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Coastal follies
Over 40% of India's mangroves have been destroyed. Coral reefs have been damaged in the Gulfs of Kutch and Mannar, and the Andamans. In Great Nicobar, 21 beaches have been lost to sand mining. Post-tsunami, we've got to rebuild our natural coastal defences More... Environmental lessons from the tsunamiIndian law prohibits encroachments within 200 metres of the high tide line and 500 metres in certain sensitive areas, for example where turtles are nesting. But the coastal regulations have been repeatedly diluted to promote commercial interests More... Rehabilitating children: Adoption is not the answerIn Gujarat, the government banned the adoption of children orphaned by the quake. In Orissa after the supercyclone, women and orphaned children were housed in Mamta Grihas within villages. After the tsunami, the adoption of orphaned children is being seriously discussed, even though it's clear that children flourish in their own cultural context More... Daily disastersPost-tsunami, organisations are vying to adopt this village or set up that school. But tsunami or no tsunami, the urban fisherfolk and coastal poor live in miserable conditions. Why does it take a sudden disaster to mobilise us? What about the daily disaster of living experienced by India's poor and pollution-impacted communities? More... Four-thousand-rupee reliefThe survivors of a natural disaster often find that relief is the second disaster to hit them. In this special report from Pattincherry near Nagore, Tamil Nadu, it is clear that the relief is going to the strongest, to those who already have enough More... No boats and nets: The livelihoods crisis45,920 boats have been lost or damaged in the tsunami in Tamil Nadu, India. The replacement of boats and nets and the restoration of their livelihoods is uppermost in fishermen's minds. But each boat could cost between Rs 10,000-80,000. A special report on the priorities of rehabilitation from Cuddalore district More... Tsunami destroys villages but fails to break down caste wallsActivists from the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, Safai Karmachari Andolan and Sakshi Human Rights Watch, who toured tsunami-hit dalit villages in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh brought back accounts of serious discrimination in aid distribution and rehabilitation More... Wayanad: Arrack as distress tradeToddy is legal in Kerala, while arrack is banned. Also, while a litre of toddy costs Rs. 30, a sachet of arrack goes for Rs 11. As the farm crisis sees thousands of migrants crossing over into Karnataka, arrack shops right on the border are doing brisk business More... The tsunami as a man-made disasterMangrove swamps are nature's way of protecting coastal areas from large waves and cyclones. But intensive shrimp farming and unbridled tourism have destroyed mangroves and coral reefs and caused the dilution of coastal regulations. The tsunami must therefore be seen as not just the wrath of nature, but the result of faulty economic practices and the destruction of ecosystems More... Green in the desertThe residents of Sohangarh, in dry Rajasthan, are unperturbed by recurrent drought in their state. Thanks to the restoration and regeneration of common pasturelands they enjoy healthy agricultural yields and even have money to spare for the all-round development of their village More... After the tsunami: A frenzy of giving and grabbingThere's more money, clothes and goodwill than there is vision, organisation and an understanding of what's needed, reports Nityanand Jayaraman from Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu. It seems as if the need to help has overcome the need for help, as relief agencies rush to be photographed giving aid to the 'victims' More... Fewer jobs, more buses in WayanadIt's no longer just landless labourers on the bus to Kutta. Many masons and carpenters are also crossing the border into Karnataka in search of work, spurred on by the collapse of employment in Wayanad. P Sainath continues his series on the agrarian crisis in Wayanad More... Adrift on the BrahmaputraThe crisis of livelihood in flood-affected Assam has reduced former landowners to illegal foragers of driftwood from the river More... |
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