What triggers desertification in India

A low down on the most important causes behind desertification in every state of the country. Addressing these will be critical to meet targets …

Forest conservation is too complex an issue to be resolved by executive fiat

The condition of India's forest and her forest dwellers is extremely grave. A fresh round of police attacks on tribal people -- four dead in Dewas,…

Sponge iron’s dirty growth

In the years to come, India's expanding steel production will be largely driven by sponge iron. But its manufacturing process, based on coal, is …

Theirs to mine?

This is the question angry and beleaguered tribals in Orissa and Jharkhand are asking, as mining companies set up shop in the midst of their land …

Forest war

Naxalism started as a movement against land alienation. Today it has become a popular movement against natural resource alienation, …

Veggies delight

The rising demand for vegetables has opened up a money-making opportunity for small farmers. Already reeling from recurring droughts and …

Unique identity crisis

Biometric-based unique identity or Aadhaar is leading to huge problems for people working for the rural employment guarantee scheme and for …

Cockpit

In early December 2007, the country prided itself on providing the world with a road map to check the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5NI.…

Nothing to bank on

The government’s much-hyped Direct Benefit Transfer programme has hit a roadblock. Banks have failed to meet the huge demand for opening …

How government is subverting Forest Rights Act

Does this official data betray a conspiracy? Only 1.6 per cent of the 2.9 million claims approved under the Forest Rights Act recognise community …

‘Starvation deaths’ resurface in Jharkhand

At least 30 people purportedly died of starvation in Jharkhand since September 2017, according to a report

Santhali Sohrai murals: An etch in time

Santhali communities of Odisha and Jharkhand are changing their ways of painting Sohrai murals

How can Jharkhand fight distress migration?

The collapse of natural assets is fuelling migration in the state. A recent study throws light on problems faced by tribal communities, …

Upcoming Adani plant in Jharkhand to sell power to Bangladesh, will make its economy suffer: Report

The report also alleged the Adani Group forcibly acquired the land to build the plant from local farmers, without payment of proper compensation

How green was my mountain: The abandoned mines of Jharia, in photos

Excessive mining in Jharia in the eastern state of Jharkhand has left swathes of land barren. The lives of people there have been at risk due to …

Net profit

Jharkhand taps its dam reservoirs and ponds to boost fish production as well as livelihood

Go-ahead for Vedanta’s Jharkhand steel plant despite forest encroachment

MoEF&CC regularised 174 hectares encroached forest land in Bokaro in December 2019, after spate of opposition from state forest dept

Dying for ration: A DTE series on ration card beneficiaries

Down To Earth highlighted families who were unable to receive benefits of ration cards due to glitches in the system

International Women’s Day: ‘Next, I will build a pucca house and beauty parlour’

With Trickle Up’s seed grant, a lot of women in Jharkhand’s Pakur opted for agricultural practices. But Golapi chose to run a …

Jharkhand wipes 3 wildlife sanctuaries off records for iron ore mining

The three sanctuaries, in West Singhbhum district, have been recognised for over 40 years

How the women of one Jharkhand village built their own bathrooms

The collective effort by all the women of Telleya has made it a model village in the entire Gumla district

This man saved his village from flash floods, reclaimed surrounding sal forests

He constructed the first check dam in Jamtoli village in Jharkhand to ensure heavy rains don't wash away farms

Jharkhand govt must engage with Khunti citizens, protestors demand

Activists want withdrawal of FIRs, sedition charges in response to Pathalgadi movement

The Tawny Eagle, a raptor under threat

Increasing loss of forest cover and nesting sites have led to a decline in the population of this unique bird of prey

Identity crisis

11-year-old Santoshi Kumari allegedly died of hunger in Jharkhand as the family could not receive ration under the state's public distribution …