The Cane Cutters of Gujarat: They work 12 hours a day and get paid after six months
Tribal migrant labourers in South Gujarat, slog long hours on sugarcane farms, but have neither proper homes, toilets nor education for their children. Their wages are handed to them only at the end of six months, which leads them right into the dedhi debt trap that thrives on the hefty 50 per cent interest.
Nidhi Jamwal
A village in Bihar goes organic, transforming the lives of its women
From blistered hands and racking coughs to financial savings and bright smiles – this is the story of women of Kedia in Bihar who took up organic farming. It has not just improved the health of their families and the soil, but also transformed their own lives.
Nidhi Jamwal
Lemongrass cultivation greens Banka’s barren land and promises profit to farmers
Nearly 1,000 acres of ‘banjar bhoomi’ in Banka district of Bihar is today flush with green as lemongrass cultivation has proved to be surprisingly bountiful on the stony and unforgiving terrain. With help from the district administration, more than 500 farmers have transformed their barren lands into fragrant fields, and have also set up their own FPO to export the lemongrass oil.
Nidhi Jamwal
“Arsenic has entered the food chain through irrigation water… it can cause cancer, mental retardation”
Ashok Kumar Ghosh, chairperson, Bihar State Pollution Control Board, and professor and Head of Department, Mahavir Cancer Institute and Research Centre, Patna, who has worked extensively on the arsenic contamination in groundwater in the state, speaks to Gaon Connection on the shocking levels of arsenic found in the drinking water (groundwater) and its disease burden.
Nidhi Jamwal
The whisper of the world-famous Banka silk from Bihar is being silenced
The musical clatter of the handlooms that signalled the making of the beautiful tussar silk may be heard no more as the future of the traditional weavers of Banka hangs by a tenuous thread. Powerlooms, and now the pandemic, have sounded the death knell for these bunkars.
Nidhi Jamwal
Beekeeping gives the Santhal tribal women in Banka, Bihar, a sweet taste of success
Tribal women in south Bihar are transforming their own lives, educating their children as they efficiently run their honey business. Last year, amidst the pandemic, they formed the Banka Madhu Farmers Producer Organisation and supplied seven tonnes of honey as far as Mumbai. The district administration has identified a honey corridor to boost their honey production.
Nidhi Jamwal
Killing of a migrant worker in Srinagar fractures decades-old connection between Kashmir and a village in Bihar
When gol gappa vendor Arvind Kumar Sah was killed in Srinagar on October 16, shockwaves were felt 2000 kms away in his Parghari village in Bihar. When Gaon Connection travelled to Parghari to meet his family members, it learnt that for nearly 30 years, people from this village have travelled to Jammu & Kashmir in search of livelihoods.
Nidhi Jamwal
IPCC’s new report warns of increased precipitation and intense heatwaves in India; severe rise in rainfall over south India
As per the AR6 Working Group I report released today on August 9, the increase in rainfall will be more severe over southern parts of India. Rainfall over the southwest coast could increase by around 20%, relative to 1850-1900. If the planet warms by 4°C, India could see about a 40% increase in precipitation annually.
Nidhi Jamwal
Water-related disasters dominate the globe; world population exposed to floods increased by 24% since 2000
A new study published in Nature journal shows India has the largest population in the world which is at the highest risk of floods. Meanwhile, another assessment by the World Meteorological Organization has found water-related hazards as dominant disasters in the past 50 years.
Nidhi Jamwal
Kishtwar cloudburst: Deficient rainfall in Kishtwar in monsoon season so far; now heavy rains kill 7
In the southwest monsoon season so far, between June 1 and July 27, Kishtwar district in Jammu & Kashmir reported a rainfall departure of minus 60 per cent. And now a ‘cloudburst’ has triggered flash floods. Climate scientists have been warning against such changing rainfall patterns.