Stories of success and failure

sampat Lal is not the protagonist of a typical Down To Earth story. He's the treasurer of a cooperative that runs a fair price shop in a Rajasthan village. Quite successfully, in fact. Lal belongs to a cooperative of mine workers. There are quite a few such cooperatives in Rajasthan now (see Features Mine workers in Rajasthan form cooperatives). Thanks to these associations, mine-workers can expect a fair deal in many parts of the state. The success of the fair price shop run must also be

Flood fury in Rajasthan again

rains caused widespread destruction in Rajasthan's Jodhpur, Pali and Banswara districts, claiming more than 20 lives in the first week of July. Last year too the showers wreaked havoc in the drought-hit state (see 'Heavy weather', Down To Earth, September 30, 2006). Mount Abu, the highest peak in the Aravalli Range recorded a maximum rainfall of 124 mm on July 10. Heavy inflow of swollen rivers breached the 118-year-old Jaswant Sagar Dam in Jodhpur after being fed by swollen rivers, transforming a part of the

Should villages in Desert National Park be relocated?

there is debate over whether villages, within the Desert National Park in Rajasthan, should be relocated. Park officials stress on relocation, politicians are against it and scientists say while people are required, development should not affect ecology. To resolve the

WHO's Stop TB partnership programme

the World Health Organization (who) along with its Stop tb partnership programme, announced on June 22 guidelines to curb two forms of tuberculosis multidrug resistant tuberculosis (mdr-tb) and the more harmful extensively drug resistant tuberculosis (xdr-tb).

Jaisalmer's architectural wonders beat the heat

Rajasthan HC issues orders against encroachments in Ranthambore

all encroachments in the eco-sensitive zone around the Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan will be removed following a court order. The encroachments include residences, hotels and other commercial establishments.

Rajasthan tackles drought through <i>pokhar</i>s

Prakashi Devi is happy her village pond still has some water left. "A little bit of water is good news," says the 40-year-old villager from Kaila Devi gram panchayat.

Rajasthan's <i>kund</i>s get undesirable makeover

People in Rajasthan's Churu district have to make do with an annual rainfall of 350 mm. The area's high evaporation rate -- 2,600 mm -- aggravates water scarcity. But the people have learnt to live with the scarcity. In Churu, as well as in other areas of Rajasthan such as Bikaner and Sikar, people harvest rainwater in kunds dome shaped structures over an underground tank surrounded with an artificially paved catchment sloping

A village that took on miners

Sua Nath is usually an amiable farmer. But ask him about mining in his village, Bagjana, and he flares up. Nath is among those who have taken it upon themselves to protect this village in Rajasthan's Bhilwara district from mining. The anti-mining movement has, in fact, struck roots in many villages in the district. "We will not allow anything to be taken from our land, be it rocks or gold," asserts Sua, while recollecting an incident when

Locals in Rajasthan's Kota district stop building of incineration plant

Construction work was stopped at a biomedical waste incineration facility in Rajasthan's Kota district following opposition from local people. Construction of the plant started in March 2007 without any environmental impact assessment or permission from the state pollution control board.