India

‘Luxury water’ a growing trend among world’s privileged. What is it?

‘Luxury water’ a growing trend among world’s privileged. What is it?

Monsoon rains have finally passed and floods blocking the lone dirt road have retreated enough for a small truck to climb these Himalayan foothills to a gurgling spring. It spews water so fresh that people here call it nectar. Workers inside a small plant ferry sleek glass bottles along a conveyer. The bottles, filled with a whoosh of this natural mineral water, are labeled, packed into cases and placed inside a truck for a long ride. Ganesh Iyer, who heads the operation, watches like a nervous dad, later pulling out his phone, as any proud parent might, to show the underground cavern the waters have formed in this pristine kingdom, the world’s last Shangri-La. This is no ordinary water. It will travel hundreds of miles to some of India’s luxury hotels, restaurants and richest families, who pay about US$6 per bottle, roughly a day’s wage for an Indian laborer. Millions of people worldwide don’t have clean water to drink, even though the United Nations deemed water a basic human right more than a decade ago.

15 million people around the world live under threat of glacial floods: study

15 million people around the world live under threat of glacial floods: study

As glaciers melt and pour massive amounts of water into nearby lakes, 15 million people across the globe live under the threat of a sudden and deadly outburst flood, a new study finds. More than half of those living in the shadow of the disaster called glacial lake outburst floods are in just four countries: India, Pakistan, Peru and China, according to a study in Tuesday’s Nature Communications. A second study, awaiting publication in a peer-reviewed journal, catalogs more than 150 glacial flood outbursts in history and recent times.

Hindus push for designated space to scatter ashes along Bow River in Calgary

Hindus push for designated space to scatter ashes along Bow River in Calgary

Members of Alberta's Hindu community are asking the City of Calgary to provide a designated spot along the banks of the Bow River to scatter the ashes of loved ones, in line with their faith. It's traditional in Hinduism and other religions, including Sikhism, for ashes to be placed into flowing water after a cremation. Similar riverside spaces for the ritual have been provided around the world in cities that have large Hindu communities.

Earth's frozen 'water towers' threatened by warming, population growth, report says

Earth's frozen 'water towers' threatened by warming, population growth, report says

Water frozen at the tops of mountains that helps sustain up to a quarter of the human population is under threat from climate change, population growth and lack of proper management, according to a new international study. The systems store and transport water through glaciers, snow packs, lakes and streams. They supply water to 1.9 billion people on Earth. A group of 32 international scientists — including one Canadian — published a paper in the journal Nature on Monday to highlight the importance and vulnerabilities of what they call Earth's 78 water towers.

Drought leaves Indian city of 4.65 million people without water

Drought leaves Indian city of 4.65 million people without water

It is becoming an increasingly common story - Another city is running out of drinking water. Chennai, India, the country's sixth-largest metropolis with 4.65 million people, is facing a dire water shortage. The coastal metropolis is the world's first major city to be facing a severe water shortage, but several large cities around the world may soon face a similar crisis. The four reservoirs supplying the region have dried up, leaving small potholes filled with muddy stagnant puddles of dirty water.