Villages News

“We are independent from Lantana’s fury,” beams Basant Jharia, a local community member in Central India, a region overwhelmed by the spread of the invasive Lantana plants. Atop a mound…

Five decades ago, findings of the first tiger census set alarm bells ringing in the government. The count of tigers had plummeted to 1,827, which was a sharp decline from…

N. S. Jodha’s pioneering work on Commons in 1986 alerted us to the poor’s dependency on these resources. When the commons degrade, the poor suffers the most. However, we knew…

Refinery prakalp, yei Kokanat ho, kara virodh virodh, kara virodha.(The refinery project that’s arriving in Konkan, let’s oppose, let’s oppose.) This was the festive chant ringing door-to-door across villages in…

Srinivas Behera’s family in Mangalajodi village on the northern banks of the Chilika lake in Odisha along India’s east coast has been engaged in the fishing business for as long…

On June 1, Bangladesh implemented a total ban on entry into the Sundarbans mangrove forest for three months. The ban applies not only to tourists but also the communities that…

Three decades ago, in 1992, the Constitution 73rd (on Panchayat Raj) and 74th Amendment Acts (on Nagarpalika or urban local bodies) were enacted. These were the first definitive steps to…

This summer it will be thirty years since the Rio Earth Summit. Unlike the earlier decadal anniversaries, this year the United Nations is not celebrating an event to mark the…

Medicinal plants in the Himalayas are under threat due to climate change, which calls for reviewing current conservation strategies, including protected parks in the mountain ranges, new research shows. The…

On July 5, 2021, during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, BJP member and Rajsamand MP Diya Kumari wrote to the Centre, seeking that the Kumbhalgarh and Todgarh Raoli Sanctuaries…

About four decades ago, one winter morning, a 10-12-year-old boy was accompanying his father on horseback on the rugged terrains of Ladakh. They had set off from their hamlet Rumste,…

India's northern state of Uttarakhand, known as the Land of Gods, is facing the dual challenge of climate change and migration. The incidence of glacier bursts, flash floods, unseasonal torrential…

“There was a road leading to Buxa Duar, which was one of the finest trails in that area. Unfortunately, that road was washed out in the 1993 floods. I was…

New research reveals tea plantations can support biodiversity from native plants, wildlife and microorganisms when managed in an agro-ecological setting with sustainable, good practices. Scientists at Ashoka Trust for Research…

On the outskirts of a bustling New Delhi, the quiet village of Mangar in Haryana has long held a secret in its caves: ancient paintings. Growing up grazing livestock in…

The impact of climate change on India’s food systems has been long evident, with about 194 million people struggling for food and nutritional security today. Between 2017 and 2019, 18…

Aesthetically, they may not quite cut it, but these two-tiered sanitation structures, set against the sprawling cold deserts of the Indian Himalayas, have supplied organic manure to local communities for…

“For a crop loss worth Rs. 15,000 per acre, we receive only Rs. 6,000 in compensation from the forest department. That money is of no use to us; we have…

For the past 14 years, artisan Deepak Dewangan has been weaving magic out of bamboo. Based in Kondagaon district of Chhattisgarh which falls under the Bastar division, Dewangan has been…

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…