating plenty of plant foods, too. It is possible for humans to subsist on a very carnivorous diet. In fact, many traditional northern hunter–gatherers such as the Inuit subsisted mostly on animal foods. But hominins simply cannot tolerate consuming the high levels of protein that large predators can. If humans eat as much protein as hypercarnivores do over long periods without consuming enough other nutrients, it can lead to protein poisoning – a debilitating, even lethal condition historically known as 'rabbit starvation." So, what could explain the chemical signatures found in Neanderthal bones that seem to suggest they were healthily eating tons of meat? I am an anthropologist who uses elements such as nitrogen to study the diets of our very ancient ancestors. New research my colleagues and I conducted suggests a secret ingredient in the Neanderthal diet that might explain what was going on: maggots. Isotope ratios reveal what an animal ate The ratios of various elements in the bones of animals can provide insights into what they ate while alive. Isotopes are alternate forms of the same element that have slightly different masses. Nitrogen has two stable isotopes: nitrogen-14, the more abundant form, and nitrogen-15, the heavier, less common form. Scientists denote the ratio of nitrogen-15 to nitrogen-14 as δ¹⁵N and measure it in a unit called permil. As you go higher up the food chain, organisms have relatively more of the isotope nitrogen-15. Grass, for example, has a very low δ¹⁵N value. An herbivore accumulates the nitrogen-15 that it consumes eating grass, so its own body has a slightly higher δ¹⁵N value. Meat-eating animals have the highest nitrogen ratio in a food web; the nitrogen-15 from their prey concentrates in their bodies. By analysing stable nitrogen isotope ratios, we can reconstruct the diets of Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens during the late Pleistocene, which ran from 11,700 to 129,000 years ago. Fossils from various sites tell the same story – these hominins have high δ¹⁵N values. High δ¹⁵N values would typically place them at the top of the food web, together with hypercarnivores such as cave lions and hyenas, whose diet is more than 70 per cent meat. But maybe something else about their diet was inflating Neanderthals' δ¹⁵N values. Uncovering the Neanderthal menu We suspected that maggots could have been a different potential source of enriched nitrogen-15 in the Neanderthal diet. Maggots, which are fly larvae, can be a fat-rich source of food. They are unavoidable after you kill another animal, easily collectible in large numbers and nutritionally beneficial. To investigate this possibility, we used a dataset that was originally created for a very different purpose: a forensic anthropology project focused on how nitrogen might help estimate time since death. I had originally collected modern muscle tissue samples and associated maggots at the Forensic Anthropology Center at University of Tennessee, Knoxville, to understand how nitrogen values change during decomposition after death. While the data can assist modern forensic death investigations, in our current study we repurposed it to test a very different hypothesis. We found that stable nitrogen isotope values increase modestly as muscle tissue decomposes, ranging from -0.6 permil to 7.7 permil. This increase is more dramatic in maggots feeding on decomposing tissue: from 5.4 permil to 43.2 permil. To put the maggot values in perspective, scientists estimate δ¹⁵N values for Pleistocene herbivores to range between 0.9 permil to 11.2 permil. Maggots are measuring up to almost four times higher. Our research suggests that the high δ¹⁵N values observed in Late Pleistocene hominins may be inflated by year-round consumption of ¹⁵N-enriched maggots found in dried, frozen or cached animal foods. Cultural practices shape diet In 2017, my collaborator John Speth proposed that the high δ¹⁵N values in Neanderthals were due to the consumption of putrid or rotting meat, based on historical and cultural evidence of diets in northern Arctic foragers. Traditionally, Indigenous peoples almost universally viewed thoroughly putrefied, maggot-infested animal foods as highly desirable fare, not starvation rations. In fact, many such peoples routinely and often intentionally allowed animal foods to decompose to the point where they were crawling with maggots, in some cases even beginning to liquefy. This rotting food would inevitably emit a stench so overpowering that early European explorers, fur trappers and missionaries were sickened by it. Yet Indigenous peoples viewed such foods as good to eat, even a delicacy. When asked how they could tolerate the nauseating stench, they simply responded, 'We don't eat the smell." Neanderthals' cultural practices, similar to those of Indigenous peoples, might be the answer to the mystery of their high δ¹⁵N values. Ancient hominins were butchering, storing, preserving, cooking and cultivating a variety of items. All these practices enriched their paleo menu with foods in forms that nonhominin carnivores do not consume. Research shows that δ¹⁵N values are higher for cooked foods, putrid muscle tissue from terrestrial and aquatic species, and, with our study, for fly larvae feeding on decaying tissue. The high δ¹⁵N values of maggots associated with putrid animal foods help explain how Neanderthals could have included plenty of other nutritious foods beyond only meat while still registering δ¹⁵N values we're used to seeing in hypercarnivores. We suspect the high δ¹⁵N values seen in Neanderthals reflect routine consumption of fatty animal tissues and fermented stomach contents, much of it in a semi-putrid or putrid state, together with the inevitable bonus of both living and dead ¹⁵N-enriched maggots. What still isn't known Fly larvae are a fat-rich, nutrient-dense, ubiquitous and easily procured insect resource, and both Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens, much like recent foragers, would have benefited from taking full advantage of them. But we cannot say that maggots alone explain why Neanderthals have such high δ¹⁵N values in their remains. Several questions about this ancient diet remain unanswered. How many maggots would someone need to consume to account for an increase in δ¹⁵N values above the expected values due to meat eating alone? How do the nutritional benefits of consuming maggots change the longer a food item is stored? More experimental studies on changes in δ¹⁵N values of foods processed, stored and cooked following Indigenous traditional practices can help us better understand the dietary practices of our ancient relatives. (The Conversation) GRS GRS (This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI) view comments First Published: July 26, 2025, 11:15 IST News agency-feeds Neanderthals likely ate fermented meat with a side of maggots Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Hindustan Times
4 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Expert panel to examine two compressed biogas plants in Ludhiana: Punjab CM
Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday asked the environmental expert committee to thoroughly examine the Bagga Kalan and Akhaara compressed biogas (CBG) plants in Ludhiana and submit its report in a time-bound manner. Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann (PTI) Mann, while interacting with the villagers, said that the expert committee comprising representatives from the Punjab pollution control board, universities and others should meet the villagers and assess all the points related to the setting of these plants. Mann reiterated that the committee will carefully examine each and every concern being raised by the residents. The CM said that the committee should submit the report pertaining to the plants in a time-bound manner so that adequate action can be taken on it. He said the government will not allow any violations, and that no action will be taken without first safeguarding the interests of the villagers. He reiterated the state government's firm commitment to pollution control in Punjab and affirmed that there will be zero tolerance for any violation of pollution norms. He said that strict action will be taken against any rule-breakers, adding that the state government is committed to preserving the water and environment of the state. Will develop robust semiconductor ecosystem: CM Chandigarh CM Bhagwant Mann on Friday said that the state government will make every possible effort to develop a robust semiconductor ecosystem in Punjab. Chairing a meeting with representatives of the semiconductor industry here, Mann said that Punjab holds tremendous potential in this sector, and the government is determined to harness it to place the state on a high-growth economic trajectory. The CM assured the industry of full support and cooperation, including the establishment of a dedicated semiconductor park in and around Mohali. Cabinet minister Sanjeev Arora, industries secretary KK Yadav, and Invest Punjab CEO Amit Dhaka were among those present at the meeting.
The Print
15 hours ago
- The Print
Low-cost finance, leveraging private sector key to improve feasibility of n-projects: PK Mishra
Citing the successful opening of the space sector, Mishra said similar initiatives are envisaged for atomic energy, which is essential for clean energy and national security. Addressing the 68th batch of scientific officers at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Training School, Mishra encouraged researchers to innovate in cost reduction strategies to make nuclear energy India's preferred power source. Mumbai, Jul 25 (PTI) Timely completion, access to low-cost finance, and leveraging private sector capabilities are key to lowering tariffs and improving feasibility of nuclear projects, P K Mishra, principal secretary to the prime minister, said here on Friday. He underscored the societal impact of nuclear energy and cited the use of radio isotopes for cancer care, and radiation technologies for wastewater treatment and agriculture storage. The government had sanctioned 50 multi-product food irradiation units for the MSME sector under the 2024-25 Union Budget, Mishra said. Irradiation facilities in 12 states were enhancing shelf-life and ensuring compliance with international phytosanitary standards for food products such as fruits, spices, pulses, and herbs, he added. Mishra also urged the scientific community to commercialise spin-off technologies emerging from research labs. Nuclear energy presents a major opportunity for sustainable growth and clean power in response to climate challenges, he said. Mishra called for revisiting regulatory mechanisms and investing in further safety-related research, especially as private sector participation expands. He emphasised that public confidence in safety standards must be a top priority. Mishra also highlighted the key announcements from the Budget 2024-25 such as R and D support for Bharat Small Modular Reactors and advanced nuclear technologies and a targeted expansion to 100 GW of nuclear capacity by 2047, with proposed amendments to relevant legislations enabling private sector participation. PTI SKU ARI This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
