SELF-GOVERNANCE
Reversing the gaze on democracy

Can people themselves decide how governments should respond to their needs? Janta ka Faisla asks us to consider how the practice of democracy would look if it began from the most vulnerable citizens. 

#Livelihoods #Urban Poor #Government #OP-ED #Poverty
MAHANADI WATER DISPUTE
Setback for optimal river basin planning
MAHANADI WATER DISPUTE : Setback for optimal river basin planning

Shripad Dharmadhikary explains why setting up a tribunal to resolve the Mahanadi Water Dispute will not help the people or the river.

#Environment #ODISHA
BOOK REVIEW
A paean to Chhattisgarh from an exiled lover

Dr Ilina Sen’s association with Chhattisgarh and her deep, empathetic understanding of its society and culture have come lyrically alive in Inside Chhattisgarh: A Political Memoir. Freny Manecksha reviews the book.

#Books #Human Rights #Reviews
PARSA COAL BLOCK
Ignoring the ‘public’ at a public hearing

At a recent public hearing for the Parsa Coal Block in Chhattisgarh, citizens likely to be affected by mining there raised several concerns. However, much of it has been completely ignored in the official record of minutes, reports Kanchi Kohli.

#Environmental Regulation #Environment
WATER DIVERSION
Powerful forces get water for power
The construction of barrages to meet the water needs of thermal power plants in western Chattisgarh shows that irregularities involved in the allocation of this resource may be as large as the ones in coal allocation itself. Shripad Dharmadhikary throws light on the issue.
#Environmental Regulation #Water #Environment
INTERVIEW: ILINA SEN
"I try to hope that I will live again with Binayak in my lifetime"

Dr Ilina Sen, well-known social activist and feminist scholar, who currently heads the Department of Women’s Studies in Mahatma Gandhi University, Wardha, Maharashtra speaks in detail to M Suchitra about her husband's trial and her appeal to the Chhatisgarh High Court.

#Human Rights
ENVIRONMENT CLEARANCE
Setting the clock back on clearances
ENVIRONMENT CLEARANCE : Setting the clock back on clearances
What happens if you decide to expand your industrial project without getting fresh environment clearances? In Jindal Steel's case, it appears, you get to go on scot free. Kanchi Kohli reports.
#Environmental Regulation #Environment
PUBLIC HEARINGS
Cleared, denied, cleared, ...
PUBLIC HEARINGS : Cleared, denied, cleared, ...
The environment clerance process continues to make a mockery of the law. As the Athena case shows, when a project is pulled up, the Ministry simply finds another channel by which to continue it. Kanchi Kohli reports.
#Environmental Regulation #Environment
NAXALISM IN CHHATISGARH
Democracy in the deep woods
NAXALISM IN CHHATISGARH : Democracy in the deep woods
In mineral-rich lands, adivasis still find it hard to make ends meet. Violence between the state and Naxals threatens to divide and disenfranchise them further. Freny Manecksha reports.
#Adivasis #Law and Order #Government
MINING WASTE
Coal waste darkens the Kelo
It is plain for all to see that untreated mining waste is being discharged into the river around Khamaria, but it is equally plain that the government is doing nothing about it. Kanchi Kohli reports.
#Mining #Environment
SMALL TOWNS
Growing without a plan
SMALL TOWNS : Growing without a plan
Rajnandgaon's location along a national highway has helped it to grow. It is also not cash-strapped. But its problem is the absence of good governance, writes Kalpana Sharma.
#Cities #Kalpana Sharma #OP-ED #Kalpana's Commentary
SMALL TOWNS
Between a village and a town
Janjgir has a poor base to raise finances and is heavily dependent on fund transfers from the state government. There is little here that would qualify this as a town, writes Kalpana Sharma.
#Cities #Kalpana Sharma #OP-ED #Kalpana's Commentary
INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT
Hot ash burns child to death
INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT : Hot ash burns child to death
Illegal dumping of industrial waste around Raigarh takes the life of 7-year-old Twinkle Thakur, raising familiar troubling questions about the trajectory of 'development' in India. Kanchi Kohli reports.
#Child Health #Creative Media #Environmental Hazards #Health Laws #Politics #Environment
SUICIDES IN CHHATISGARH
"Only the idiots are committing suicide"
SUICIDES IN CHHATISGARH : "Only the idiots are committing suicide"
In Chhatisgarh's Durg district, there is no shortage of farmers who have taken their lives - the district ranks second in the state on this count. But equally, there is no shortage of those who don't see these suicides. Shubhranshu Choudhary reports.
#Agriculture #Farmer Suicides
ENVIRONMENTAL CLEARANCES
Fail, fail, fail .... and pass!
ENVIRONMENTAL CLEARANCES : Fail, fail, fail .... and pass!
Construction without approval. An incomplete public hearing. Failure to notify local residents in a timely manner. It seems no amount of non-compliance with the law is enough grounds for the proposed expansion of the Monnet plant in Chhatisgarh to be halted. Kanchi Kohli reports.
#Environmental Regulation #Environment
  • Population : 29.4 m (2019 est)
  • Area : 135,192 sq.km.
  • Density : 218/sq. km.
  • Sex Ratio : 991 (2011)
  • Child Sex Ratio : 969 (2011)
  • Literacy : 77.30% (2020)
  • Forest Cover : 41.13% (2019)
  • Lok Sabha MPs : 11
  • Rajya Sabha MPs : 5