-The Hindu There is rock solid scientific evidence to demand the cancellation of many upcoming and approved hydel projects In normal circumstances, when a mistake is understood and suffered, one tends to learn from it and not repeat it. Unfortunately, this does not hold true in the case of the policy makers who are bent upon permitting projects and large-scale infrastructure in the already fragile and vulnerable Ganga-Himalayan basin. Recurrent disasters in...

-TheWire.in It has been proven time and again that large 'development' projects, involving the blasting of fragile hills and constraining the flow of rivers, cause huge loss of lives and livelihoods in the Himalayan region. Two big landslides in the Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh which made national headlines have re-emphasised the need for ecologically protective development in geologically fragile and vulnerable hills. On August 11, a massive landslide on National Highway 5,...

-Down to Earth The need of the hour is to put halt large hydel-power projects in the Himalayas. Can small hydropower plants offer a sustainable solution? Hydropower is a renewable and non-polluting source of energy. India has an economically exploitable and viable hydropower potential, which is estimated to be about 84,000 megawatt at 60 per cent load factor. It has an installed capacity of 148,701 MW, according to the National Hydroelectric Power...

-Down to Earth Scarcity, conservation, equitable and fair use of limited resources does not apply to them. Migration is an important phenomenon with considerable social, economic and cultural implications. The ‘ghost-villages’ of Uttarakhand are well-known, abandoned by the local population who had left in search of employment, education, health, water and food security, and basic infrastructure. The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is not just a health crisis. It has highlighted the underlying economic...

-OpenTheMagazine.com From working to make Kutch villages self-sufficient to investing in traditional practices in the Himalayas to digging wells in Bengaluru, India’s frontline fighters are making water scarcity a thing of the past GAZALA PAUL, 56 AHMEDABAD: MAKING VILLAGES SELF-SUFFICIENT “If I can save water at the individual level by using water sparingly and not allowing others to waste, that is the beginning,” says Gazala Paul. But she has been doing much more...