THE KING OF SMALL THINGS
A civil engineer and a farmer, he knows the importance of the relationship between land and water. Small dams are his forte.
News
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When the water begins to stink...
...Yet another rainforest disappears and a way of life dies as "development" catches up with the Guaranis of Paraguay
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A law unto themselves
After a gap of more than 30 years, Santhal tribals recently invoked an age old practice of meting out punishment to a sex offender
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Cotton-eating monsters lay low the farmers
Cotton farmers in northwest India were taken by surprise when, despite a pesticide blitzkrieg, the American bollworm devastated half their crops. Now, the farmers can"t pay up the loans they took to purchase pesticides and are turning to other crops. A to
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Leaving the women in the woods
Forest protection initiatives taken by villagers, though laudable by themselves, have proved to be a bane for women
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Farmers dig nature's dams
Using local material like boulders, wood and soil, Nepalese farmers have evolved an intricate system of canals and weirs for the optimum utilisation of scarce water resources
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Hell and high water
The incendiary Sardar Sarovar Dam project came to a head on March 15 this year, when Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) agitators, led by the redoubtable Medha Patkar, demonstrated in front of the ministry of environment and forests, asking the government to op
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The closing of the gates
A controversy boiled over when the construction sluices were closed abruptly and affected scores of people
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Imminent deluge
Asian countries risk becoming the dumping ground for the world"s burgeoning waste trade
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This land is our land
If anything can help Papua New Guineans find the "unique way" enshrined in their Constitution, it is their traditional land ownership system.
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Past lessons, future strategies
Studying the history of human interaction with nature can be very useful in formulating resource management policies. It can also provide a clearer insight into the causes of poverty
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The paradox of nature and balanced accounts
Western institutions and the United Nations are keen protagonists of natural resource accounting but it may still not be a useful policy tool for planners to promote sustainable development. Experience in the Philippines has shown that only an elaborate c
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Clear concepts, unclear courses
THE National Front (NF)the opposition alliance (between the JanataDal (it)) and some regional parties)led by V P Singhcame to power atthe Centre in 1989. The JD'S environmental concernsone of themost
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Fiscal fitness
While commercial vehicle operators appeal to the Supreme Court to review its order on the phase-out of 15-year old vehicles, the Delhi government ponders over a new financial scheme for them. But will the mechanism work?
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Caught between boars and bureaucracy
Authorities of a wildlife sanctuary propose to curb the menace of rampaging wild boars by providing affected villagers with, among other things, volleyball and television sets.
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Science cannot be a minion to wealth
A journalist without the pretensions of a scientist that's how JOHN MADDOX, editor of Nature for 15 years, would like to see himself. On his recent tour of India, Maddox talked to SUMANTA PAL on what went wrong with science and scientific establishment
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Promoting integrated village planning
Self sustaining rural communities could be India's answer to her disrupted ecosystem.
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Not merely a numbers game
Although the recently held world population summit emphasised population control in the developing countries as the main block in the path to development, some delegates held the consumption patterns of the developed countries responsible for the problems
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Beauty and biology: the Shangri-La
Sikkim, a place of great natural beauty, has been neglected by botanists and zoologists. While there is apprehension that many species have already become extinct or endangered, little is being done to conserve its biodiversity
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Chaotic response to calamity
The killer quake struck unexpectedli in the still of the night. Entire villages were flattened and thousands perished. Though rescue and relief were prompt, they were uncoordinated. And, several people just stood around watching