Society, Culture, Religion and History

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Featured Articles

October 8, 2023

India's rivers: From conservation movements to legal personhood

While the current push for legal personhood for rivers is facing obstacles and is stalled, it holds potential as a viable long-term strategy for the preservation of India's rivers

River quality deteriorates as demand for hydropower to support economic growth continues to expand. (Image: Yogendra Singh Negi, Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED)

June 16, 2023

Majuli Island: A tapestry of resilience and environmental harmony

Majuli serves as a symbol of both the delicate balance between human activity and the environment and the tenacity of its residents

Addressing various aspects of women's lives to enhance their social, economic, and political status (Image: Rebuild India Fund)

January 13, 2022

Water management in the times of Gonds of Central India

The water structures constructed during the Gond period continue to survive the test of time and provide evidence of the water wisdom of our ancestors.

Kundeshwar lake, Kundam in Jabalpur (Image Source: K G Vyas)

January 2, 2021

The fast disappearing traditional water harvesting structures of Rajasthan

Lack of community ownership and local governance are spelling doom for the once royal and resilient traditional water harvesting structures of Rajasthan.

Toorji Ka Jhalara, Jodhpur (Image Source: Rituja Mitra)

December 7, 2020

Not in the interest of women farmers!

The new farm related bills will spell doom for women workers who form the bulk of small and marginal sections of Indian agriculture, warns Mahila Kisan Adhikaar Manch (MAKAAM).

Farm women, overworked and underpaid (Image Source: India Water Portal)

December 11, 2019

Scientists intervene to save dry toilets

Dry toilets have long been hailed as a sustainable solution to the sanitation and waste management crisis facing India today, but have been overshadowed by more modern toilet designs.

A traditional dry toilet. Image: India Science Wire

People of a semi-arid Rajasthan village battle Coca Cola

The story isn't new. It is about Coca Cola exploiting groundwater resources at its bottling plant in Kaladera. What will hopefully be new is how the story finally ends.

Amita Bhaduri

Posted on 27 Jul, 2014 10:23 PM

Kaladera, a small village about 40 km from Jaipur has always been known for its chaubandi (mud resist printing) and natural dyeing but it has been getting a lot of attention since 1999. No, it's not because of the handicraft but because of Coca Cola, which set up a bottling plant there.

Borewells go deep in Kaladera, Rajasthan

House of solutions

Rahul Banerjee, a scientist and researcher, has created sustainable and environmentally friendly home-based solutions to manage his own water supply and sanitation issues in Indore.

Makarand Purohit

Posted on 25 Jul, 2014 06:30 PM

Many scientists and researchers have been trying to find solutions to problems related to urban water supply, wastewater management and reduction of energy use in urban areas but very few have succeeded. Rahul Banerjee is one who has.

Rahul Banerjee's sustainable house at Indore

Ripples of Sukhomajri

Sukhomajri village, the model of watershed development, is today a witness to man's changing priorities which is separating him from his environment. The video tells the full story.

Manu Moudgil

Posted on 25 Jul, 2014 11:46 AM

Sukhomajri village has long been a reminder of people's participation in ecological preservation and in turn, greater economic good.

Holi-Bajoli hydropower project shifts banks

A group of women in Himachal protest the shifting of a hydel project from the right bank to the left of the Ravi river. While it may seem like a simple 'side' issue, the truth is far more complex.

Manu Moudgil

Posted on 21 Jul, 2014 04:59 AM

I could just about see a small makeshift shelter with a yellow canopy. As I made my way through the small stream and climbed uphill, I saw a JCB machine trying to clear a path. Further up the road, female voices speaking the local dialect started to emerge. A small hearth surrounded by utensils and jars of tea, sugar and lentils greeted me at the entrance.

Himachal women protest Holi-Bajoli hydel plant

Union Budget 2014-15 sets aside Rs. 2037 crore for Ganga's revival

Policy matters this week

Swati Bansal

Posted on 15 Jul, 2014 07:51 AM

Rs. 2,037 crore allocated for Ganga's revival in Union Budget 2014-15

Applications invited for the post of Junior Research Fellow, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore

The project aims to develop networks of school and college students, from marginalized areas of Kerala and Karnataka and to bridge it with the scientist community

Posted on 09 Jul, 2014 04:13 PM

Get more information on the opportunity.

Know more about National Institute of Advanced Studies

Mark no-go zones for hydel projects in Sultej basin: CEIA

Policy matters this week

Swati Bansal

Posted on 08 Jul, 2014 12:23 PM

Impact study demands for a no-go zone for hydel projects in Sutlej

Genocide by indifference

The people of Chaubari, Uttar Pradesh have lived alongside and have depended on the Ramganga river for generations. Now, an upcoming barrage is poised to wipe them out.

Chicu Lokgariwar

Posted on 07 Jul, 2014 03:40 PM

The Ramganga has many impediments in the course of its 655 kilometer stretch from its origin in the mountains of Uttarakhand to its confluence with the Ganga in Uttar Pradesh. In addition to the Kalagarh Dam, there are already two barrages along its length and now a third one is coming up a few kilometers from Bareilly.