Aarti Kelkar Khambete

Kerala's Ashtamudi lake recognised for sustainable clam fishing

Of late, there have been plenty of discussions around the topic of sanitation, which have focussed on building toilets on a massive scale. These are in the aftermath of the new and recently released Millennium Development Goals Report 2014 by the United Nations that shows that India has the world's largest population that defecates out in the open, with it being as high as 66% in rural India [1

Nandatai and her 16 year old daughter Phula creep out of their houses quietly in the wee hours of the morning into the dark fields to relieve themselves before everyone wakes up. It is an everyday story as this is the only time in the day that they have privacy. “It is so shameful to go out in the fields during the day”, says Nandatai. “We have to hold our urine till it gets dark.

India is one of the world's largest producers of white and brown varieties of paddy and contributes to around 20% of all the paddy production in the world. Rice (de-husked form of paddy) is the staple food in the eastern and southern parts of the country and is mainly grown in rain-fed areas that receive heavy annual rainfall [1].

Rameshwaram is well-known as one of India's most sacred places and is an important pilgrimage centre. However, what isn't well-known is the history behind the 64 teerthas (holy water bodies) in and around the island.

Dhanushkodi, bordered by the Bay of Bengal on one side and the Indian Ocean on the other, was a major point of entry to India until 1964, when a cyclone devastated the entire town [1]. Now, only a few fisherfolk remain. 

The fisherfolk in Kerala have their own distinctive culture and share a special relationship with the sea and the environment. Although they are an important community in the system, they have remained neglected despite the higher socio-economic progress of the state as a whole.

Shantamma woke up one morning with a high fever. She also had a sudden pain at the back of her eyes and severe joint pain. She had been finding it very difficult to move around and go on with her daily routine. And it was quite a tedious routine, which began at 5 a.m. She was a house maid and worked at multiple houses every day.

June signals the start of the monsoons in many parts of India. Pune and its surrounding areas in Maharashtra have witnessed heavy showers since the first week of June. The rains let up for a weeks time during which I visited a few places on the outskirts of Pune city.

Yenepoya Medical and Dental College, some 15 kilometres away from Mangalore city near Delarekatte, is located in a developing neighbourhood; three other medical colleges, many schools and the Mangalore University are all situated in the same area. A software park is also expected to come up shortly.