A Maharashtra village revives by reviving a tank

In one season, land prices in Dhangharwadi shot up from Rs 6,000-10,000 per acre (0.4 hectare) to Rs 1 lakh per acre. But people in this little village in Maharashtra's Yavatamal district are not thinking of selling their land. For good reason. Seventy hectares (ha) of agricultural land in this village, that barely produced enough grain for three months, has this year yielded profits worth Rs 21 lakh--after supplying Dhangharwadi's granaries with sufficient grain, pulses and onions for a year.

Tadoba tiger reserve An unsafe haven

Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, Vidarbha's star tourist attraction, is buzzing with activity. Inside the 625.40 sq km reserve, excavators are hard at work, digging up earth for an ambitious road-building project. Strips of forest, several metres wide, have been cleared alongside existing roads. Outside, along the fringes of the reserve, entrepreneurs are busy building a cluster of guesthouses and resorts. State forest officials too, are hard

Jharkhand tribals up against mining companies

Bauxite mines in Andhra Pradesh draw tribals' ire

Tribal residents of Visakhapatnam district in Andhra Pradesh, are preparing to protest a proposed smelting project that will affect five villages in the district. Despite a formal resolution against mining and smelting projects by the people, the Union environment ministry cleared two such projects in October and December 2007, and a third one is in the offing. The environmental impact assessments for the projects cleared are also a sore point among the Kondadora, Nokodora and Valmiki tribes.

Goa's citizenry make themselves heard at a mining public hearing

SHACHI CHATURVEDI

Industry pollutants in river kills cattle and fishes in Bihar

People living along Manusmara river in Bihar's Sitamarhi district dread kala pani --the river water turned dark red or black with effluents. This lifeline now kills their cattle and fish, causes infection and disease and ruins their farms. "People have stopped using river water," says Bhupendra Narayan Singh of Athri village in Runnisaidpur block.

Toxic feed turns cattle killer in Sindh

High inflation and the absence of certified feed mills in Pakistan's Sindh province is forcing dairy farmers to use stale bread-- bhosi tukra --in cattle feed. This practice has already caused a catastrophe, when 493 animals died in Karachi's Landhi Cattle Colony in November last year. More than 1,200 animals fell sick.

Will planting Causarina give protection against another tsunami?

Ever since the 2004 tsunami flattened coastal villages, the Tamil Nadu government has been raising sea walls and protective plantations on a priority basis to blunt the impact of sea waves. It touts the plantations as the first line of defence against tsunamis and cyclones. Ecologists warn it could be a step towards another kind of disaster.

Lungful of poison

A Kannan has been feeling dizzy with fever for days, his limbs are shaky. He has come to the government hospital in Tamil Nadu's coastal Cuddalore town with others from nearby Kudikadu village with similar complaints. A common scene in a hospital. But the shock comes when one begins counting. Seventy people from the village of just 750 were admitted to the hospital on that day, October 15.

Karnataka villagers suspect biodiversity register

The biodiversity register of Heggarni panchayat in Karnataka is ready. Or, is it? The committee evaluating the register--part of the nationwide programme to document people's knowledge of biodiversity--is not sure whether villages have pooled in all their knowledge. There is room for doubt. People in Heggarni in Uttar Kannada district suspect that information about their biodiversity may be "misused".