Order of the National Green Tribunal (Central Zone Bench, Bhopal) in the matter of Kamal Tiwari Vs Union of India & Others dated 27/05/2025. The Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and Chief Wildlife Warden, Rajasthan stated that a high level meeting to review the progress on the demarcation of Nahargarh …
Theirs is no romantic tale of the desert. Rather the plight of camel herders of Rajasthan today is that of an endless struggle for survival. Time was when Virma Ram proudly watched his herd of camels stretch in an endless line along the dusty horizon. Today, his gaze has turned …
The Rajasthan High Court has given its approval to the out-of-court settlement reached with the state government for developing a public park and retaining a golf course and polo ground in the Rambagh complex which is seen as a
come winter and the inhabitants of Lahaul Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh face bleak days ahead. Heavy snow brings life to a grinding halt. But an exception is the Mayad valley, where solar home lighting systems have brought more than a glimmer of cheer on the faces of its inhabitants. …
It is unfathomable why a civilisation that has worshipped water as part of its tradition should suffer from its scarcity. Mainly, because people today don't know the cost of the water used, and they seldom try to conserve or collect water where it falls. The fact that 1.5 million tanks …
the Tiger Census of 2001 has revealed that the majestic tigers found in Gujarat from Valsad to Banaskantha are now extinct. After the pug marks of the tiger recorded in 1997 census, the forest department authorities have not sighted any tiger for the last four years. Habitat crunch in Gujarat …
The Rajasthan high court has given its approval to a settlement to develop a public park and retain a golf course and a polo ground in the Rambagh Complex. The complex is considered to be the green lung of Jaipur. The settlement is a result of a number of litigations …
It was 6 in the morning when we reached Sultanpur post of Sawai Madhopur range of Ranthambhore National Park, manned by a lone forest guard Nawab Singh. Thus began our fortnight long tiger tracking on foot
Rajasthan, which is facing a severe drought for the third consecutive year, has decided to start a social audit system for its relief operations. The state government, which has undertaken its largest-ever relief operation this year, claims that the work is free from any financial leakages. The audit system is …
For the villagers of Lava ka Baas in Alwar district of Rajasthan, the Ramon Magsaysay award for Rajendra Singh, secretary of the Alwar-based Tarun Bharat Sangh could not have come at a more opportune time. After their face off with the irrigation department, who questioned the safety and the legality …
This is a story of hope and of a major change. For the first time in the last 50 years, several state governments are dealing with drought in a different way
For all the people scripting the success stories, there is a warning: history has seen the death of millions of the country's water structures due to government's apathy. Now, for the first time in the last 50 years governments have really shifted their focus to drought proofing from the adhoc …
Keshubhai Patel Chief minister, Gujarat On overflowing check dams: We needed a permanent solution that not only drought-proofs the state but also provides livelihoods. The effort is to trap every drop of rainwater through check dams. The overflowing dams are a lesson for people to take up more water conservation. …
This is not the only hurdle in making water conservation a long sustained movement. To make it a sustainable social movement and to reap its dividend in the form of poverty eradication, the government needs to put in prolonged efforts. Most of India's poverty eradication programmes have failed because they …
Investment in water is an insurance against poverty and drought. Down To Earth reporters visited the eight villages below during the droughts of 2000 and 2001. These villages have several years of experience in water conservation. The inference: the more the years of water conservation, the more the capacity to …
It is an unnecessary controversy over ownership of rainwater. The johad (traditional check dam) of Lava ka Baas in Alwar district of Rajasthan has been in the eye of a storm and so has Kamla Beniwal, Rajasthan irrigation minister. Claiming rainwater to be government's property, she supported the demolition of …
Along with Tarun Bharat Sangh ( tbs) co-workers, Gopal Singh stood by the villagers during their vigil at the Lava ka Baas johad. Credited with having designed over 4,500 water harvesting structures, this johad has also been designed by him. To express solidarity, villagers from neighbouring villages had come to …
Water laws in India are archaic and anti-people. Made to disempower rather than empower communities, these are used to terrorise the people rather than assist them. Secretary of tbs , Rajendra Singh received notices from the Rajasthan irrigation department stating that the johad constructed by the villagers of Lava ka …
All attempts by cse coordinator Indira Khurana to meet Rajasthan irrigation minister Kamla Beniwal went in vain. The minister refused to give an appointment. Khurana was directed to speak to the irrigation secretary who passed on the buck to the additional secretary cum chief engineer. She decided to call it …
