Leopards in Guwahati’s hills jostle for space
On a lazy Sunday morning in June this year, with the pandemic keeping most people indoors, chaos ensued at Katahbari Pahar (hill) area in Guwahati - the rapidly urbanising capital…
Salt-tolerant rice, innovations help farmers deal with salinity in the Sundarbans
A decade ago, Manirul Saha grew just one crop a year on his small farm in the Sundarbans, the sea-soaked land some hours south of Kolkata. The 40-something sowed rice…
Bridging the gender gap through groundwater monitoring in a Rajasthan village
In Hinta, a village in the west Indian state of Rajasthan, Manju Soni, troops through lush wheat fields and adjoining homesteads adorned with animal motifs, stopping at wells where she…
Why do indigenous communities persist with practising shifting cultivation?
Shifting cultivation continues to be a predominant agricultural practice in many parts of India, despite state discouragement and multipronged efforts to wean indigenous communities away from it. Their land, due…
Fire at oil well after gas leak threatens life, livelihood and biodiversity in Assam
The blowout at an oil well near Baghjan village in Assam took a turn yesterday (June 9) with a major fire outbreak at the well. For almost two weeks, the…
African Swine Fever kills thousands of pigs in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh
Bidarva Rajkhowa, a pig breeder, is a worried man these days. Despite his best efforts, he couldn’t keep the dreaded African Swine Fever (ASF) away from his Rajkhowa Pig Breeding…
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…
[Explainer] Locust swarms in India: millimeters in size but millions in numbers
Alongside a global pandemic, India prepares to fight yet another battle for food security. Unlike the micron-sized virus, however, the new threat is millimeters in size but millions in number:…
Coexisting with an increasing number of Asiatic lions
India’s lion census, supposed to be conducted in the first week of May, has been deferred because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But there is little doubt that the number of…
[Commentary] Finding the middle ground with the Changpa herders in Ladakh
The temperature was touching -15 °C as the sun set in Tsaba valley in Ladakh. We were bunched inside a tiny bunker, all seven of us. Making the most of…
