Grasping at grass

An oasis put to test

Angioplasty of streams

Penny foolish, pond wise

Water woes in wet Kerala

With Parliamentary polls nearing, politicians turned the drought into an opportunity for wooing voters by running water tankers. Water scarcity was debated at street-corner campaign meetings, and rival political parties blamed each other and even the monsoon for the crisis.

SSP falls prey to political machinations

A walk through Mangar Bani, a sacred grove near Delhi

The villagers have now formed a village development committee. The committee has prepared a petition for the forest department, asking it to acquire the Bani land from its current owners Photograph by: Vaibhav Raghunandan Read also: Unhappy Bani

A walk through Mangar Bani, a sacred grove near Delhi

The village residents’ fear stems from the fact that the Bani has had no legal protection so far. The Mangar draft development plan says no construction will be permitted on the land falling under the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA), 1900, and in the area under plantations in the Aravallis protected by the Supreme Court’s direction. The Bani and surrounding hills fall under neither Photograph by: Vaibhav Raghunandan Read also: Unhappy Bani

A walk through Mangar Bani, a sacred grove near Delhi

The villagers fear the plan, if approved, will open floodgates for real estate and harm the Bani. Bharatraj Harsana regrets that in 1970s when the government allowed privatisation of the village commons, the villagers sold their share in the common land without knowing the actual location of their holdings. The plots were not demarcated on ground in the village till mid 1980s. The transactions gave private investors a toehold in the Bani Photograph by: Vaibhav Raghunandan Read also: Unhappy Bani

A walk through Mangar Bani, a sacred grove near Delhi

In July this year, the Haryana government released a master plan to develop 10,484 ha area around 23 villages in Faridabad, including Mangar. The plan proposes development activities like construction of residential and industrial colonies, farm houses, warehouses, communication towers, hotels, resorts, banquet halls, amusement parks, railway stations, airports and non-polluting rural and small scale industries on hills and plains in this region. Even mining and extraction operations, including lime and brick kilns, stone quarries and crushing are sought to be allowed Photograph by: Vaibhav Raghunandan Read also: Unhappy Bani