Women-led and women’s rights organizations are on the frontlines of today’s humanitarian crises—but many are at risk of disappearing. As global needs rise due to conflict, climate change, and displacement, deep cuts to foreign aid are threatening organizations that provide life-saving services for women and girls. In March 2025, UN …
constructive dialogue and objective assessments have always been a casualty in the conflicts and controversies that have surrounded large dams. Such projects have nevertheless played a major role in development efforts and in meeting a variety of ends like electricity generation. They have also been the key players in government-sponsored …
This article discusses how the Sardar Sarovar Dam in India is a case of a development project which causes environmental displacement on a massive scale. This occurs through the impairment of livelihoods by environmental changes. The problems of resettlement and rehabilitation are emphasized in the article as are further displacement …
The National Environmental Commission of Chile recently gave its final approval for the construction of a second 570-mw dam on the Bio Bio river despite stringent criticism from ecologists and local Indian tribes who seem destined to lose their indigenous land to the project. The electric utility Endesa's environmental impact …
The latest furore in South Africa is over the Cloudy Creek or Rietspruit wetland on the south bank of the Vaal river. The Sasol Chemical Industries wants to strip mine the area for coal as feedstock for the plant, which requires seven million tonnes of coal per annum to turn …
The Brazilian acting minister of justice Milton Seligman denied the allegation that the former minister Nelson Jobim had given the instruction that the Raposa/Serra do Sol indigenous area be reduced in exchange for votes in favour of the presidential reelection bill. This denial was seen as an attempt to retrieve …
THE lions are going on a safari to see humans being evicted. At stake is the culture and lifestyle of a community of tribals, primarily forest-gatherers, rich in the knowledge of traditional herbs and medicine. For, Madhya Pradesh (MP), the seams of its kitty already bursting with tigers, is about …
after waiting for ten years for promised returns, Brazilian peasants who were forced to leave their land to make way for the Itaparica dam in northeastern Brazil, are petitioning the World Bank for the irrigation facilities they were promised. They are asking the Bank's independent inspection panel to investigate the …
an immediate international moratorium on the construction of large dams was unanimously demanded by participants at the first international meeting of dam-affected people held in Curitiba, Brazil from March 11-14. The 'Declaration of Curitiba' said that the moratorium should last until a number of demands, including compensation to millions of …
India's protected areas (PAs) account for 19 per cent of her forest cover and 4.3 per cent of her landmass. Thus, approximately 15 million hectares of forest land has been effectively locked away from people who have been dependent on them for centuries. Lopsided conservation policies can be apportioned the …
The brouhaha over the Bakun hydroelectric project in Malaysia continues. Recently, the Bakun Region People's Committee (BRPC) met to discuss the various issues which affected the people in connection with implementation of the project. The committee called upon the government to "seriously reconsider and/or review its decision to implement the …
a proposal to give state forest lands to industry as captive plantations is creating a storm. The Madhya Pradesh (mp) state ministry of environment and forests has
FOR Tehri townsfolk, May proved to be the cruellest month, beginning with confusion and protests. The prevailing mood is that of widespread scepticism about eviction notices that came as a bolt from the blue, warning of inundation of the town. So, with a mere 13 per cent voter turnout for …
The Singrauli region, which produces 10% of India's electric power, has experienced rapid industrialization and urbanization over the last 30 years. Along with this growth has come environmental degradation in terms of coal cycle and industrial pollution, displacement of populations, housing and occupational hazards, related health effects, and land degradation. …
THE Environmental Activists' Handbook edited by Gayatri Singh, Keban Anklesharia and Colin Gonsalves carries the pic an old fdic of a woman, named Sunderbai, on its cover. coptim below reads - "Sunderbai, twice displaced by 0 Am project, eventually died of starvation on 21.1.93". nor picture provoked many questions in …
The Bhairu Lok Abhyaranya Dakav in Bhanwta, near Sariska, Rajasthan, is a sanctuary with a difference. It is a sanctuary declared, protected and managed by the people. "We call it the sonchidi, since it is as precious as a sone ki chidiya (the golden bird)," says Kanhaiyalal Gujjar, a member …
Our syllabi (for training forest officials) still have manuals written during the Raj S K Mukherjee Acting director, Wildlife Institute, Dehradun Why do you still train foresters in horseriding and shooting, 5 decades after the British have left? Surely, that's teaching them to charge against us. Nanakram Gujjar, a villager …
UPROOTED 4 times in 3 decades. Thirty thousand villagers of Madhya Pradesh were first displaced during the construction of the Rihand dam (late '50s); later, again, when coal was found in the mid-70s; a third time, to make room for industry; and finally, when the Singrauli mega thermal power station …
Democracy entails statutory safeguards against infringement of the inalienable rights of the people. But in the country today, the state of legislations protecting the people from wanton development is abysmal. Only Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Maharashtra have some kind of an act regarding resettlement and rehabilitation. In Karnataka, the Act …
What do you give to oustees who have been cleared away in the name of a developmental project? Take land, give land, says the government, without, however, seeming too eager to stick by its own cryptic formula. The Sardar Sarovar Project, for instance, guarantees every displaced adult (defined as a …
