Aniket Motale writes: Many new age economists have realised the limitations of GDP as a measure of development, including a few Nobel Laureates like Joseph Stiglitz. US politician Robert F. Kennedy once criticised GDP saying, “It measures everything, except that which makes life worthwhile “. Let’s take a closer look at the arguments against GDP….
Read More about ‘GDP = Development’: Debunking the myth
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Kumar Sambhav Shrivastava reports: The National Board of Wildlife, the highest advisory body to the government on wildlife issues, has cleared more industrial projects in and around wildlife habitats in past two years of NDA rule than what its predecessor UPA-II did in its entire tenure of five years, shows the data compiled by CSE….
Read More about NDA cleared more projects in wildlife habitats in 2 yrs than UPA did in 5 yrs
Two years of NDA government have meant a mixed bag for environmental governance in India, according to a performance review by the non-profit Centre for Science and Environment, While there was commendable progress on pollution control and waste management, forest governance took on a more industry-centric approach and the Paris Agreement was a missed opportunity….
Read More about Report card: Environmental governance under NDA government
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In this excerpt from his new book, published by Hachette India, Rohit Prasad looks at the roles of the different players in the battle between Adivasis, Maoist rebels, corrupt bureaucrats and hungry corporations, concluding that the situation is one of “cooperative plunder”, where two apparently antagonistic forces align for the purpose of siphoning away resources….
Read More about Bookshelf: Blood Red River: A Journey Into The Heart Of India’s Development Conflict
In his recent monthly address on radio, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “there’s close linkage between drought and environmental degradation and there’s a need for a mass movement to save forests and to conserve every drop of water.” The statement does recognise the problem but do the government’s policies and its implementation reflect these concerns?…
Read More about Pandurang Hegde: Killing the environment on the altar of greed
Kannaiyan writes: In July 2014, in his first public event as a newly-elected prime minister, Modi called for a standing ovation for India’s farmers. He wanted to craft an image of a farmers’ leader. Two years on, I’m sitting in my farm in Gattawady village, Erode, Tamil Nadu, filled with mixed feelings. Here is why….
Read More about A farmer’s message for Narendra Modi
Construction on the Yamuna floodplains by Art of Living Foundation
This March, the central government set the ball rolling on a new set of rules intended, supposedly, to protect India’s wetlands. In this special feature, we present articles that look at the state of wetlands, and critically examine the new legislation, which many fear is a case of the cure being worse than the disease….
Read More about Spotlight: New legislation threatens India’s already endangered wetlands
Dongria Kondh boy Kalia stands in front of the Niyamgiri hill range
Lewis Davids/Survival
Susmita Mukherjee writes: The Supreme Court has scrapped a petition filed, yet again by the Odisha Mining Corporation, challenging the resolutions of the Gram Sabhas of Niyamgiri Hills. For ten years, the Dongaria Kondhs have been looking beyond the education facilities being offered to them by Vedanta and continue their struggle to protect their land….
Read More about For 10 Years, Niyamgiri’s adivasis have resisted a takeover of their land by the government and Vedanta
Shankar Sharma writes: It’s evident that an economic policy focusing on high GDP growth rate has not only not resulted in the elimination of poverty, but is certainly leading to accelerated depletion of our natural resources and to the unacceptable level of pollution of land, water and air, while contributing to the global warming phenomenon….
Read More about The true cost of the obsession with GDP growth
India is reeling under a back-to-back drought, with 10 states declared affected and nearly 2,00,000 villages affected, and shredding the social fabric in affected areas. In this concluding part of our series on combating drought, we present examples where traditional methods for water harvesting have been successfully put to use by communities to drought-proof themselves….
Read More about Series: Combating drought – 3: Traditional methods to the rescue
Ashish Kothari writes: Unlike the representative form that most countries have adopted, a series of recent events point more to a direct form in which people on the ground have the primary power of decision-making. From Chhattisgarh to Odisha, people’s movements against large development projects have brought out the real power of democracy in India….
Read More about Recent victories by people’s movements show democracy is thriving
Nachiket Kelkar writes: This Bill plans to convert 106 rivers and creeks across India into waterway canals, purportedly for ‘eco-friendly transport’ of cargo, coal, industrial raw materials, and tourism. Unfortunately there is no debate on the high ecological and social risks the NWB poses to riverine biodiversity and local resources through such irreversible engineering controls….
Read More about National Waterways Bill: Digging our rivers’ graves?
India’s environment minister Prakash Javadekar has been constantly in news, and not always for the right reasons. Under fire for diluting environmental protection mechanisms, critics have in the past labelled him ‘minister for environmental clearances’ for favouring industry over the environment. As the Narendra Modi government completes two years, here’s a look at Javadekar’s chequered record….
Read More about Spotlight: Prakash Javadekar@2 years of Modi Government
India ranks in the top 20 in the Climate Change Vulnerability Index. Our average surface temperature, over the past four decades, has risen by 0.3° Celsius, accompanied by a rising incidence of floods, droughts and cyclones. With the majority of all landholdings measuring less than a hectare, farmers face a steep decline in household income….
Read More about Varun Gandhi: Insure farmers against climate change
Nayantara Narayanan reports: The UPA government left behind a legacy of weakened safeguards for India’s environment, forests and forest-dwelling people. The Narendra Modi government has lost no time in weakening them further. The process has been so accelerated that journalists have struggled to keep pace with them. Here is a look at seven reported changes….
Read More about Modi government has launched a silent war on the environmentIn the past, water scarcity was a constraint that inspired communities to conserve water, devising locally appropriate technologies to share resources. Rajasthan’s baolis and Tamil Nadu’s eris are just two of the many traditional water harvesting systems that survive to this day. However, they have been sidelined by spectacular state projects such as large dams….
Read More about Amita Baviskar: The drought is no longer a natural disaster
Vaidehi Daptardar writes: Though not a structured model, Gandhi’s concept of trusteeship envisioned every member of society as the trustee of wealth generated out of the collective efforts of all. He expected that trusteeship will result in non-violent and non-exploitative socio-economic relations and development models based on production systems centred around the preservation of nature….
Read More about What Gandhi can teach us about sustainabilityActivist, filmmaker and writer Debaranjan Sarangi, actively involved in the struggle of adivasis in Odisha’s Kashipur to protect their lands from bauxite mining, was arrested on March 18, 2016 on the basis of a 2005 case. In this interview with Countercurrents.org following his release on bail, he describes his experiences and the present situation in Odisha….
Read More about Anti-mining activist Deba Ranjan Sarangi on the alarming situation in Odisha
Pratham Books
The full text of a recent talk given by prominent ecologist Madhav Gadgil, a former member of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India and the Head of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) of 2010. It tries to explore the significant issue of when and why people turn against conservation….
Read More about Development is for the people: A talk by Madhav Gadgil
Usha Dewani writes: Indigenous communities have a strong belief in the sacredness of the natural world and assert that excess exploitation of the material world through huge infrastructure programs like large dams and hydropower projects would not lead to social development. They are concerned that these infrastructure programmes might compromise their autonomy over their lands….
Read More about Video: Development and identity theft in Northeast India
