Sinha's trick

She walks in oblivion

Society itself doesn't care to know about headloading

Is it all grey?

NIDHI JAMWAL looks at ways to utilise flyash, and so combat a polluting scourge

Bamboo flowering

People in northeast India fear bamboo flowering. According to an ancient belief when bamboos flower, there is death and destruction.

Reinvent the mobility idea

What goes down must come up

It is a crime. Numerous factories deliberately inject untreated effluents directly into the ground, contaminating underground aquifers. Down …

Only plans, no integration

Counting the cost

Is Span motel's punishment commensurate with its crime? Experts wonder...

Shrouded in controversy

A mountaineering expedition into the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve revives the debate on ecotourism and people's rights over forests.

Phulmai's walk - a day in the life of a headloader

Headloaders - collectors of fuelwood in India's woodlands. On the one hand, seen as forest destroyers, on the other, they are the sole support of …

Who is watching GM crops?

As India gets ready to unleash a vast number of genetically modified (GM) food crops, politicians have joined activists in opposing engineered …

How did it go wrong?

The corrupt and inefficient among pollution control authorities have surrendered India's groundwater to unscrupulous industrial units

Disasters in the making?

Groundwater contamination in India is verging on disastrous proportions, especially with regard to mercury

Going off course

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

Battle zone: Humans vs elephants

Afterwards, an eerie silence envelops the field. There is only the crop -- no longer standing -- and the heavy tread gouged in the mud. This is …

Delhi government

Utterly confused. Speaks for polluters who have business interests in scuttling CNG

Ministry of Environment and Forests

Has a lot of power to safeguard public health. Prefers not to use it

Union ministry of petroleum and natural gas

Blames others for its failures. Is raring to destroy the CNG market by hiking prices

Can business be responsible

Drought is in the mind

GOOD NEWS: There is more evidence to show that water harvesting can go a long way in dealing with drought and solving the water crisis, and even …

Political harvest

Report card: A scheme that can help solve the water crisis has become a tool to promote political interests of the ruling party Success level: Poor

Learning the mantra

Report card: The government realised its failures and learned from the civil society. Despite cases of corruption and some errors in planning, …

Missing the bus

The whole world is moving towards CNG. But the crisis of governance in Delhi keeps the air filthy

Union ministry of surface transport

Saboteur-in-chief. Is responsible for making procedures. Has botched them up, discouraging those keen on CNG

In the wrong ministry?

Biotech Regulatory Authority will have too much power, no checks