Environment

Highlights from the issue

Subscribe today for full access to our journalism that combines scientific rigour with passion

DTE Staff

Sunita Narain's Desk: The economics of survival

In a world where the weather is turning against us, we need to invent a new model of growth, not reinvent the old one

Digest: Dry days ahead

Rainfall deficits across key rain-fed regions, from Nagaland to Maharashtra, are pushing more land into drought and leaving millions of farmers exposed with few irrigation buffers.

The “Super” El Nino seems to weaken the 2026 southwest monsoon, leaving 315 districts of India at risk of drought, the July deluge notwithstanding

Special report: Reclaim the footpath

Existing legal provisions have failed to prevent the systematic surrender of pedestrian spaces to vehicular carriageways and parking

The Supreme Court has made safe footpaths a fundamental right, and authorities must now be held accountable to turn that constitutional promise into reality

Special report: Existential crisis

A unit of Balrampur Chini Mills that discharges into the Suav river of Balrampur

More than 20 tributaries of the Ganga and the Yamuna in Uttar Pradesh have been officially recorded as drains in irrigation and revenue records of the state

Cover Story: Back to crisis again

Tens of millions of Indians have returned to farming—a phenomenon not seen since colonial times. Why is this happening?

“Return of so many people to farming is a failure of labour market”

Development economist Santosh Mehrotra on his latest book and the failure of Indian employment models

Special report: Fields of fuel

India currently produces first-generation ethanol using rice, sugarcane and maize as feedstocks. The crops are procured from different sources

Though fuel crops are displacing food crops across India, progress on sustainable ethanol, produced from agricultural waste, has been slow

Patently absurd: India has a huge drug dependency problem

Indian generics industry faces a critical vulnerability to raw material imports from China, hampering its next-level growth

Column: What BluSmart got wrong—and right

Companies that follow BluSmart must get their financial and governance structures right

Factsheet: Dual shocks in Venezuela

Rescue efforts in Venezuela

On June 24, Venezuela experienced two major earthquakes in a span of just 39 seconds, killing 1,719 people and affecting 55,000 others. Read Down To Earth's exclusive analysis about the exact nature and frequency of these quakes

Life and Nature: A dance in the dark

Gitchak nakana, the first subterranean fish found in Assam, is a miniature, aquifer-dwelling fish that lacks eyes and a skull roof

Discovery of a new subterranean fish in Assam reveals how unique underground species stay hidden, even as human activities threaten their survival

Civil Lines: Are we drought proof?

Though parts of India saw heavy rain in July, the country must still be prepared for a drought this year