Points to ponder

Right to information and transparency in eia are critical for public participation in development projects

Out of earshot

Who follows the public hearing procedures? Neither the government nor the project promoters

The written code

Based on public hearings, environmental clearances are given to companies concerned

THE SECOND INDEPENDENCE

Tiny forgotten villages teach India a firsthand lesson in governance. Down To Earth reporters and photographers fan out to six states to discover …

Movement for worse

The marginalised from Western Odisha who migrate out of the state lead difficult lives

Wanted, tariff revision

Biomass power plant owners say they cannot manage with power rates fixed when they began operations

The wasteland

Bellary has lost 45 per cent of its forest cover to iron ore mining, says the CEC report

Picture imperfect

Fertile and picturesque, that is what Bellary was before companies started indiscriminate mining for iron ore  

Persistent in folly

Rice and wheat fetch a secure price and subsidies on farm inputs. Coarse grains have no place in the public distribution system, although their …

Rice: the real cost

It is said the future wars would be fought over the issue of water, not land. Yet Indian government promotes rice, which consumes water, over …

Balding the urban landscape through shortsighted fiscal policies

THE FOUNTAINHEAD DONGRIPARA, DHAMTARI DISTRICT, CHATTISGARH

Spark came from non-recognition as a village • Integrated management of forest and water • Sees self-governance as a matter of …

A memo to the government

To be a truly participatory republic, India must take tutorials from these tiny republics

Whither freedom?

Post independence, governments expanded squeezing village republics out of existence

In Birsa's Land: Horomocho (Hazaribagh, Jharkhand)

A coal mine to own and manage • Sustainability not profit as a principle • Revival of an ancient Santhal system of governance

Unshakable: Nimalapedu (Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh)

Reminded India of its constitutional mandate for village autonomy • Fought bauxite companies for not getting gram sabha consent • Has …

Grain of truth

India's public distribution system promotes rice and wheat. These water-intensive crops require more inputs and are less nutritious as compared …

Whose germplasm is it?

NBA struggles to frame case against Mahyco in first biopiracy case

Lessons in dealing with floods

Governance failure

How agencies meant to regulate mining conspired in the loot

Getting a city into shape

Hold tight

Behold: eco-development is here, again

After dosage

Will the idea of eco-development survive?

Conserve or pickle?

Eco-development in India had no clue

Lost in transit

A gravy train called eco-development, now derailed