WATER: Fading glories

Kashmir's dying lakes are choking their dependants

FORESTS: Losing its soul

Is India really open-defecation-free? Here’s what numbers say

15% of the total population in India defecates in the open in India, according to WASH report 2021

How e-waste crisis continues to plague informal sector

Over 90% of electronic waste management is done by informal sector workers, most of whom are unaware of their rights  

A new planning commission or an advisory body?

Indications are that the National Development Reforms Commission that will replace the Planning Commission will not have financial allocation powers

Will access to toilets guarantee women's security in rural India?

The Badaun rape incident shows how vulnerable women are to sexual violence when there are no toilets in homes

Dismal picture of Maharashtra's environment

The water supply data in rural areas

Scrap godown fire in Ghaziabad kills one

Shanghai-ed

Prevention is cure

When preventive measures can fight encephalitis, is there a need for treatment in ill-equipped primary health centres?

Delhi's poll planks

Sanitation workers on COVID-19 front lines: How to save the warriors?

Several incidents in the last few months have shone spotlight on abysmal conditions under which sanitation workers function — without …

Why India remains malnourished

Despite a fast-growing economy and the largest anti-malnutrition programme, India has the world’s worst level of child malnutrition. The …

Inextricably linked

A United Nations report highlights the connection between environment and health

Unhealthy surroundings kill more than other factors do

View from the top

Planners must stop looking down at hill-stations

High risk

Problem: Tall buildings risky in high seismic zones; Status: Hill-stations are getting concretised and growing vertically; Challenge: Use local …

What goes down

Problem: Lack of space for garbage disposal; inadequate sewerage; Status: Garbage disposed on hill slopes ends in streams/rivers; Challenge: …

Defying gravity

Problem: Terrain forbids water supply systems that work in plains; Status: Water crisis in peak season every year; Challenge: Develop …

Local travails

Problem: Tourist influx too large; earnings flow downhill; Status: Residents forced to share meagre facilities with tourists; Challenge: Regulate …

On road to sustainability?

Many nice words, some money but no direction for real change

Lessons from two cities

Pune aims to become a zero-landfill city by 2015. With a range of solid waste management options, the target does not seem too ambitious. …

Creation of Greater Bangalore will strain the city's resources

JNNURM: a Nehruvian farce

Public private prank