'We improve life through natural resources'

On your inspiration I studied engineering, but was convinced I was not meant for it. During my stint with Ford Foundation, I worked with a doctor couple from Johns Hopkins University, USA. They were training rural women in Maharashtra as community health workers. I realized that is exactly what I wanted to do. On PRADAN I conceived of the organization, but Vijay Mahajan, the co-founder of PRADAN, was instrumental in giving it shape. PRADAN works in seven states,

Packaged water @ 10 paise/litre

Rural water supply scheme for Andhra has no room for public opinion; price may be hiked later villagers in Andhra Pradesh will soon get their drinking water supply in 20-litre plastic containers. The government has shortlisted five companies that would treat raw water and sell it to villagers. The government thinks this is the best way to supply safe drinking

One lake vanishes

Delhi government makes a lake and a marshland disappear the Delhi government appears to be determined to construct buildings on lakes instead of restoring them. On August 17, the government filed an affidavit in the Delhi High Court saying the Mayapuri lake and Jehangirpuri marshland are not waterbodies and can be used for development activity. The affidavit was filed in connection with the public interest petition by non-profit

Din over private helipads in Mumbai

Hovering choppers will raise noise levels to 100 dB say activists should helipads be allowed on private buildings in the coastal city of Mumbai? Would the din from helicopters make the city noisier? These are the questions the Maharashtra coastal zone management authority has to decide. On August 4 the authority

For a clean ganga

Certain plants absorb pollutants from wastewater for their metabolism. A team from the National Botanical Research Institute in Lucknow, planned a plant-based project to clean the Ganga. U N Rai, environment scientist who heads the team, speaks to Savvy Soumya Misra On how the project began

In court

mumbai's unsafe pipes: The Bombay High Court ordered setting up a committee to look into security and hygiene issues relating to over-ground water pipelines in the metropolis. "Considering the country's security environment, we are not sure whether these pipes are safe," said the court. "We are also not sure whether the water is hygienic, because throughout the route of these pipes there are unauthorized hutments built by people," the order said. The order was in respo-nse to a PIL filed by

20 hectares of millet

At a time when the traditional cropping pattern of suicide-ravaged Vidarbha has all but disappeared under the lure of quick cash from soybean, a tiny village of 48 farming households in Maharashtra’s Wardha district decided to revive jowar millets, the local food and fodder staple.

New IT industry body proposed

FOSSCOM to oppose NASSCOM companies and civil society groups supporting open source software standard in e-governance are planning to form a separate pressure group. They have proposed to form fosscom to oppose the IT industry body nasscom that has been lobbying with the government to adopt proprietary software standards.

Contract killers

A can of worms

Book>> Brands Under Fire edited by Ivan Arthur and Kurien Mathews Penguin Books Price Rs 499