Ganga’s wait for a cleaner tomorrow continues …
This June marked six years since the government of India launched a Rs. 200 billion (Rs. 20,000 crore) programme, ‘Namami Gange’, for cleaning the severely polluted river Ganga, considered sacred…
Mines ministry seeks public hearing exemption for expansion of non-coal mining projects
Following in the footsteps of the coal ministry, which secured exemption from public hearings for capacity expansion of coal mines by up to 40 percent, the union ministry of mines…
[Commentary] ‘Righting’ the wrong: Rights of rivers in India
Imagine if the river Dibang in Arunachal Pradesh, currently at the centre of controversy because of the 3,097-megawatt (MW) Etalin hydroelectric project proposed to be built across it, had the…
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…
[Commentary] Post-COVID there is a case for a greener GNP
Even before the upending of the world as we knew it by COVID-19, there had been disquiet for some time over the slowing global economy, in the backdrop of the…
Cheaper coal transport through water and sky could come at the cost of the environment
For over five years now, India’s coal and shipping ministries have been advocating the use of waterways and aerial ropeways for transport of coal. With the Draft Environment Impact Assessment…
Uttarakhand eyes a part of Rajaji Tiger Reserve for Kumbh
Ignoring one of the most important lessons from the coronavirus pandemic - to let wildlife habitats remain undisturbed - the Uttarakhand government is eyeing to temporarily use at least 778…
Fly ash slurry in Singrauli contaminates water reservoir after taking lives and homes
On April 10, when 26-year-old Ramajor was working in his fields, less than 100 metres from village Siddhi Khurd in Madhya Pradesh’s Singrauli area, he received a call on his…
Tracking sewage to surveil COVID-19
Scientists around the world are peeping into poop and wastewater for the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) to come up with surveillance techniques to warn if the virus is circulating in a…
“Ladies First!”: Women fight against solid waste dumping in this Himachal Pradesh village
In India’s Himachal Pradesh, in the western Himalayas, Anuradha is doubled down into the soils of her farmland in Sudher village, donning a dhattu—the term used in the hills to…
