Flood Sans River Kadi

Prioritising people

Overwhelming negative response towards the World Bank-sponsored Flood management plan to be implemented in Bangladesh, saw the government and …

The boat people

Thousands of people in Bihar are trapped between the Kosi and its embankments. They have been suffering for decades. But the state government is …

The black fever

While the nation's attention is focused on the caste killings in Jehanabad, a silent but deadlier killer is striking terror in Bihar. Kala-azar, …

Spurring people into action

Villagers of Bhuragaon in Assam no longer depend on the government for protecting their lands from the currents of the Brahmaputra. They have, …

Where have we gone wrong?

With every monsoon, the extent of floods in the country and its ensuing misery increases. Is this suffering largely self-inflicted?

How NREGA helped Panihari village

Breach of trust

This is not a story about floods in Bihar. This is a story about how an entire society has been corrupted by money meant to build embankments for …

A sustainable engineering disaster

Kerala's backwaters carry modern-day brunt

Their ecosystem is under threat but no one seems to care

Sponsored blight?

Another monsoon. The season of suffering in India's flood plains. And of blaming upstream people for floods. Is there an end to this

World Bank's Pakistan flood-control plan faulty

World Bank pulled up for aid to flood control programmes in Pakistan

Tipaimukh Dam in Manipur driving a wedge?

Imphal, Manipur's capital, came to a grinding halt on August 28, with a strike being called. Imphal's people are habituated to bandhs, and most …

Rivers' fury

Inundated by colonial misconceptions

The benefits that can be derived from controlling flood waters intelligently have been wasted, largely because of wrong, archaic notions about …

Grand distraction called river interlinking

How climate ready are we?

The canals of misfortune

Colombo's network of artificial canals carry despair

Constructing A Dream

Plugging the breaches

Can the people of the Sundarbans find a viable solution to the problem of flooding?

How did it get so bad?

Ostrich policy and bad science. In Bihar, embankments built by government to prevent floods have been counter-productive

Spawning grounds

Environmental changes have led to the emergence of kala-azar in new areas

Is the alarm justified?

Yes. The disease is spreading fast. Yet there is little scientific data to devise a strategy to deal with it

No way out

Officials are now promoting a new paradigm for flood control. They are pushing for a huge dam in Nepal. Does it provide scope for further …

State of despair

Criminals followed corrupt politicians into grabbing contracts related to earthworks. Today, they fund political parties and virtually run the …