
Articles by Nitin Jugran Bahuguna
Nitin Jugran Bahuguna is a senior freelance journalist with over 30 years of work experience who divides her time between Delhi and Dehradun. She has investigated and written extensively on human development issues pertaining to gender, health, child labour and environment. She worked for nearly 17 years with the United News of India (UNI) and also as a media consultant with several United Nations organizations on human development issues. She has authored her first novel, “Comet in the Village”, which is set in a remote mountain village in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand. During 1996-97, with a financial grant from UNICEF, she undertook an in- depth study on the complex issue of child labour in India visiting industries having large concentration of child workers such as brassware in Moradabad, carpet-weaving in Mirzapur and Bhadohi (all in UP), the gem polishing industry in Jaipur, beedimaking and rope-making in Vellore, sari weaving in Kancheepuram, matchbox making industry in Sivakasi and in the stone quarries and steel industry in Chennai and its outskirts (all in Tamil Nadu). One of her stories on bonded child labour in sari-weaving industry in Kancheepuram captioned: “Kids mortgaged for loans” featured as a front page story in various major dailies and was followed up by two of India’s leading television channels and sparked off a national debate on the subject. Over the years she has highlighted several crucial issues with her investigative journalism. In 2001, her story entitled “Widowed by AIDS, they fight for survival”, based on a visit to Namakkal district in Tamil Nadu, was published in “Grassroots”, a monthly journal brought out by the Press Institute of India and was awarded the best feature of that issue. During 2002-3, working as a consultant for UNIFEM (Now known as U N Women), she visited several areas where women and girls had been trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation. Her feature, “A village with no adolescent girls”, based on a visit to a village near Mysore in Karnataka, also won best feature in Grassroots magazine. Currently, Ms Bahuguna is a Media Consultant with WWF – India at their Sustainable Agriculture Programme (SAP) Division.

Special series
Wetland Champions
- [Commentary] India establishes the largest network of Ramsar Sites in South Asia
- [Commentary] Wetland champions: Promise from the grassroots
- The story of Jakkur lake sets an example for inclusive rejuvenation projects
- Welcome to Tsomgo lake: Please don’t litter

Environment And Health
- Gig workers in India are exposed to highly polluted air and carcinogens, finds preliminary study
- [Explainer] Living with microplastics, is not fantastic
- Residents in Haryana point to stone crushing units for their respiratory troubles and drop in crop yield
- As heatwaves projected to worsen across India, do vulnerability assessments and heat action plans suffice?

Almost Famous Species
- Scavenging hyenas save carcass disposal costs
- Hybridisation, roadkills are major threats for the Indian desert cat population
- From abundance to endangerment to revival, Kachchh’s guggal comes a full circle
- [Commentary] Why are evolutionary scientists studying the crawlies?

Eco Hope
- Green pilgrimage model balances faith and conservation
- [Video] Restoring the perennial Thamirabarani river with people power
- [Interview] Conservation scientist Joli Rumi Borah on integrating traditional knowledge in research
- [Interview] Scientist Ruth DeFries on deforestation: There isn’t one driver, there’s a different context in different places

India's Iconic Landscapes
- Studies reveal impact of land use on species diversity in rock outcrops
- Improved tiger numbers come with hidden messages on invasives, habitat connectivity
- Gymnosperms that are critical for coniferous forest health may be steadily declining in response to climate change
- Experts call for coexistence, sustainable development as tiger population is close to saturation

Beyond Protected Areas
- [Commentary] India needs a scientific response to mitigate the population of free-ranging dogs
- Hybridisation, roadkills are major threats for the Indian desert cat population
- [Video] Farmers grow paddy for wild elephants in Assam to reduce conflicts
- Megaherbivores could be a potential solution to manage invasive plants, finds study

Conserving Agro-biodiversity
- Architect of India’s Green Revolution, agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan passes away
- Excavating farmlands for highways
- Increasing carbon dioxide is making our food less nutritious
- Ecosystem-based adaptation takes nature-based, people-centric approach to agriculture

Just Transitions
- With no primary data on impacts, government approves an oil extraction technique 500 m outside forests
- Climate action not on track to meet Paris Agreement goals, says Global Stocktake report
- [Interview] Suravee Nayak on why transformative justice for women, Dalits is key for a just transition
- Promised rehabilitation eludes residents living near one of India’s earliest coal mines
