WORLD BANK
Funding the coal boom
WORLD BANK : Funding the coal boom

Darryl D’Monte looks into why World Bank through its affiliates continues to fund coal power stations in India despite its claims to contrary.

#Environment
EYE CAMP FIASCO
Why must only the poor suffer?
EYE CAMP FIASCO : Why must only the poor suffer?

In Barwani, Madhya Pradesh, people lost their sight after botched up cataract surgeries. Was it because the organizers, the medical and paramedical staff of the district hospital did not take necessary steps? Or was the quality of medication used questionable? Or, because the victims are too marginalised and too poor to protest? Asks Shoma Chatterji.

#Public Health #Health #Poverty
MAHESHWAR HYDROPOWER PROJECT
Turning a full circle
MAHESHWAR HYDROPOWER PROJECT : Turning a full circle

The situation that Maheshwar Project is in, brings sharply into focus the issue of accountability of those responsible for the decisions that impact millions of people, involve thousands of crores of rupees and vast natural resources. Shripad Dharmadhikary hopes that Maheshwar would also offer a chance to demonstrate how those liable for the mess can be held accountable.

#Displacement #Energy #Human Rights
TRIBAL WELFARE
All good, but only on paper
TRIBAL WELFARE : All good, but only on paper

An apparently well-intended plan to help very poor tribes in Madhya Pradesh find sustainable livelihoods bears no relation to the reality of how it is actually implemented. Money is simply distributed and disappears, but things remain unchanged. Susmita Guru reports.

#Adivasis #Livelihoods #Poverty
WOMEN SARPANCHS
Competing effectively in MP panchayats

Panchayats of Madhya Pradesh provide reservation of up to 50 per cent for women, but the participation of women in governance has gone beyond such new roles.

#Gender and Leadership #Panchayats #Government
NO TO PRIVATISATION
MP town seeks to reclaim its right to water
An independent committee appointed by the state validates and upholds most of the objections raised by civil society against attempted privatisation of water supply in Khandwa. Shripad Dharmadhikary, Rehmat and Gaurav Dwivedi discuss the report.
#Water #Environment
COAL BLOCKS
Mera Bharat aur Mahan
COAL BLOCKS : Mera Bharat aur Mahan
The CAG recently suggested that there may be huge losses to the government from improper allocations of coal bocks to companies. All eyes are now on the next set of allocations to be made. Kanchi Kohli reports.
#Environmental Regulation #Environment
HYDEL AT ANY COST
What Digvijay Singh forgot to tell the PM
Beneath Jairam Ramesh's recent turnaround on a 400 MW MP hydel project, was a series of interventions by Digivijay Singh with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Himanshu Upadhyaya digs deeper.
#Public Funds #Government
DISPLACED BY THE DAM
Penury and peril
DISPLACED BY THE DAM : Penury and peril
The stilled waters of the river that always sustained them have now become polluted. Yet, this muddy river is their only source of drinking water, bringing with it illness and disease. Neeta Deshpande's concluding article in this series on uprootment and survival in the Narmada valley.
#Displacement #Human Rights
CANAL CONSTRUCTION
Narmada dams continue to roll over the rules
It is 23 years since the Indira Sagar project was cleared and 17 for the Omkareshwar dam, but in neither case is there a rehabilitation plan in place. The construction, however, continues. Kanchi Kohli reports.
#Displacement #Environmental Regulation #Environment
DISPLACED BY THE DAM
A lifetime's harvest
DISPLACED BY THE DAM : A lifetime's harvest
Sitaram Patidar fights on for the land which means everything to him, now lost to the Narmada dam. At the ripe age of seventy, the end of this road of struggle is still not within reach. Neeta Deshpande reports.
#Displacement #Human Rights
MP HIGH COURT VERDICT
Equal compensation for equal loss
MP HIGH COURT VERDICT : Equal compensation for equal loss
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has ruled that excluding canal oustees from the R&R policy applicable to its dam projects is discriminatory and unconstitutional. Shripad Dharmadhikary reports.
#Displacement #Human Rights
DISPLACED BY THE DAM
The futility of hope
DISPLACED BY THE DAM : The futility of hope
When Madubhai first heard that a big dam 150 km away would control the waters of the river he revered, he didn't believe the news. He never knew that its waters would one day drown his little world. Neeta Deshpande reports.
#Displacement #Human Rights
BUNDELKHAND
Living with drought
BUNDELKHAND : Living with drought
The rains may have failed Bundelkhand but more than this it is the governments that have forsaken the people over the years. Kannan Kasturi reports.
#Poverty #UTTAR PRADESH
SMALL TOWNS
Sehore: Once vibrant, now in disarray
Twenty years ago Sehore was a very livable town. It had a beautiful microclimate and was surrounded by forests and water bodies that never dried up. Today it is becoming a village again, finds Kalpana Sharma.
#Cities #Kalpana Sharma #Government #Kalpana's Commentary
  • Population : 85.3 m (2019 est)
  • Area : 308,252 sq.km.
  • Density : 277/sq. km.
  • Sex Ratio : 931 (2011)
  • Child Sex Ratio : 918 (2011)
  • Literacy : 73.70% (2020)
  • Forest Cover : 25.14% (2019)
  • Lok Sabha MPs : 299
  • Rajya Sabha MPs : 11