Three avenues, one goal
The focus is on development of hydropower, industries and food production: how sustainably can the targets be achieved?
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 …
Odisha plans regulated Olive Ridley tourism
State's coast is nesting ground for the half the world's population of the endangered turtle; tour operators sceptical of the plan
Perilous port
Proposed seaport in Vizhinjam can spell disaster for fishers, tourism and biodiversity in Kerala
Environment ministry backtracks on ban on tiger tourism
Will file an affidavit in Supreme Court, seeking review of guidelines that call for phasing out tourism from core tiger habitats
Shrouded in controversy
A mountaineering expedition into the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve revives the debate on ecotourism and people's rights over forests.
‘Why develop profitable waterways through private firms?’
Parliamentary Standing Committee questions shipping ministry’s proposal to develop National Waterways 4 and 5 through public-private-partnership
Remembering 2013 Uttarakhand Floods
In June 2013, flashfloods in Uttarakhand wiped out settlements and decimated lives. Here’s a throwback to our investigation into the …
Tiger tour operators' incidental love: tribals
Kumar Sambhav Shrivastava's take on tour operators' claim that tourism in core areas of reserves is good for tribals
Delhi’s Signature Bridge needs environmental clearance
NGT orders Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation to seek environmental clearance for the suspension bridge, bringing bridges …
Keep on the grass
Alpine pastures are thriving despite policies to encourage grazing. But Himalayan pastures languish despite strong conservationist policies
Himalayas: the agenda for development and environment
We need to think about a pan-Himalayan development strategy which is based on the region's natural resources, culture and traditional knowledge
Boom
Problem: Terrain forbids sprawl as in cities in the plains; Status: Alarming population density (people per sq km); Challenge: Policy question is:…
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
Why Periyar reserve is India's best-managed protected area
Sanjayan Kumar, deputy director of Periyar Tiger Reserve, speaks to Tiasa Adhya on the place being awarded the best managed protected area in India
Mired in sewage
Temple town Guruvayur adamant on dumping its sewage in backwater villages despite stringent laws, opposition
"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 …
Murdering the Mekong river
The Lao and Thai governments plan to build mainstream dams and irrigation take offs on the river. This will convert this mighty waterway into …
Grasslands in Western Ghats diverted for resort construction
The 120 room, five-star luxury resort is being built in Chikkamagalur district of Karnataka in association with international hotel chains
Daunting journey
Carbon particles from biomass burning and vehicles could be discolouring the Taj Mahal. Down To Earth returns to the monument, a symbol of …
Dark twist to bright tale
Three tigers die in a week under mysterious circumstances; total 32 deaths in two-and-a-half years; all in the forests of Corbett, a showpiece of …