COVID-19: How distant laws, uneven measures afflict sanitation workers
The pandemic has further aggravated the dichotomy of livelihood and safety of sanitation workers
Manual scavengers: Existing in the shade
Several government departments continue to maintain silence on plight of manual scavengers, despite an array of schemes for them
'Let's put our cards on the table'
Veteran UN negotiator and head of the UNEP during the Rio summit, Mostafa Tolba, reasons why developing countries always suffer at the hands of …
It rained hard in Delhi; what if all that water did not go waste
The volume of rainwater generated in the past week was almost 13 per cent of the demand for water in Delhi, estimated at 2,765 million litres per …
An every monsoon affair: How to tackle urban flooding
Urbanisation is inevitable as is climate change; the need is for a multi-pronged approach
PMO orders huge cuts in social sector spending for 2015-16
Employment guarantee, rural road and sanitation schemes among those likely to be affected
MDG Report 2014: India among worst performers in poverty reduction, maternal death and sanitation
Report shows good progress in areas like poverty alleviation and access to clean water and controlling diseases like TB, Malaria
Dharavi's real estate threat
The Maharashtra government wants to redevelop Dharavi, Mumbai's sprawling slum. But its plan has not taken into account the fact that people not …
Around 818 mln children lack basic hand-washing facilities in schools: Report
Two in every five schools in the world do not provide children with soap and water, say the WHO and UNICEF
Rare takes on the year just passing by
Being a Down To Earth reporter entails merging the personal with the professional. The magazine you so dearly own has a fascinating world hidden …
Stench in my backyard
As Kerala cities dump their waste in the countryside, people in the villages hit back. An unresolved civic problem of decades compounded by …
What COVID-19 can mean for SDG-11, sustainable cities and communities in India
As urban vulnerabilities are amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, the idea of sustainable cities in Sustainable Development Goals needs to be …
Bhutan’s experiments with happiness
The idyllic Buddhist kingdom believes that peace and happiness should take preference over material growth. In a world beset by inequities and …
Urban India's deprived lot
India is becoming dominantly urban, and the urban poor, who are increasing in numbers, face exclusion from basic amenities like safe drinking …
"The West now understands that waste can be a resource"
Sweden's UNO WINBLAD was not a sanitation engineer but had trained as an architect in London in the late '50s. Those were the days of mounting …
Meltdown
Till a couple of decades ago Bangalore was a sleepy city -- running to the rhythm of old trading networks and retired people taking their evening …
No land for best option: composting
Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, does not have a municipal waste-treatment facility. Its only plant to treat solid waste, located …
WSSD: dialogue of the deaf
The needs of many were once again compromised to accommodate the demands of a powerful few. Given the alarming tilt towards self-interest and …
Still life in waves
The visual media is into the business of producing images. Sometimes, just sometimes, they become iconic. For disasters there is a recognisable …