The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
The Maharashtra government has decided to shelf its much-hyped devolution of power to the gram panchayats , a promise that the ruling Democratic Front government has been making since it assumed office. The chief minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh, announced the proposal last September at a public meeting and subsequently the governor …
T he merit of kat-ki-kunni (timber-cornered building) of Himachal Pradesh can be traced back to 1905, if not earlier. A massive temblor levelled every village from Dharamsala to Kangra. Measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale, it lasted two minutes and was felt over 416,000 sq km. But, buildings with kat-ki-kunni …
At 2.53 am on October 25, 1991, a moderate earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale affected more than 425,000 people of about 2,100 villages in the districts of Uttarkashi, Tehri and Chamoli in what was then Uttar Pradesh and is now the hill state of Uttaranchal. Traditionally built timber …
Despite the shortcomings of the Neeru Meeru (water and you) programme reflected during its first and second phase, the Andhra Pradesh chief minister, Chandrababu Naidu, has decided to launch the third phase of the programme from May 2001, with a new name
With the emergence of vector-borne diseases, population pressure and unhealthy living conditions, a very focussed approach and long-term planning is needed in disease control. If all human-made changes and pressure of unscientific exploitation of natural resources are not halted, the planet Earth will not remain a habitable place. The case …
india lives in its villages, said the Mahatma. But sadly very few of our political leaders acknowledge this. And while they look the other way, a few committed individuals have sacrificed the good life to strive for a better living for the rural folk using their knowledge base and information. …
the National Human Rights Commission (nhrc) has directed the Union rural development ministry to include provisions for the resettlement and rehabilitation of people displaced by land acquisitions for various projects in the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. They could also be formulated by a separate legislation, said nhrc . In 1994, …
The government of Niger is modifying the country's forestry policy to evolve sustainable ways to harvest wood. It is launching a project, Domestic Energy Strategy (des), that aims to make rural population responsible for the management and sustainable development of wood supplies. "Rational and sustainable forests development to meet firewood …
on december 10 , 2000, about one million people gathered on the banks of the Narmada, near Shukalteerath in Bharuch, Gujarat, to express gratitude towards the man who changed their lives, Pandurang Shastri Athavale, or Dada (elder brother), as he is fondly called, who turned 80. Athavale founded the social …
Sahashradhara, Dehradun, India. A soft drink shop greets thousands of tourists at this confluence of a thousand streams. So what's the big deal? Well, its just that the shop is located right inside a microhydel powerhouse that supplied electricity to three nearby villages for over four years. Two year ago, …
As the world wakes up to a depleting finite sources of power like coal and the growing opposition to big dams, countries all over the world with water resources and difficult areas to electrify are opting for the community mode of electricity generation and distribution. "Today, a confluence of technological, …
In India, the Central Electricity Act, 1948, does not allow individuals, communities or cooperatives to take up electricity generation and distribution. Only a private company bound to sell power to the government can do so. Of course the company has to sell power at rates the government fixes. Since such …
Three years ago, when Chija Maya, a resident of Piughar, spoke about a run-of-the-river microhydel power station in her village, many people thought that she was whistling in the dark. Though hydro-electricity first came to Nepal in 1911 to light the King’s palaces, it still remains a dream for 85 …
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 …
the people of Bhaonta-Kolyala village of Alwar district of Rajasthan have constructed a stone checkdam, reinforcing their earlier Johad (earthen dam). "This has been possible because of the Rs 1,00,000 prize given to us by Down To Earth ( dte ),'says Kanhaiya Lal, one of the villagers. The Down To …
