The IMF’s April 2025 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa presents a clear warning: regional growth is slowing, debt pressures are mounting, and donor assistance is declining. Yet the report outlines critical opportunities particularly in domestic revenue mobilization, structural reform, and private sector activation that can shape a more resilient …
As we begin, we must remind ourselves that of the 25 million persons displaced on account of development projects, less than 50 per cent have been rehabilitated. The rest have been
This paper critically examines some narratives of water scarcity in Kutch, western India. It argues that images of dwindling rainfall and increasing drought largely serve to legitimize the controversial Sardar Sarovar dam and manufacture dominant perceptions concerning scarcity. This manufacture has naturalized scarcity in the region and largely benefits powerful …
The Supreme Court of India has adjourned till August 2001 the hearing on a petition seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against the Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar, writer Arundhati Roy and advocate Prashant Bhushan. The petition was filed against them for staging demonstrations outside the court against its verdict …
The Supreme Court of India has recently issued show cause notices to Medha Patkar, leader of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), and writer Arundati Roy for staging a demonstration outside the apex court gate on December 13, 2000, and shouting slogans against the court's decision on the Sardar Sarovar dam …
The Supreme Court on October 30, 2000 has declined to fix an early date for the hearing of an application by the Narmada Bachao Andolan. "It will not be possible to disturb the hearing schedule of the court right now,' the apex court stated. Narmada Bachao Andolan application seeks clarification …
Get on with it The Supreme Court's go-ahead to the Sardar Sarovar Project ( ssp ) was long overdue. It is a good judgement. It lays down the framework within which the project can continue. This will ensure that the work on the dam moves forward swiftly. The message is …
on october 18, the Supreme Court ( sc ) cleared the construction of the Sardar Sarovar Project ( ssp ) dam on the Narmada River. Construction had been stayed in 1994 following a public interest petition by the Narmada Bachao Andolan ( nba ), which the court has now dismissed. …
The Supreme Court judgement on Sardar Sarovar Project ( ssp ) has a lesson for environmentalists: if the judiciary is asked to decide between the environment and development, it will choose development. Therefore, the judges must be presented with a case that integrates the two issues. In the case of …
In our January 15, 2000 issue, Down To Earth had highlighted the situation in drought-struck areas of Gujarat. The conclusion was that villages with structures to harvest rainwater were faring much better than villages which had forgotten the value of rain (see:
Achampet mandal of Mahabubnagar district, Andhra Pradesh (AP), was in the clutch of drought six years ago. But it is doing well at present. “Satellite images show an improvement of about 300 per cent between February 1994 and March 1998 with regard to the groundwater table,” says Ramesh Reddy, head …
SEVERAL messages emerge from the analysis of crash programmes to harvest rainwater in Gujarat and ap. It is amply clear that the government of Gujarat has been much more successful in addressing the need of the hour than the AP government. POLITICIANS' RESPONSE: The way the political establishment has gone …
It was quite visible in several districts, whether it was Rajkot, Junagadh or Jamnagar in Saurashtra or Bhuj in Kachchh. People in several villages of these drought-prone regions looked a lot more confident in September 2000 about dealing with drought in the future. Barely four months ago, they had looked …
In a significant order, the Supreme Court has directed the three states affected by the Sardar Sarovar Project to review the resettlement of those evicted because of the dam. The court has also directed them to provide details concerning the availability of land for rehabilitation. The order is important in …
Two years after the first agitation against the Maheshwar hydel power project at Jalud in Khar-gone, Madhya Pradesh, activists of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) have yet again mobilisedvillagers to embark on a non-violent, direct action to stall work at the site. They were accompanied by Booker Award winner Arundhati …
in response to the Supreme Court's ( sc ) recent interim order allowing the Gujarat government to raise the height of the Sardar Sarovar dam, the Madhya Pradesh ( mp ) government decided to file a petition demanding a fresh look into all aspects of the dam. "Latest hydrological data …
The Supreme Court ruling to allow the construction of the controversial Sardar Sarovar Dam at the Narmada river has come as severe jolt to anti-dam activists. On February 17, in an interim order, the bench comprising Chief Justice A S Anand, Justice B N Kirpal and Justice S P Bharucha, …
A D M I R E R S Digvijay Singh is the only chief minister of Madhya Pradesh who thinks about the environment. He knows that environment is a source of livelihood for villagers. Watershed activities and Panchayati Raj have not only given us back our agriculture but also the …
Four years ago, Kali Bai's residence was the most notorious place in village Kakradhar of district Jhabua. She was the only woman who had a liquor shop catering round the clock to villagers who had nothing to do. "They used to drink liquor throughout the day in the backyard of …
Gula Ralu, 90, is the eldest resident of Village Ambakhoda in district Jhabua. According to him, two Renerations of people reside in the villages: his generation, which:has t seen the jungle, and the next one, which migrates in tpe absence of the jungle. But, in recent times, he admits that …
