Tea time tales

Darjeeling tea estates turn bio-organic as Germany threatens to boycott tea containing pesticide traces

Unwanted guest

Furore over the transfer of a snow leopard from the City Forest National Park in Srinagar to Darjeeling

Turning over a tea leaf

Production of organic tea in Darjeeling is increasing as consumers in the West refuse to import tea with pesticide residues

Plucking out problems

Tea estates in Darjeeling are embracing innovative techniques to combat the impacts of climate change

Teesta dams: A recipe for disaster?

The Gujarat 2001 earthquake drove home the point that cities built on river alluvium and sand are likely to suffer maximum damage from an …

Why Bengal tea workers feel let down by political parties

Low wages, hazardous work conditions and ‘hollow promises’ have left workers disillusioned

Two leaves and a bud, a tale of certain exotics

Sayantan Bera chronicles the simmering discontent in the picturesque tea gardens of Assam, Darjeeling

Toxicitea tangle

Safeguards have been erected to weed out the supplies of tea laden with high pesticide residue levels. But when governments use these benchmarks …

High risk

Problem: Tall buildings risky in high seismic zones; Status: Hill-stations are getting concretised and growing vertically; Challenge: Use local …

What goes down

Problem: Lack of space for garbage disposal; inadequate sewerage; Status: Garbage disposed on hill slopes ends in streams/rivers; Challenge: …

Defying gravity

Problem: Terrain forbids water supply systems that work in plains; Status: Water crisis in peak season every year; Challenge: Develop …

Local travails

Problem: Tourist influx too large; earnings flow downhill; Status: Residents forced to share meagre facilities with tourists; Challenge: Regulate …

Boom

Problem: Terrain forbids sprawl as in cities in the plains; Status: Alarming population density (people per sq km); Challenge: Policy question is:…

Tea tag takeaway

The Geographical Indication tag for Darjeeling tea may have opened a window of opportunities for big estates, but there are huge challenges for …

After central, now eastern Himalayas? Glacial lake outburst in North Sikkim sparks alert across the state

Downstream areas such as Darjeeling and north Bangladesh to be affected as water travels in the Teesta river

Daily Court Digest: Major environment orders (April 24, 2019)

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

Labour union raises concerns over housing scheme for Bengal tea workers

Pashchim Banga Cha Majoor Samiti Study presents analytical report based on RTI, workers’ replies; shows scheme will reduce income, …

Daily Court Digest: Major environment orders (December 21, 2022)

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

West Bengal labour department's tea garden survey kept under wraps

Excerpts and recommendations from the unpublished survey report of all tea gardens in the state that reveals miserable living conditions of …

Simmering discontent over tea

The newfound success of brand Darjeeling is fuelling suspicion between planters and workers. Sayantan Bera reports

Hilly woes

Darjeeling's Tiger Hill whines under ecological pressure

More than a cuppa

Joint forest management makes Darjeeling's Makaibari estate an environmental treasure

Biocultivars

Tea in trouble

Trade mark for tea

Another step forward for the Darjeeling tea logo scheme