Physiography

On a train journey from Nagaland, a friend and I began talking on the subject of water. He said to me, "You have so much water in the Brahmaputra Valley and your lands are always flooded but we have to struggle for a drop of water in the hills".

Clear blue skies, natural springs and glacial peaks-tranquility. Falling stones, landslides and debris-chaos! Kinnaur, located on  the northeastern side of Himachal Pradesh, lets you experience both. It falls in seismic zones IV and V, which means it runs the the risk of damaging and destructive earthquakes.

Manipal University has a well-thought out, multi-pronged approach towards reducing its environmental footprint. This includes a comprehensive waste management policy and a programme to reduce energy consumption.

The 200 odd residents of Didakhedi, a sleepy village just 13 kms from Sehore town in Madhya Pradesh, never had adequate water. Two decades ago, most of the farming in the village was done during the monsoons. The village had no electricity and a lone diesel pump operated the shallow dug wells to irrigate some lands during the winter.

Himalayan forests span a two-and-a-half thousand kilometer stretch and have a wide range of climates; they are beset by problems that need innovative solutions. Rajesh Thadani discussed these problems and possible solutions at  the Sustainable Mountain Development Summit organised in Kohima, September 2013. 

Forest cover is declining

Money deals mar climate talks in Warsaw

 Every year, we have about 76 disasters in the Himalayas, some 36,000 people are killed and over a million affected by disasters. The loss of life and damage does not need to occur. How people manage the situation can relieve the situation much better.

About a third of these disasters are from floods. In the Himalaya, there are two broad kinds of flooding:

Mountain farmers are facing a very volatile situation right now. Food crops are being replaced by cash crops, which return better dividends. Due to this, their overall economy has gotten much better. As a whole, more of them are migrating from rural to urban areas.

Can we really address the special needs of mountain states by allocating them more money? Isn't it essential that we leave the 'one size fits all' approach and recognise the exclusive challenges and opportunities which mountain farmers face as compared to farmers in the plains? 

Athirappilly falls is situated 70 km from Kochi city in Kerala's Thrissur district. The 80 ft high falls is a part of the Chalakudy River and originates in the upper reaches of the Sholayar ranges in the Western Ghats. Lush greenery and little streams that cover the winding route up and down to the falls exhilarate and intimidate all at once.