India is planning to seek the assistance of nearly one billion U.S. dollars (about Rs. 75 billion or Rs. 7,500 crores) from the World Bank to develop a comprehensive framework…
Ramu Malto (name changed) is a member of Sauria Paharia, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) from Jharkhand. He would pride himself on the proximity to the historic Rajmahal hills,…
Parmeshwari Devi is a farmer who owns agricultural land in the Khunti district of Jharkhand. A few years ago, she would often lament that she was not able to fully…
The Damodar river, once known as the “sorrow of Bengal” for its frequent flooding, is still causing pain to millions of people dependent on it. The river was recently in…
“The rule of mechanisation has come, it will snatch away the work from every hand, wake up workers and farmers. There is unemployment, it will grow, alas the working people…
The impacts of armed conflicts on wildlife globally are underestimated, according to recent research which calls for urgent attention to conflict resiliency in conservation plans for a wide suite of…
Shilpa Gayen shudders to recall the moment when she almost lost her life after strong winds blowing in her village brought down her mud house on May 26, the day…
“I have never seen this kind of a forest fire before. This year, the fire entered our village, and I could see that it was just 100 meters away from…
The Piparwar opencast mine in Jharkhand was once the largest coal-producing mine in the state and had damaged the local ecology. Now, after about 30 years of mining operations being…
It is the silver jubilee year of the Panchayat (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 that was passed by the Indian parliament to empower people living in the fifth…
In Madhya Pradesh’s Singrauli district, one of the biggest and most polluted coal mining and thermal power hubs in the country, funds meant to drive development for the people living…
Chhattisgarh, which has three tiger reserves, wants to add another one but the wildlife experts and government have locked horns over its location. While the present Chhattisgarh government has decided…
Anamika Oraom, 16, of village Dungridih, around a kilometre away from Narwa Pahar uranium mine in Jharkhand, wants to study. But she cannot, owing to severe headaches that come up…
A pencil sketch shows an elephant trying to dismantle a thatched roof. Another depicts a pachyderm helping itself to succulent sugarcane stalks from a farm as people brandish fire torches…
Umesh Kumar is a young farmer at Pithra village in Simdega district in Jharkhand, a picturesque village surrounded by hills and green forest cover. The 26-year-old owns around 12 acres…
In the eastern state of Jharkhand, elephant raids are common, especially during the paddy harvest season. The state is experimenting with mitigation measures like sending warnings to villagers about elephant…
A hum of voices reciting “A for aluminium” and “B for boron” float through the air in a room of eager children. As the clock strikes three in the afternoon,…
The mellow winter sun casts a soft glow on 13 sal (Shorea robusta) saplings encased in bamboo enclosures at Pandrasali, a small hamlet in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district. Pradhan Birua…
Sahadev Ram and his family of 10 barely escaped with their lives when their house in Niluri Pathra Balurgada village suddenly collapsed without any warning six months ago. Although a…
A new species of small burrowing frog has been discovered from the Chota Nagpur plateau in Jharkhand. Scientists have named it ‘Magadha Burrowing Frog,’ (Sphaerotheca magadha) after the ancient kingdom of…