-Down to Earth No funds released under Jal Shakti Abhiyan, MGNREGS works incomplete: District officials Over 400 kilometres from Uttar Pradesh’s Mahoba district — where construction of bunds under Jal Shakti Abhiyan helped revive groundwater — is another that paints an opposite picture. Madhya Pradesh’s Rajgarh district ranked 205 among the 255 water-stressed districts in terms of successful water intervention schemes under Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) and community participation. Rajgarh district collector Mrinal Meena...
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Climate crisis: Land is the key
-Hindustan Times Sync traditional knowledge and science to build resilience A recent report by the Union ministry of earth sciences (MOES), Observed Rainfall Variability and Changes, has found that seven Indian states — Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Nagaland — have witnessed significant decreasing trends in Annual rainfall in the last 30 years. Alarmingly, many other parts of the country have also seen an increase in...
More »Usharmukti project: A confluence of institutions for rejuvenating rivers -Ashwini Kulkarni
-IdeasforIndia.in Usharmukti, a project of the Government of West Bengal, is being carried out in collaboration with civil society organisations in the western part of the state, to carry out watershed activities under MNREGA to conserve soil and water. In this note, Ashwini Kulkarni describes the main idea behind and working of the innovative project from her visit to the project area. When a farmer says that with potato in Rabi season...
More »Extreme weather events destroying our economy in a big way, indicates official data
Sporadic natural events like floods and droughts have made headlines in recent times. An official report, which was released in April this year, among other things, shows that extreme weather events have taken a huge toll on both human and cattle lives, personal property and crops grown by farmers and farm workers. A chapter on extreme weather events and natural disasters in the report entitled EnviStats India 2019, Vol. I: Environment...
More »Desertification setting in across a quarter of India
-Down to Earth Another 30% of the county’s land is undergoing degradation. What does this mean for the country where more than 60% peopel depends on agriculture? Every year during the monsoon, Hemant Waman Chowre faces a peculiar situation. On the one hand, he hopes for good rainfall to water his crops but on the other, he is scared, for even a mild shower can destroy his saplings. Chowre is a 35-year-old farmer...
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