Price to pay

It costs a fortune to own a car in Singapore

Real estate funds Metro

Urban planning given a miss  

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 …

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 …

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 …

Real estate on water

Lakes were critical for Indian cities. They prevented floods and recharged groundwater. Today, these holes in the ground are either lucrative …

Never too many pedals

Stranded at the station

Needed, integrated transport planning  

The freedom to ride

Three steps for India

Bring buses, hike parking rates, levy congestion tax

On a skewed track

Metros must be subject to public review  

A debate on India's street food

It can be painless

Some civil servants have relocated forest dwellers successfully

Farms in cities

A case for urban agriculture in India

Militancy, weed

... and sewage -- a strong political will is needed to get rid of them?

Lake agriculture

An ingenious and indigenous way of cultivation

Floating stock

Morning in Dal: commotion behind the scenes

Think institution

The need of the hour is to decentralise drought management and think long-term

Testing time

Revisits by Down To Earth reporters to villages that undertook water harvesting offer some valuable lessons in drought management

Made to fail

Employment Guarantee Scheme, first of its kind drought relief scheme has had no impact on the drought-prone areas of Maharashtra in almost 30 …

Out of focus

The government's drought relief programmes are bound to fail in the long run. Even the Planning Commission acknowledges that funds for the …

Rebuilding cities