The swing

More women than men are voting in India. Majority of them are from rural areas

Twice Unlucky

In 1962, it was the Indo-Chinese war. Now it is the creation of the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve. Once again, the Bhotiyas, who inhabit the …

Barring the muck

The Tihar jail exemplifies how efficient waste management not only makes our surroundings clean, but also endows us with economic benefits. What …

Tragopan country

A million opportunities lost

The ruling alliance’s flagship rural employment programme took unprecedented strides in creating water conservation structures across the …

Victim of its success

MGNREGA blamed for causing labour shortage; cut in budgetary support likely

DRDA faces axe

District Rural Development Agency in conflict with Constitution; committee suggests its abolition

Bull to bull's eye

Lost and found

Karnataka villages are reviving underground springs that were once their lifeline in summers

The poverty quibble

Government claims a huge drop in poverty numbers but critical indicators—health, malnutrition and wages—continue to be grim. So how …

Sweet beris of Thar

Residents dig shallow wells to tap sweet water reserves

Meltdown

Till a couple of decades ago Bangalore was a sleepy city -- running to the rhythm of old trading networks and retired people taking their evening …

Faulty policy causes Maharashtra's farmlands to go dry

The desperation of farmers

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

INEVITABLE TRAGEDY

SOPAN JOSHI travels through Andhra Pradesh, only to find that beyond the immediate crisis of state-wide farmers' suicide lies one decade of …

Employment guarantee scheme not in sync with Mastapur's needs

Drought of equity

A large part of Maharashtra has been declared drought-hit. But distribution of water is quite incongruous. While the few who are politically and …

Drought hit

Jharkhand’s water table falls three metres in one year

The lake colony

Call them the "lakers". Some 10,000 of them. Parts of the Dal (land and water) belong to them. And when they feel the need to make a …

Nepal's poor carry it off

As the Himalayan country's forestry scheme for the poor reaps rich dividends, its government entrusts more degraded areas to the underprivileged. …

Raw Deal

Scepticism hangs over Kerala's Tribal Rehabilitation and Development Mission and its master plan

Street food vendors threatened after court ruling

Protests against retail chains getting into fruits and vegetables

Poll posturing

Down To Earth gauges the ground reality before assembly elections