Affidavit on behalf of Union Territory of Puducherry in the matter of a news item titled "India lost 2.33 million hectares of tree cover since 2000 Global Forest Watch" which appeared in the Indian Express, April 13, 2024. The report dated April 25, 2025 said that there is no loss …
The January 2001 earthquake that struck the state of Gujarat in India damaged or destroyed some 8,000 villages and 490 towns. In the months and years after the earthquake, many organizations undertook widespread reconstruction programmes. One such collaboration between the NGO CARE India and the Federation of Indian Chambers of …
Since 2008, the rush for land in developing countries has rapidly intensified but the sector remains largely unregulated and land deals are frequently agreed in secret between governments and investors. Such a lack of mechanisms or political will to ensure transparent, accountable, and equitable decision-making in the acquisition and allocation …
Rural common property resources represent the historically evolved institutional arrangements made by communities in dry regions (in the present case) to guard against the vulnerabilities and risks created by the biophysical and environmental circumstances characteristic of these areas. Despite their valuable contributions, CPRS are faced with decline in terms of …
This study of the operation of the Accredited Social Health Activist programme of the National Rural Health Mission in one of the tribal blocks of Thane district in Maharashtra fi nds that incentives given to ASHAs generate a bias in their work activities and shift the attention of these community …
One of the most urgent challenges facing the world today is ensuring local water security under rapid climate variability and change. This is of particular importance in a country like India, where over half of the people are involved in farming, and agricultural losses due to climate change are estimated …
India is young and young people don't like to be sermonised. Slogans would not help conserve water. But taking small steps, practising a few things daily, and auditing one's own behaviour will make one more responsive to his/her inner call. Once the call for conservation and hygiene emanates from within, …
Although the JFM concept is becoming popular more and more all over India, there is no well defined methodology to evaluate the functioning of JFM. As a result, it is not possible to evaluate JFM functioning and to find out the level of success of JFM. Therefore, an attempt has …
Despite being dotted with industries, Gujarat's rich coastline is plagued by voices of dissent. Coastal communities have of late realised that the fruits of industrialisation were either too sour, or not for them at all.
Some interesting insights into what citizens think of the Delhi Master Plan-2021(MPD-2021) and how it impacts them, its errors and failures, and ways to improve and streamline it can be gleaned from the 500 suggestions received from the public that have now been uploaded on the Delhi Development Authority's website …
To unearth the priorities in Assam to cope with floods effectively, the prime objective of this research study is on assessment of the adaptation measures, structural and non-structural, to floods in three districts of Assam, viz. Dhemaji, Jorhat and Dhubri representing North Bank Plains, Upper Brahmaputra Valley and Lower Brahmaputra …
We assessed a donor-funded grassland management project designed to create both conservation and livelihood benefits in the rangelands of Mongolia's Gobi desert. The project ran from 1995 to 2006, and we used remote sensing Normalized Differential Vegetation Index data from 1982 to 2009 to compare project grazing sites to matched …
The mainstream paradigm of understanding grass-root environmentalism in India as “environmentalism of the poor” might be challenged by an alternative prototype forest movement in the Bengal Dooars prior to the Chipko movement. It was fought against the exploitative design of ecosystem governance under the taungya method of artificial regeneration as …
Many factors associated with modern society have combined to produce a burgeoning in water demand. This demand can be realized only through efficient management of water sources and supply systems. To achieve sustainable water supply the beneficiary communities should be made to maintain the facilities created in the rural areas. …
Orissa is prone to natural disasters, especially floods. Yet, the authorities have not been able to draw up an effective disaster management plan and politicians continue to play politics with relief works. What is needed in dealing with these disasters and the relief and rehabilitation work that follows is the …
The goal of preserving nature is often in conflict with economic development and the aspirations of the rural poor. Nowhere is this more striking than in native grasslands, which have been extensively converted until a mere fraction of their original extent remains. This is not surprising; grasslands flourish in places …
The transformation of human settlements over time can affect the relationship between communities and commons when, for example, social geographies change from rural to urban, or from traditional systems of management to modern bureaucratic systems. Communities that were dependent on particular commons could become less dependent, or abandon those commons. …
These guidelines broadly indicate a fresh framework for the next generation watershed programmes. The key features of this new unified approach can be broadly outlined as: Delegating Powers to States, Dedicated Institutions, Financial Assistance to Dedicated Institutions, Duration of the Programme, Livelihood Orientation, Cluster Approach, Scientific Planning, Capacity Building, and …
In a significant development, the Committee appointed under the Chairmanship of Justice Mr. N. K. Patil, Judge of the Karnataka High Court and Chairman High Court Legal Services Committee, in response to the Public Interest Litigation by Environment Support Group challenging the privatisation of management and rehabilitation of lakes in …
