While the Magh Mela at the Sangam in Allahabad attracted tens of thousands of pilgrims each day over the last month for their annual dips, as usual, the UP government can sigh with relief that there were no protests this time, unlike during the Ardha Kumbh Mela in January last year when sadhus threatened to take

using cow dung as cooking fuel could expose people to arsenic. A recent study shows villagers on the Ganga Meghna Brahmaputra plain were exposed to smoke containing high levels of arsenic

Two waves of big floods have devastated Bangladesh, killing over a thousand people and seriously affecting agriculture, rural industries and infrastructure. Although Bangladesh is spread across the flood plains of the Brahmaputra, the Meghna and the Ganga, floods in succession are unusual, say experts.

RELIGIOUS gatherings such as the Ardh Kumbh at Allahabad always test the organisational mettle of local administrative bodies. This event happens once in six years at the sangam (confluence) of the

When Kolkata turned into a