Indian cyclone exposes need for safer housing

Hundreds of thousands of people are returning to their homes along India’s eastern coast, after being evacuated from the destructive path of Cyclone Phailin a few days ago, only to find their mud and...

India’s first solar home complex has admirers but few imitators

From afar you can spot the domes reflecting the rays of the afternoon sun. But in a country known for the splendours of its ancient buildings, this sight is something rather more contemporary: roof-integrated...

Deserts Can Save Forests

It may take development of the deserts to save forests, say experts, who stress that desert ecology needs to be preserved and enhanced. “When the time comes that we have to let our forests...

Local financial lapses beset solar scheme for energy-poor Indians

A tribal song plays quietly on a cell phone plugged into an inverter drawing power from a solar battery on a mud platform under the thatch of Champa Lohar’s hut in Kotpit village. In...

Indian villagers reap rewards of restoring common land

Heading to the farmers’ fair on the outskirts of Angul, an industrial town in India’s eastern state of Odisha, there’s not a cow to be seen along the roadside. The 52-year-old headman of the...