Voluntary Citizen or Civil Society Sector

A dominant characteristic of a peri-urban site is its transition out of an agrarian economy due to industrialisation and urbanisation. This usually manifests in the form of agricultural land either left barren or sold for developmental activities and farmers and agricultural labourers looking for an alternative source of livelihood.

In a country as diverse as India where the mountain meets the ocean and deserts blend into forests, one hallmark of beauty that is often left out of the travel catalogues is the outstanding Loktak lake in Manipur. 

Panna locals stand against Ken-Betwa river link

The devastating flood in 2015 in the Kashmir valley affected more than 2.5 lakh houses and displaced about 5.5 lakh people. The economic loss was massive.  

Many researchers and experts believe that careful conservation and protection of the lakes, ponds and wetlands in the Kashmir valley could have reduced the scale of the devastation to a large extent. 

Need to tackle core issues to end farm crisis: Experts

Spanning an area of 61 sq km, the Ashtamudi lake is considered the gateway to the backwaters of Kerala. While the lake on the outside radiates with natural beauty, there is a notable treasure nesting deep within its waters--the short-neck clams.

The informal water market plays a crucial role in meeting the drinking and domestic water security of peri-urban communities. The increasing reliance on private informal water vendors in all our study villages speaks of their significance.

Bhanu is bracing herself for an income loss this year. The wheat she sowed after bajra in winter did not give her the productivity expected. Her soil health is declining, she says. To top it all, she is afraid there will be deficient rainfall this year in her village in Ferozepur Jhirka in Mewat in Haryana.

Vultures are nature’s own cleanup crew. These scavengers are known to be immensely effective in managing animal waste by feeding on animal carcasses that, otherwise, have no other ways of disintegrating quickly.

The people of the Marathwada region have been facing severe water crisis for more than three decades. Despite adverse circumstances, the Akoladev panchayat in the Jalna district has set an example for other panchayats by solving their water woes through community participation and effective water harvesting measures that suit their geographic terrain.