Odisha’s coastal migrants return to where they started
Four years ago, when Minoti Naik of the coastal district of Bhadrak in Odisha, decided to send her 17-year-old son to the “city” for work, it was in hope that…
How Mumbai’s fishers adapted in the lockdown, kept their sales alive
The members of Mumbai’s fishing community, the Koli community, have found a sustainable answer to their economic woes brought forth by the lockdown. The lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra…
With floods and COVID-19, Assam faces a dual threat
Nearly three lakh people in nine districts of Assam have been affected by the season’s ‘first flood’, triggered by cyclone Amphan, wreaking havoc in the state. A phenomenon that ravages…
As captive elephants starve, lockdown brings problematic practice to the fore
In early April this year, a video was being circulated amongst animal rights activists in Karnataka. A mahout spoke to the camera, stating that since the lockdown, his 55-year-old captive…
[Commentary] The environmental impacts of the economic package
In recent weeks, the situation in India was a throwback to two historical events. The sight of millions of internal migrants cycling and using any mode of transport to return…
Anxious farmers in Maharashtra prepare to sow amidst lockdown
In April, amidst several gloomy developments related to COVID-19, there was one announcement that should have brought cheer to many farmers of Maharashtra, especially non-irrigated areas such as Marathwada and…
[Commentary] Post-COVID there is a case for a greener GNP
Even before the upending of the world as we knew it by COVID-19, there had been disquiet for some time over the slowing global economy, in the backdrop of the…
Gap in sampling hampers India’s ecological monitoring in Antarctica
If this summer had gone as planned, Anant Pande would be in his laboratory in the Wildlife Institute of India, in Dehradun, ready to catalogue and analyse samples that he…
An online network emerges during the lockdown connecting farmers directly with customers
A few weeks ago, 22-year-old Dhananjay K.C. was worried that thousands of kilograms of grapes grown at his family’s farmland would go waste as the crop was ready but its…
Lockdown slows wildlife forensics
As India cautiously emerges from an extended lockdown put in place to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), wildlife forensic scientists have flagged concerns over the delay…
