Activists and many residents blame a hydel project for the growing frequency of landslides in some Uttarakhand villages. THE nearly 3,500 residents of Bhatwadi village along the Uttarkashi-Gangotri highway in Uttarakhand saw their world come crashing down around them on the night of August 12/13. A massive landslide that hit the village formed cracks up to five metres wide on the highway and these crept up the hills to over 100...

Owing to floods and incessant rains in northern India's Haryana, crops have been badly affected due to which the prices of the vegetables have gone up. Though the floods have receded in some parts of the area but large swathes of crops have been washed away. The wholesale rate for tomato has gone as high as Rs 40/kg, while the retail rate in some markets has reached Rs 60/kg. "Due to incessant rain...

KEY TRENDS   • Maternal Mortality Ratio for India was 370 in 2000, 286 in 2005, 210 in 2010, 158 in 2015 and 145 in 2017. Therefore, the MMRatio for the country decreased by almost 61 percent between 2000 and 2017 *14    • As per the NSS 71st round, among rural females aged 5-29 years, the main reasons for dropping out/ discontinuance were: engagement in domestic activities, not interested in education, financial constraints and marriage. Among rural males aged...

Over 60 villages of the district have been flooded with the Yamuna waters after 3.46 lakh cusecs (over the flood level) were released from the Hathnikund barrage this morning. The barrage in Chhachhrauli is about 45 km from here. Water has entered residential areas of at least 22 villages located in low-lying areas while agricultural land in over 48 villages has been submerged after the embankments of the Yamuna were washed...

The Centre wants all `kutcha' houses to be replaced by durable, disaster-resistant structures by 2016-17. It forms the big expression of intent in the first-of-its-kind `rural housing and habitat policy' that UPA may announce soon. The government wants to engage NGOs in rural housing, a sector the voluntary organisations have shunned till now. The government feels the rural populace will benefit from NGOs in the field of "technology dissemination" and...