.jpg)
MOST POPULAR
- Man-made reasons for Uttarakhand disaster 1
- Dhari Devi idol goes missing 2
- Pedestrian questions 14
- Transition failure 1
- Where all did extreme events cause disasters last decade
- Rains over past three days extreme weather event: scientists 1
- Gujarat pollution board gets a makeover in efficiency 33
- Monsoon arrives early; kills over 30 people in Uttarakhand
- Rush of hydropower projects on Ganga, tributaries
- Out of turn
FOLLOW US ON
Grassroots
Fisherfolk thwart bid to reclaim wetlands
Issue Date: Aug 15, 1993
FOR THE 400 families belonging to the Mudially Fishermen's Cooperative Society (MFCS), Justice Shyamal Sen's order in Calcutta High Court on June 14, 1993, was a tremendous relief for it restrained the Calcutta Port Trust (CPT) from filling up or damaging in any way an MFCS-run wetland nature park that was renowned internationally.
Fenced out of a livelihood
Issue Date: Aug 15, 1993
AS NANHE Khan's gnarled but still-dextrous fingers carve a block of wood into wondrous toys, his face registers distaste, for the wood with which he has to work these days is of poor quality. Adding to his disappointment the fact that he is the last in a long line of craftspersons and he is helplessly trapped in a rapidly changing society.
"Power" to the people irks Bengal villagers
Issue Date: Jul 31, 1993
BIPUL Adak is a puzzled man. "Why does the government flout its own rules?" he asks of the move to set up a thermal power plant on rich, fertile agricultural land near Calcutta. Disregarding environmental guidelines, the West Bengal government allowed the privately owned Calcutta Electric Supply Corp (CESC) to build a 500-MW thermal power plant in Pujali village near Budge Budge, close to Calcutta.
A bank to save the embarrassment of riches
Issue Date: Jul 31, 1993
ALTHOUGH every city has its pockets of affluence, there is no guarantee that all its residents can get a square meal a day. On the other hand, there is wanton waste of food -- mainly by hotels, restaurants and flight caterers.
Will women in panchayats change Bengal?
Issue Date: Jul 15, 1993
MAY 30, 1993, was a historic day in West Bengal. For the first time, voting was held for a panchayat system that endowed villagers with the right to set their own priorities for development. And more remarkable, one-third of the panchayat seats were reserved for women. But the more things change, the more they are the same.
Shame puts the cork back in liquor bottles
Issue Date: Jun 30, 1993
IN MANIPUR, drinking is more than being merely dangerous to one's health. It can be utterly embarrassing because a man caught drinking there is likely to be stripped, have his face blackened, be paraded seated on a donkey and then handed over to the police for prosecution.
Death by starvation
Issue Date: Jun 15, 1993
BESET by famine and drought, large sections of Orissa and Bihar are beginning to mirror the stark images of hunger in Somalia and Sudan. In Orissa, more than 10 million people -- the majority of whom are tribals -- are reeling under a famine. In tribal-dominated south Bihar, too, more than 1 million people are suffering under the worst famine since 1967.
Villegers blueprint their own development
Issue Date: May 15, 1993
WHEN VISITING a village in Tamil Nadu's Dharmapuri or Karnataka's Mysore districts, you may come across a group of about 25 adults busily laying out an intricate design on the ground, using powdered rice, coloured chalk, twigs and pebbles.
Rajstan tribals return to herbal healing
Issue Date: Apr 30, 1993
JAGARAN is a non-government organisation working on reviving the dying art of herbal healing in an impoverished tribal belt in Udaipur district.
Artificial reefs swell fish catch in Kerala
Issue Date: Apr 30, 1993
JUST 5 km north of Kerala's state capital, the 4,000 fisherfolk of Thumba village ready fishing lines and canoes, oblivious of the roar from the Indian Space Research Organisation's launch site nearby. Their catch is mainly kozhuva, hooked along the 7-km natural reef. But with the arrival of fishing trawlers, the catch has become meagre because of overfishing and this has led to frequent disputes between the fisherfolk and the trawler operators.
