Conventional energy resources are fast depleting and therefore alternative resources are required to sustain the fast progress and development of any nation. This situation is more pertinent to India where fast growing population and developmental activities are posing major challenges to the government as the country has limited resources of …
the Bhotiya villages of Lata, Reni, Jumma and Dunagiri wear a deserted look. Many houses are vacant. Most of the houses that are inhabited are managed by women as the men have migrated to neighbouring towns to earn a living. Migration and change is nothing new for these people. In …
a man with a mission, Arun Kumar Badoni's life work is to put cultivation of rare and endangered Himalayan medicinal and aromatic plants on the development agenda of mountain districts in the Uttarkhand region of Uttar Pradesh. He has been able to grow various endangered high-altitude herbs without any financial …
Although the Chipko movement is practically non-existent in its region of origin it remains one of the most frequently deployed examples of an environmental and/or a women's movement in the South. A small but growing number of commentators are now critiquing much neopopulist theorising on Chipko, and this paper provides …
HERBAL DRUGS: Phytopharm, the UK biotechnology group which specialises in traditional herbal remedies has been granted permission by the US Food and Drug Administration to start clinical trials of a treatment cream made from twelve plants for eczema. Phytopharm, which has links with companies in India, Indonesia and South Africa, …
The Himalayan mountains constitute an ecological system naturally primed for disaster. The deep gorges through which the Himalayan rivers flow convey the impression that the Himalayan valleys would never face floods. Yet these very channels often fail to contain the fury of disastrous floods. Among the most affected valleys are …
Many questions about the theories and practices of the Indian forestry establishment have blazed forth in the wake of the fires that spread throughout the forests of Garhwal and Kumaon last month. Nearly all them may be hidden in the clouds of false smoke that are being released by the …
IN THE highland village of Paini, 7 km off Joshimath in the Garhwal Himalayas, the village Mahila Mangal Dal (MMD) -- the women's welfare group -- today has a sizeable treasury of money in its village fund. The fund not only helps the women during lean periods, but also meets …
THE TEHRI dam project (TDP) is back in news. Even as engineering experts and scientists reiterated building such a high dam in a seismically sensitive region is hazardous, an offer from a consortium of Russian and Uzbek companies to finance the project brought joy to its proponents. A two-day workshop …
FLASH floods and landslides in the Himalaya are caused at times by unplanned development. On August 14 last year, the fast-developing town of Gopeshwar and its surrounding villages was inundated by heavy rainfall and 27 people were killed in resulting landslides. Flooding caused by an irrigation channel left incomplete by …
"The sky is going to fall on our heads," was the thought that ran through the mind of many of Dhedsari's residents. A cloud that should have caused rain to fall over a few days, burst like a bubble and the water poured down all at once in the evening …
Many springs changed colour and flow after the earthquake. The Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology says a large number of springs became completely dry, but some began to discharge murky water with a burnt smell. In other places, discharge levels recorded perceptible increases -- about eight times the normal flow …
RAIN IN the hills usually evokes romantic images. But in the Himalaya, the monsoon often becomes macabre. It had been raining incessantly through the evening of September 2 and the inhabitants of the seven villages in the Angoth gram sabha of Chamoli district were getting ready to sleep. In nearby …
MANY varieties of crops in the higher Himalaya are rapidly disappearing, resulting in an alarming decrease in crop diversity in the Garhwal Himalaya, according to scientists at the G B Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development. The Garhwal Himalaya is a repository of many lesser-known and unexploited crops, but …
This report remains one of the few chronicles of the ecological change taking place in the Indo-Gangetic plains - India's most densely populated area. Focussing on the recurrent problem of floods in this region and describes the nature of challenge posed by ecologically sound development and suggests new ways of …
The traditional Indian strategy of resolving conflict by non-cooperation, the satyagraha, has been revived in the Chipko, or "Embrace the Tree", the movement to protect trees from commercial felling. This paper traces the development of the philosophy and the non-violent resistance activities from the beginnings of Chipko in the early …
From Kashmir to Burma, where tigers once lived amid lush forests, a vast tract of land has been laid bare by the timber industry. In its wake have come landslides, drought and yet further poverty. The only hope for the hill people is a Ghandian like movement which villagers have …
This film produced by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) explores increase in flood affected areas in India and analyses the Himalayan floods. It presents an agenda for change and shows how the country can combat the growing problems of floods. See Also CSE Report > The Wrath of Nature …
