-Down to Earth The Coca-Cola plant that caused over-exploitation of groundwater, toxic contamination of soil, groundwater, loss of agriculture and health in Plachimada shut down 18 years ago Coca-Cola Co, the multi-American beverages giant with presence across the globe, has been in news for its sponsorship of the upcoming 27th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Even as it draws flak for littering the world with...

-Down to Earth Access to water, better infra drive marriage prospects as women yearn for more 'comfortable' lives Floods, droughts, floods again — Marathwada farmers have suffered at the hands of extreme weather events for decades. Their economic standings have taken a beating too, which has led to a unique problem: The chances of men from the affected villages getting married has started to thin.   Years of droughts and erratic rains have heavily...

-Down to Earth Farmer suicides have increased significantly and doubled in some regions where weather extremities incurred heavy losses Farmer suicides in the Nanded district of Maharashtra’s Marathwada more than doubled since incessant rains caused severe crop damage in the region. The suicide cases in Nanded jumped to 26 in August from eight in July, according to official estimates. The total number of farmer suicides reported from the district in 2022 stood at 93...

-Down to Earth Change is taking place in the way the Centre and state governments look at pastoralism; the belief that livestock management is done better in stable conditions is changing The opening up of India’s first camel dairy at Nakhatrana taluka in Gujarat’s Kutch district in 2018 helped Mura Mangal resume pastoralism. “In 2006, we had some goats, but it was getting difficult to earn enough money. So I took up a...

-Down to Earth Paddy farming in Punjab was started to meet the food grain requirements of the country for which the state has been forced to pay a huge price Paddy harvesting will begin in many parts of Punjab around October 15, 2022 and will be completed in most of the state by the end of the month. The burning of paddy stubble after harvesting the crop in Punjab and the resultant...