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 …
Repeal or amend CAF: tribal organisations
A petition by tribal organisations says the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act violates constitutional rights and affects livelihoods of …
Getting more with less
System of crop intensification, specially in rice, has shown sizeable savings in water and seed usage. Yet its adoption has not spread despite …
On two legs and a prayer
Walkers outnumber people using vehicles in every Indian city. But city plans have no space for pedestrians, nor do urban roads. Will town …
Lavasa: Dream for one, nightmare for many
Kumar Sambhav Shrivastava finds how people affected by Lavasa are coping with the destruction it has caused
City on trial
Chandigarh resists luxury residential project but fails to rehabilitate its slum population to preserve its master plan
Rs 13,000 crore to be spent on green India mission in next 5 years
Parliamentary Committee on Estimates pulls up Centre for failing to increase forest cover in the country
Just like a forest
Analog forestry mimics a forest to create an economically productive and ecologically diverse landscape
Cleansing chronicle
THE SANITARY CITY: URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE FROM COLONIAL TIMES TO THE PRESENT·Martin V Melosi·John Hopkins University Press·Year&…
COVID-19 exposes fault lines in peri-urban areas
Lack of sanitation awareness prevails at a greater extent here; it is unclear how COVID-19-centric awareness campaigns will influence behavioral …
Bringing order to streets
Centre legalises street vending and gives the profession its due respect. But accommodating vendors is a challenge
Wanted: An urban equivalent of MGNREGA
Such a programme is the need of the hour not only as a measure to revive the urban economy now, but also to mitigate any further shocks to …
More dreams sans cars
From a loose concept to a concrete movement, the idea of the car-free city has evolved gradually
Himalayan plunder: Hydroelectric plans in Arunachal will effect downstream Assam too
Arunachal Pradesh is highly susceptible to landslides; debris flowing downstream will change river behaviour, fear experts
The big challenges for Telangana
Telangana region accounts for huge chunk of natural resources of undivided Andhra Pradesh. Will creation of new state intensify existing regional …
Ten dead, six injured in Mumbai building collapse
Yet another building collapses amid allegations of illegal modifications; number still trapped unknown
Fruits of afforestation
Adivasis in southern Madhya Pradesh see salvation from malnutrition in a drive to plant fruit trees
A step-by-step guide on how Union budget is formulated
To start the process, the budget division issues an annual budget circular around the last week of August or the first fortnight of September …
Owning the road
Cities without cars, pollution and traffic. A movement is spreading across Europe to drive cars out. People are beginning to say no to cars
Megaprojects in Addis Ababa raise questions about spatial justice
A unique characteristic of Addis Ababa’s urban development is that successive Ethiopian regimes have used new urban projects as …
'Chhattisgarh's PPP model for diagnostic services flawed'
Team of experts deputed by Centre says state's plan could lead to denial of services to poor patients and filing of false claims
The widening nutrition gap
Difference in the nutritional status of Kerala’s general rural populace and that of Attappady could be as high as 50 per cent
COVID-19: How city densities can be managed for post-pandemic recovery
Density seems to be more of a scapegoat than the cause of increasing virus transmission at the city level