Nagpur municipality proposes action against private water supplier

After a spate of complaints regarding water supply, contamination and corruption, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has at last decided to take action against private water supplier Orange City Water Limited (OCWL).

18 tribal villages in Maharashtra get tendu rights, finally

After a wait of two years, tendu harvest and sale rights in Maharashtra are finally being transferred to gram sabhas under the Forest Rights Act. This year, 18 gram sabhas—12 in Gadchiroli district, five in Gondia and two in Amravati district—have begun collecting tendu leaves under the new system. The tendu units in which the FRA forests of these villages fall had earlier been withdrawn from the state forest department's tendu units' auction process.

Become iron woman, eat veggies

Letters - April 15-31, 2013

Passive Choice

Fabric filter

ACCESS to safe drinking water is one of the biggest health concerns in the developing world. The humble cotton sari and a little bit of sunshine might provide a simple solution, shows a study.

Drought of equity

Maharashtra gets Rs 1,207 crore aid to tackle drought

The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) of the Central government has approved Rs 1,207 crore as aid to Maharashtra for drought relief work. Out of this amount, Rs 807.84 crore has been approved for compensation for crop loss in the Rabi crop season of 2012-13, while Rs 400 crore has been allocated for saving dying orchards in the state.

Organic thread

‘Farmers are not casino players’

Why a film on Vidarbha farmers? Interviewee:  Micha X Peled

Bamboo rising

Nobody in Loyendi village keeps track of time. But for its 150-odd residents, December 7, 2012, is a day to remember. “It is our independence day,” says village elder Petra Kanhara. On this day, the village in Odisha’s Kandhamal district got community right over 20 mountains full of forests under the Forest Rights Act (FRA).