Toxic punch: heavy use of pesticides depleting local fish and bird populations

Study from West Bengal documents 94 brands of pesticides, farmers most influenced by local dealers

Steps to check infant deaths in West Bengal prove too little

42 infants have died at Kolkata super speciality hospital; most were referred and came in critical condition

Humble filter makes a comeback

Traditional bio-sand purifier can filter arsenic which most commercial water purifiers fail to do

Our tigers, their tigers

Book>> Forest Of Tigers: People Politics And Environment In The Sundarbans • By Annu Jalais • Routledge • Rs 395

Residents of closed tea estate decide to boycott elections

Bundapani is one of the seven closed plantations in northern West Bengal where starvation deaths have been reported in recent past

Two leaves and a bud, a tale of certain exotics

Sayantan Bera chronicles the simmering discontent in the picturesque tea gardens of Assam, Darjeeling

Burdened with bumper crop

Faulty procurement, rising farm inputs force West Bengal farmers to commit suicide

Structural collapse

The rot has set in the construction sector. A dysfunctional clearance system has led to a series of building collapses in the recent past. …

West Bengal labour department's tea garden survey kept under wraps

Excerpts and recommendations from the unpublished survey report of all tea gardens in the state that reveals miserable living conditions of …

Panchayat polls in West Bengal in July

Bitter fight between election commission and state government ends; questions over bureaucratic interference in Panchayat matters remain

Kolkata highrises to get rooftop solar panels

High Courts also ask power utilities to ensure 10 percent of energy supplies through renewable sources

Crushed and torn

Closed tea gardens of West Bengal are enclaves of death and destitution. Speculative ownership and a callous government have prolonged the crisis,…

Playing with sea

Flouting laws, over 90 hotels have mushroomed on what once was a pristine beach in West Bengal

Good ol' dug well

Traditional shallow wells can supply arsenic-free water. All one needs to do is install it with caution

Tram to oblivion

Kolkata witnesses the last days of a non-polluting and once-efficient mode of transport, while trams make a comeback in cities around the world. …

'We are using the sea as a dustbin'

The Indian coastline no longer belongs to its traditional custodians—the small fisher people. A jamboree of development—cities, SEZs, …

Fall of golden fibre

An inefficient industry is marring prospects of jute, paving way for plastics

Fancy wall for Sundarbans

Government starts building massive embankments on the fragile delta using untested technology. Experts say the project benefits contractors, …

Fish and a philosophy

A cooperative in Kolkata shows the way for urban sewage management

Speeding train kills six elephants in West Bengal

The killer track has claimed lives of 52 elephants in the past decade; forest department and railways continue to blame each other

Low rain may affect production of quality teas from West Bengal, Assam

A scorching April is leading to more pest attacks, increased costs might affect wage revision, says Indian Tea Association

Everybody loves waterbody

Amid murder of an activist, 4,000 missing ponds and 195 FIRs on encroachments in East Kolkata Wetlands, West Bengal mulls a wetland policy

Democracy under surveillance

West Bengal bureaucrats to monitor panchayat institutions, implement their decisions  

“Come elections, our forests are looted”

Angry villagers from the hotbed of political violence told Sayantan Bera, the day a new government took oath in West Bengal

Shudder islands

Harsh environment, government apathy are literally driving Sundarbans inhabitants mad