CSE, NKC launch Indiaenvironmentportal.org.in

Around 3,00,000 articles, research reports and videos related to environmental issues have been uploaded on the portal already

An environment based portal called Indiaenvironmentportal.org.in has been launched by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and the National Knowledge Commission (NKC). The portal is targeted at users who look for environmental information.

In an official communiqué, Sam Pitroda, chairman, National Knowledge Commission, says, “The portal is a one-stop shop for all that you want to know about environment and development issues.”

In phase one, the portal will provide information about the environment collected from the Internet. Around 3,00,000 articles, research reports and videos related to environmental issues have been uploaded already. Archived material from Down To Earth, CSE’s environment magazine, is available, too. In addition, the site offers environment news sourced from around 50 national and regional newspapers. A database of researchers and institutions working on environmental issues will also be published.

In phase two, CSE will try to make the site more collaborative and engage people associated with environmental issues. Speaking to afaqs! a CSE spokesperson says, “It might opt for citizen journalism and allow people to contribute articles in the form of opinions, but they will be moderated.”

Being an NGO, CSE has no plans to monetise the portal. The spokesperson says, “It is planning to make future issues of Down To Earth available online as an e-magazine. The portal may be used to raise funds for environmental issues and a business model will be evolved to cover the costs of the e-magazine.”

CSE will promote the site through its other publications and e-newsletters, which go out to around 1,50,000 subscribers.

CSE also runs other websites such as Gobartimes.org, a site dedicated to creating awareness about the environment among children; Downtoearth.org.in, a site for its magazine; CSEStore.cse.org.in, an e-commerce portal selling CSE publications; Rainwaterharvesting.org; and Data.CSE.org, a collection of CSE publications. All these sites collectively receive around one million page views per month.