Bay in distress
A proposed shipyard threatens the rich biodiversity of a south Goa bay, but government is unmoved
Walk the village talk
After raising the political profile of village councils, government wants to downsize them
Blatant lies for laterite
Andhra pollution control board holds public hearing for a project in Schedule Five area
How to stall COVID’s march in rural India
As cases of COVID-19 emerge in India’s rural areas, the time is ripe in strengthening implementation of National Rural Health Mission and …
A tale of two interpretations
Aparna Pallavi recounts struggles of residents of a tiny village in the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra to get ownership of forest resources
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 …
State inaction
The traditional forest dweller has had very few entitlements down centuries. Guardian of the forest, he has been regarded as encroacher by the …
Biodiversity body claims coal
In a first-of-its-kind case, a biodiversity committee in Madhya Pradesh asks for royalty on coal
"Subsidy culture has killed local agriculture"
Thupstan Chhewang, Chief Executive Councillor and chairperson of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) speaks to Down To Earth.
Ladakh on the move
Ladakh is the one region in India where sustainable development is the only way ahead. Dry toilets, water efficient crops, cooperative farming, a …
Package POSCO
The Odisha government is trying to acquire land on a shoddily drawn compensation package
Rice at risk
Growing paddy is not viable for small farmers of Kerala. Will the state be able to preserve the crop which delivers a number of ecological …
Transition failure
With an eye on the 2014 general election, the UPA government is expanding its ambitious Direct Benefit Transfer programme that promises welfare …
Desperate to relocate
Chetty communities living in the core area of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve have been demanding that they be shifted out of the forest for three decades.…
Mission possible
The Centre gives India just about eight years to free its villages of open defecation. This seems unlikely. But the states of Sikkim, Haryana and …
Half-way to autonomy
Decisions by Maharashtra’s top forest official can empower gram sabhas prepare plans to revive their forests, but a policy is awaited
Violence at POSCO site
Clashes erupt as government resumes construction of coastal road at Jagatsinghpur in Odisha
A million opportunities lost
The ruling alliance’s flagship rural employment programme took unprecedented strides in creating water conservation structures across the …
Stench in my backyard
As Kerala cities dump their waste in the countryside, people in the villages hit back. An unresolved civic problem of decades compounded by …
Large promises
Prime Minister Vajpayee is terribly interested in rural development these days. On his birthday he inaugurated Swajaldhara, a nation-wide water …
Empowered panchayats make for true liberalisation
A myth actively perpetuated by traditional politicians and a supportive bureauracy is that panchayat bodies are India's lowest ranked …
Farming fish and mussels
When bad management and increasing demand for inland fish led to plummeting stocks, fishing villages around the Ashtamudi estuary in Kollam …
Where are the panchayats?
Of the three farm water conservation programmes currently under way in Karnataka, the Jal Samvardhene Yojana (jsy) has completed a year of …
Cola major gets a taste of panchayat power
A multi-billion-dollar transnational corporation has had to blink first in an eyeball-to-eyeball dispute with an obscure panchayat of Kerala. On …