Katte and Kunte: The lesser known waterbodies of Bengaluru
Three decades ago, 65-year-old Jayamma had an opportunity to buy a small plot of land at Hosahalli, on the fringes of Bengaluru, where she worked as a tailor in a…
Choking the fields: Impact of mining on Goa’s paddy
Mayem is a village in Bicholim taluka of the north-eastern hinterland of Goa. It is most famous for its lake, a popular tourist spot called the Mayem lake, which underwent…
The precarious journey of Goa’s mining-affected and dependent people
Chandrasekhar Shirodkar, 48, returned from Saudi Arabia in the early 1990s. When he came back to Maem, a village in the north-eastern mining belt of India’s western state Goa, he…
Kolar Gold fields: From fields of gold to a dust bowl
“The government has taken 40 precious years of my life, used me and left me to die when their work was completed,” rued 79-year-old K. Esavel, a resident of Karnataka's…
Chennai’s Adyar river shows signs of recovery after years of government investment
The long suffering residents of Chennai have been living with two dead rivers, the Adyar and the Cooum, flowing through the heart of their city. These two rivers meander sluggishly…
West Bengal fishermen observe fewer shrimp and fish deaths by pollution this year
Around mid-April, when Siddik Mollah, a fisherman at a village called Boyarmari, located in the district of North 24 Parganas in West Bengal, found that day-by-day shrimps were growing unhindered…
East and west: The parallel worlds of India’s coal and renewable sectors
The rapid adoption of renewable power has been the top agenda of the Indian government over the last few years but it has not been at the cost of fossil…
Protecting rivers and involving communities to conserve Himalayas’ shy otters
“We thought otters were cats who came from the jungle and ate fish. We did not know much about otters,” recalls K. B. Rai, a homestay owner in East Sikkim,…
[Video] Is mining in India ‘just’ for the environment and communities?
India has a huge mining sector, worth trillions of rupees, involving both public and private sector units across India employing millions directly and indirectly. However, in the absence of any…
The Indus dolphin is struggling in India, thriving in Pakistan
“Have you seen dolphins in your area?” “You mean Bhulan Machi (long-lipped fish),” replied 22-year-old Bagha, a boatman who ferries people on the banks of the Beas river in Karmuwala village of Punjab’s…
