DAMS AND ECOLOGY
Hydropower: Will new committee break new ground?

An expert committee set up by the MoEF to study the impact of hydropower projects in the Alaknanda-Bhagirathi basin raises hope, but can it break the mould of the past to bring about the measures so critically needed? Shripad Dharmadhikary explores.

#Environmental Hazards #Environmental Regulation #Environment
MID-DAY MEALS
Look beyond the food
MID-DAY MEALS : Look beyond the food

Most studies on mid-day meal schemes tend to focus on the obvious nutritional benefits or lack thereof. Carly E Nichols argues that the impact of these programmes extend far beyond, justifying the need to fund and monitor them more stringently.

#Food Security #Work+Life #Poverty
UTTARAKHAND TRAGEDY
All those kinds of gaze
UTTARAKHAND TRAGEDY : All those kinds of gaze

The disaster in Uttarakhand cannot be viewed as a result of isolated factors such as faulty governance or flawed environmental policy. It calls for a more holistic and deeper look at the entire range of issues that are endemic to the mountain region, writes R. Uma Maheshwari

#Tourism #Environment #OP-ED #OP-ED
DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Uttarakhand tragedy: How we ignored the writing on the wall
As the massive disaster in flood-stricken Uttarakhand unfolds, Himanshu Upadhyaya draws attention to the glaring inadequacies in disaster management preparedness and risk reduction in the state, as well as the nation, as exposed by recent audits.
#Environmental Regulation #Government
TRIBAL WOMEN
Banding together, for their rights
Tribal women in Uttarakhand are standing up for their community rights, and resisting the dispossession of their lands by a nexus between powerful landlords and the government machinery. Puja Awasthi reports.
#Adivasis #Forests #Women
FOREST DWELLERS' RIGHTS
Uttarakhand Gujjars being ousted without compensation

A large number of Ban Gujjar tribal families remaining within the Rajaji National Park are facing constant harassment from the state forest department. Their rehabilitation is mired in red tape. Aparna Pallavi reports.

#Forests #Human Rights #Relief
ENVIRONMENT
This IFS officer saved a national park
Jyotsna Sitling's gargantuan assignment involved ridding a buffer zone of the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve in Uttarakhand of mountain-high piles of plastic and non-biodegradable waste, dumped by pilgrims over the last three decades on their way to Hemkund Sahib. She elicited the help of the community and did it, reports Neeta Lal.
#Biodiversity #Environment
NEAA rejecting clearance appeals coldly
On 20 May, the National Environment Appellate Authority refused to admit two appeals cases where citizens and panchayat representatives in Uttaranchal had challenged Central government clearances to two hydro-electric power projects, on grounds of failure in due process. Kanchi Kohli was at the hearings.
#Environmental Regulation #Environment
High voltage environmental activism
Towering pylons and high tension wires seem to discourage any idea of resistance to environmental destruction in Tehri Garhwal, but the villagers persist. Bharat Dogra reports.
#Forests #Environment
Lights on!
Rajani Mani reports on how the power generating water mills of Uttranchal are lighting up lives.
#Energy #Environment
Mountain Vox
Lalitha Sridhar reviews Voices from the Mountain, Oral Testimonies from Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh.
#Environment #Reviews #HIMACHAL PRADESH
Tehri Dam - Verdict Awaited
A note on Tehri Dam case heard in Supreme Court by Vimal Bhai of the Matu People's organisation.
#Water #Environment
  • Population : 11.2 m (2019 est)
  • Area : 53,483 sq.km.
  • Density : 210/sq. km.
  • Sex Ratio : 963 (2011)
  • Child Sex Ratio : 890 (2011)
  • Literacy : 87.60% (2020)
  • Forest Cover : 45.44% (2019)
  • Lok Sabha MPs : 5
  • Rajya Sabha MPs : 31