KEY TRENDS   • Oxfam India's 2023 India Supplement report on poverty and inequality in India reveals that the gap between the rich and the poor is widening. Following the pandemic in 2019, the bottom 50 per cent of the population have continued to see their wealth chipped away. By 2020, their income share was estimated to have fallen to only 13 per cent of the national income and have less than 3...

-Down to Earth Veteran environmentalist spoke to Down To Earth about the ongoing disaster in Uttarakhand   Since the past one week, a major tragedy has been unfolding in the high Himalayas of Uttarakhand. The historic temple town of Joshimath, the gateway to the shrine of Badrinath, has been witnessing scenes of panic and anger as locals protest the cracks in the area. From houses to temples to commercial establishments, nothing has...

-Newsclick.in Joshimath is a serious warning signal. Any realistic development strategy should balance infra development, acceptable levels of risk, and carrying capacity of the terrai, says the noted expert on earthquakes. Dr. CP Rajendran is among India’s foremost experts on seismo-tectonics, earthquakes and tsunami geology. He is also a strong critic of the development model being pursued in Uttarakhand, a hilly state where the intensity of large-scale infrastructure projects has been rising...

-Newsclick.in As landslides plague Garhwal Himalayas, geologist YP Sundriyal says it confirms scientists’ fear that geologically weak areas will destabilise during monsoons. Leading geologist Prof YP Sundriyal teaches the subject at the Hemavati Bahuguna Garhwal University. In this interview with NewsClick, Sundriyal, who specialises in the Garhwal region of the Himalayan range, expresses concern about the rising frequency of landslides. He believes the government must set up a special fund to maintain...

The transport sector is important for the smooth functioning of an economy. The supply chains for various products and by-products (both domestically as well as internationally) can work efficiently only if the transportation of raw materials and inputs, and final goods and commodities takes place without disruption.   Due to economic growth, India’s annual CO2 (i.e., carbon dioxide) emission has expanded from 1.19 billion tonnes in 2005 to 2.44 billion tonnes...