Distant dream

stories of how a promising technology can lose out in the maddening race for survival or the top slot always make interesting reading. This book is another such instance. But much more than that it is a critique on social choice, triumph of one technology over its competitors, some landmark decisions and the folly of projecting the future.

Seeking Solutions

ARNAB KUMAR HAZRA

Case for CFM

History has seen the management of Indian forests change from being an instrument of regimented exploitation by the British to its present conservation-centered approach. This transition in forest policy has been all but smooth.

Himalaya's human face

The magic of the Himalaya is heady. It has led many researchers and travelers to record their impression of this mountain range. Himalaya : Life on the edge of the world, is one such labour of love by David Zurick and PP Karan both professors of geography at the Eastern Kentucky University and the University of Kentucky respectively.

Birds of a feather

This book was initiated in 1989 and went into incubation for 11 long years. Over all, the book is good but has its share of imperfections. It successfully highlights the important relationship of birds and plants, but has many flaws. These, I hope will be removed in the next edition. I know Tara Gandhi very well so I can take the liberty, as a friend and well-wisher, to be critical.

A shift in tradition

this is an interesting monograph. It combines historical ethnography with archaeology to understand the dynamics of the shifting agricultural system of the mountain dwelling Paharia community.

Cleansing chronicle

this monumental book is a fascinating analysis and documentation of the development of urban sanitation infrastructure in the us . It takes one through an illuminating journey spanning almost 500 years from the urban epidemics of the early 1500s to the debates around waste incinerators in the 1980s and beyond. Seen through the eyes of an urban historian, it has immense contemporary relevance to the emerging Indian urban landscape.

Storehouse of water

although the importance of Himalaya-Karakoram as the largest storehouse of fresh water in the lower latitudes, and the important role of their snow and ice in maintaining the flows of the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra during the lean period was well perceived and understood since ancient times, scientific understanding of the hydrology of the Himalaya-Karakoram has been seriously lacking.

Forests under threat

smoggy air damages plants, causes leaf injury, adversely affects plant growth and reduces fruit yield. Air pollutants such as sulphur, fluorides, ozone affect forest ecosystems adversely. This book brings out 30-35 years of research experience of around 30 scientists who have studied the effect of pollutants on plant life.

Spreading root

THEORITICAL and empirical studies of collective management of natural resources have proved the efficacy of common property as an efficient institutional arrangement. In India, joint forest management (JFM), involving partnerships between forest-based communities and the forest departments for the protection and management of forests, was initially successful but certain core problems persist.