When the grass was green: Todas of the Nilgiris long for their lost grasslands
Standing in the middle of a grassy hill, Thorthey Gooden looked around. The grass was short, just an inch long – like a lawn drying out in the summer. In…
Punjab farmers’ widows respond to apathy by standing in elections
In the agrarian state of Punjab, an average of two farmers have committed suicide every day, over the last 18 years, an estimate based on multiple reports. These statistics should…
Ganga is shifting away from Patna
“In last 20 years Gangaji has moved too far from here, perhaps our sins have caused this. We pollute it so much and dig its heart (for mining) day and…
Gharials and mugger crocodiles coexist by separating resources
When one species encounters another, also occupying the same habitat, splitting up the resources available can help avoid competition. This is the strategy adopted by gharials and mugger crocodiles in…
Is the endgame inevitable for the Ganges river dolphin in Barak river of Assam?
The proposed Tipaimukh dam on the Barak river in northeast India - a controversial political issue between India and Bangladesh - could be the last nail in the coffin for…
Politics muddies waters in parched Bundelkhand
It is just the beginning of summer. The mercury in Lalitpur — one of the drought-prone districts of Bundelkhand, a region divided between the two states of Uttar Pradesh (UP)…
Will agriculture distress in Saurashtra benefit the opposition?
Caught between the two mainstream parties, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian National Congress, the farmers of Saurashtra are an angry lot this election season. They are waiting for…
Narmada, the forgotten river, is not on anyone’s agenda
Sanjaybhai Machhi, 33, a resident of Bharuch in Gujarat, was a fisherman until a few years ago. He would earn enough from fishing in the Narmada river, to sustain his…
Agonising wait for Assam’s climate victims as rivers gobble homes, farmlands
With the monsoon setting in, 69-year-old Rahim Khan is worried. Monsoon rains swell the rivers in Assam and it worries people like Khan and lakhs of others who have been…
Bye, bye birdie: A bird sanctuary could disappear as Pune metro speeds ahead
“Enter via the big arch of the crematorium.” The ominous instructions to reach the Dr. Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary in Pune perhaps foreshadow the fate that is looming for this…
