Short circuit

On the face of it, the ambitious Sethusamudram project to bridge the east coast with the west coast of the country seems a great idea. The …

On privatising water

What about privatising water? Should India move to do it? What tips the scales in its favour, and what doesn't? In 2003, two editorials in Down …

30,000 farmers demand Hirakud dam water

Western Orissa is witnessing an upheaval. In the eye of the storm is the Hirakud dam. Over 300,000 farmers dependent on its water for irrigation …

How Assam's Bodo community used indigenous knowledge to tackle decades-old water supply problem

River water was diverted to the villages through dongs — earthen canals built and maintained by the villagers

Eye on irrigated pie

Farmers' organisations raise an alarm over Odisha government's recent guidelines that allow industries to acquire irrigated land

Lost in the Thar

The Indira Gandhi canal project is a costly failure that has led to destruction of habitat and loss of arable land

A new paradigm

Taming The Waters·Satyajit Singh·Oxford University Press·Price Rs 395

NITI Aayog wants to hand over micro irrigation to private players

The government policy think tank believes it would take 100 years to exploit the micro irrigation potential with the current programme target and …

Malaria in the Thar Desert: Facts, Figures and Future - Book review

One usually does not associate malaria with a desert environment. Common sense dictates that mosquitoes, that breed only in stagnant water, would …

CAG flags series of overruns in UP’s major irrigation projects

Outcomes unachieved despite UP government spending over 4,101 crore on major irrigation projects

Small is more

A small water harvesting structure can produce amazing economic crossover effects. The same may not be true for large canals

Watering down a success story

Water User Associations in Maharashtra face unforeseen hurdles despite being successful. Why is the government stalling them?

...And ancient wisdom prevails

The Valencia water tribunal has stood strong for a thousand years; will modern-day pressures crush its influence?

The link with a hole

At a time when river networking is being touted as a panacea for the entire country's water woes, the tide of opinion in Karnataka is turning …

Daily Court Digest: Major environment orders (September 2, 2020)

Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal

Peace isn't elusive

After the Pulwama terror strike, the Kashmir debate has reopened. We bring to you an older article from brighter times, which underscores the …

People's initiatives

Orissa and UP villages once again prove that people are better managers of natural resources than today's obdurate governments

Poisoned Punjab: Mystery illnesses haunt this Fazilka hamlet dependent on canal water

Down To Earth ground report finds around 30 cancer deaths in 12 years in Burj Mohar in Fazilka district 

Channels of change

Two villages in Uttar Pradesh have reversed the trend of migration by digging six kilometres of channels to bring water to drought-hit farms

Endgame for bustards

Great Indian Bustard has been pushed to extinction in its biggest sanctuary; breeding stops

Going off course

As the Cauvery river dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu gets reduced to a politico-legal wrangle, focal issues remain unaddressed

Desperate for Expressway

Uttar Pradesh is set to begin work on its ambitious expressway along the Upper Ganga Canal, turning a blind eye to environmental concerns and …

Sardar Sarovar Project faces its toughest challenge

For more than 56 years, farmers in Gujarat have been waiting to get water, but work on the most crucial aspect of Sardar Sarovar dam—…

A home-grown drought

Monsoon this year has failed most of India, causing drought in even well-irrigated and rainfed areas. Ravleen Kaur reports how our food …

Pumping in diseases