-The Hindu Efficacy of System of Rice Intensification demonstrated in Tiruchi district TIRUCHI: In a region that has been famous for generous use of the Cauvery water [whenever available], farmers are increasingly adopting a cultivation method that requires less water. A large number of farmers in the Tiruchi district who went in for ‘kuruvai' paddy crop in the filter point areas in June amidst concerns over the dwindling water table had successfully adopted...

-The Hindu Hard-working rig-operators are providing a real response to a very real demand from farmers, but with grave consequences for groundwater supplies No other town can boast as deep a connection with the rest of the country as this little one in Tamil Nadu. Machines from here have struck great depths in most Indian States (and in many African countries as well). Tiruchengode is the nation's borewell rig capital and thousands...

-The Hindu Bangalore: The State government has directed the Chief Executive Officers of Raichur and Yadgir zilla panchayats to seal over 100 borewells in 63 villages where the arsenic level in groundwater is higher than the permissible limit, by June 30. Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister H.K. Patil told presspersons on Friday that water in 44 villages in Manvi, Lingsugur, Deodurga and Sindhanur taluks of Raichur district, and 19 villages in...

-The Hindu They also allege borewells are being dug without permission Chennai: Environmentalists and naturalists are shocked at the conversion of traditional agriculture land into resorts and digging of borewells in the ecologically sensitive Sirumalai forests in the Dindigul forest division. Sirumalai is popular for its hill banana, which is grown only there. Basically, it is a catchment area, where sixty per cent of flora found in the Western Ghats, are available. This...

-The Hindu Toilets are yet to be considered an integral part of houses in rural areas of Namakkal Namakkal: Superstitious beliefs, religious sentiments and vasthu shastra are making construction of toilets in rural areas of Namakkal district in Tamil Nadu an uphill task. P. Aruna (32) and her husband Periyasamy (45), a truck driver of Parali panchayat, stopped constructing a toilet and filled up the leach pit with debris. "An astrologer came to...