Naini lake records lowest water level, and it’s not summer yet

In the beginning of March this year, the water level in the lake came down to 13.2 feet from its surface

Ecotourism on the wing

Uttarakhand strikes a balance between conservation and employment by institutionalising birdwatching camps, says Ghazala Shahabuddin,who attended …

Has the slump in monsoon really ended?

The all India rainfall deficit is down to 25 per cent as of July 23, showing an improvement in the rainfall scenario. But will the 'run rate' of …

Badrinath dodges a weather bullet

After showing a full horror film of what it can do in Char Dham Yatra last year, weather gives a fresh trailer at Badrinath by featuring a …

Are smaller states better off?

Government data shows Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand, which were carved out of larger states, have not performed as well as their parent …

Forgotten healers

Traditional medicine system has time and again proved its worth. Then why the cold shoulder?

A delicious affair

During a trekking trip to the Himalayan region of Uttarakhand, Chandra Prakash Kala discovers the succulent kafal fruit, which has found its way …

Himalayas: the agenda for development and environment

We need to think about a pan-Himalayan development strategy which is based on the region's natural resources, culture and traditional knowledge

Weather anomalies driven by climate change cause scanty rain, snow in post-monsoon India

This can affect the yield of Rabi crops in these regions and also availability of water in the mountains in general

Government admits to have bypassed environment impact assessments for Chardham project

Project was divided into 53 parts each less than 100 kilometres long, because of which it didn't need environmental impact assessment, says …

When forest officials help poachers hunt down protected animals

A government report has exposed Rajaji Tiger Reserve's most gory secret

Tiger poaching spirals, Uttarakhand registers maximum cases

12 grain route to prosperity

Jyotika Sood finds out how farmers in the Himalaya manage food round the year

Vanishing deer

Farmers face land crisis

Daily Court Digest: Major environment orders (February 26, 2024)

Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal

Dam safety can no longer be ignored if we are to avoid a repeat of Himachal and South Lhonak Lake

Dam authorities have to be more transparent and vigilant; Flood plain zoning of rivers needs to be done on war footing if we are to manage floods …

Harappa, Rakhigarhi, Dholavira: 200 years of droughts may have erased these Indus megacities, says study

The prolonged droughts forced the civilisation to reorganise their settlements & switch to drought-resilient crops

After Joshimath, it could be Karnaprayag, Nainital and other Uttarakhand towns next, say experts

Policy interventions are needed on construction work in Himalayan regions to avoid a repeat of Joshimath, according to experts  

Uttarakhand forest officials try to capture tiger that killed 2 in December

Forest authorities are trying to tranquilise the tiger and not shoot it, says chief wildlife warden  

Tigers have killed 11 this year in Uttarakhand; but don’t blame the animal, say experts

Tigers are not habitual man-eaters; each attack should be thoroughly investigated before a tiger is declared as a man-eater

Sacred super-spreader: Kumbh Mela begins amid second wave of COVID-19

Down To Earth captures the sights, sounds and the violations of COVID-19 rules at the Kumbh Mela in Haridwar

Char Dham project: Is development equal to disaster?

A significant portion of the project falls under dry deciduous biome along dry slopes of rivers. Ruthless harvesting can be perilious for&…

Six-fold increase in forest fires as temperatures rise in many states

The Forest Survey of India’s large forest fires monitoring programme data shows that there are 192 large, active fires in the country today

Uttarakhand cloudburst: urbanisation, warming continue to intensify the impact

Sunday's incident follows the trend of a steep rise in number of days with cloudburst-like events in the Himalayas from 2001 to 2013