Chaos in the iron age

Also Cover Story:  Bellary to bleed again Goa next Bellary case file Infographics: function minesgraph() { var popurl="http://www.downtoearth.org.in/themes/DTE/htm/mines_20130515.htm" winpops=window.open(popurl,"","width=500,height=775,scrollbars=yes") } Mines produce more than permitted Photo Gallery: Burdened by mines Goa after mining ban  

Nutrient paradox

THE WORLD is facing a nutrient crisis, says a new report. Nutrients, like nitrogen and phosphorus, are essential for raising crops to feed the ever increasing population and in production of energy. But the report, ‘Our Nutrient World’, suggests these human activities have altered the natural flow of these nutrients.

Can faith heal?

Gold’s toxic legacy

EVERYONE wants to horde gold these days. But the ever increasing demand of the precious metal seems to have put people living near the gold mines at risk. A study in Karnataka has indicated that even those areas where gold mines have been shut down are heavily contaminated with arsenic.

War over waste

On October 1 this year, the garden city of India was chock-a-block with hoardings and newspaper advertisements announcing the Bengaluru civic body’s decision to make segregation of waste at source mandatory. For once, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) and the city’s administrators were singing the same tune.

India’s Minamata

Saraju Nisha sits at the door of her house, about 500 metres from a mountain of coal mine waste in Chilika Daad village in Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadra district. The 60-year-old former miner is in deep pain.

Science and Technology - Briefs

Zoology Thin yet tough

Arsenic eyes rice nutrients

ARSENIC accumulation in rice is something that is largely unexplored. A study has now found that the heavy metal can disrupt amino acid synthesis in the grain, a staple diet for many. This can reduce the levels of essential and non-essential amino acids found mainly in rice which are essential for a healthy life.

When battered people took on the pesticide industry

Today, I want to tell you a true story of extraordinary courage. The past week, I was in Kasaragod, a district in Kerala, splendid in beauty and with abundant natural resources, but destroyed by the toxic chemical, endosulfan.

Steeled up