COVID-19: Confusion, chaos plague Himachal over e-pass violation
Several returnees lying to obtain e-pass, violating home quarantine, allege sources
Strangers in their own land
The final notification of the Great Himalayan National Park has jeopardised the livelihood of a tribe of migratory pastoralists. It has also …
Daily Court Digest: Major environment orders (March 14, 2023)
Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal
The fortnight in brief
Himachal villages are first to claim forests rights, J&K's Russian poplars to be felled, Delhi's increasing appetite for power …
Let there be CFL
See the light CFL is becoming popular in India with a little help from government schemes. But its wide-scale use requires regulation
How Baddi pharma waste can make your medicines ineffective
The waste contains active ingredients used in antibiotics and may be contributing to the spread of antimicrobial resistance. It is time to …
Dangerous deal
To promote development in hilly states, a committee recommends dilution of forest clearance rules, reward for setting up projects
Court Digest: Major environment hearings of the week (July 27-31, 2020)
Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal through the week
Two incidents that made me ask: Whither forestry extension?
Extension programmes in forest institutions are meant to benefit stakeholders, mainly farmers, villagers and rural communities
Yellow rust strikes wheat in northern India
ICAR, agricultural universities and state agriculture departments issue advisories, alerts
High risk
Problem: Tall buildings risky in high seismic zones; Status: Hill-stations are getting concretised and growing vertically; Challenge: Use local …
What goes down
Problem: Lack of space for garbage disposal; inadequate sewerage; Status: Garbage disposed on hill slopes ends in streams/rivers; Challenge: …
Defying gravity
Problem: Terrain forbids water supply systems that work in plains; Status: Water crisis in peak season every year; Challenge: Develop …
Local travails
Problem: Tourist influx too large; earnings flow downhill; Status: Residents forced to share meagre facilities with tourists; Challenge: Regulate …
Testing time
Revisits by Down To Earth reporters to villages that undertook water harvesting offer some valuable lessons in drought management
Made to fail
Employment Guarantee Scheme, first of its kind drought relief scheme has had no impact on the drought-prone areas of Maharashtra in almost 30 …
Out of focus
The government's drought relief programmes are bound to fail in the long run. Even the Planning Commission acknowledges that funds for the …
India’s health expenditure down to 3.2% of GDP in 2018-19
National Health Accounts report shows out-of-pocket expenses down, but still significantly higher than global average
Too cut & dried
Does the style of conserving forests currently dominant in India require an overhaul? Yes, say state governments and affected people. ruksan …
COVID-19: Experts look at mushrooms for employment, immunity concerns
The Directorate of Mushroom Research in Himachal Pradesh’s Solan announced release of four new high-yielding strains of mushrooms recently
Super Market
Secretive. Exploitative. Is the market in Minor Forest Produce unmanageable? sopan joshi finds out
Boom
Problem: Terrain forbids sprawl as in cities in the plains; Status: Alarming population density (people per sq km); Challenge: Policy question is:…
Discontent
This is a story about the environmental clearance mechanism in India. Arguably legally strong, it fails in implementation. The project proponent …
World Bank won't fund Luhri hydropower project in Himachal
Move to withdraw US $ 650 million follows inspection and review by USAID of environmental and social impacts of the project
Uttarakhand disaster was result of extreme rains and haphazard development: report
National Institute of Disaster Management suggests guidelines and action plans for development activities after compilation of comprehensive data
