Problem: Terrain forbids water supply systems that work in plains; Status: Water crisis in peak season every year; Challenge: Develop decentralised water supply systems

Problem: Lack of space for garbage disposal; inadequate sewerage; Status: Garbage disposed on hill slopes ends in streams/rivers; Challenge: Introduce decentralised technologies for wast

Problem: Tall buildings risky in high seismic zones; Status: Hill stations are getting concretised and growing vertically; Challenge: Use local construction material; regulate traffic

Planners must stop looking down at hill stations

Problem: Tourist influx too large; earnings flow downhill; Status: Residents forced to share meagre facilities with tourists; Challenge: Regulate tourist flow; channelise funds for devel

Problem: Terrain forbids sprawl as in cities in the plains; Status: Alarming population density people per sq km ; Challenge: Policy question is: decongest, but how?

India's elephants are squeezed for living space, stressed by development, and growing increasingly violent. So are its people. A report from ground zero on the spreading conflict between one of the world's last great elephant populations and the people who share their habitat.

Human population increases and development in Northeast India have reduced and fragmented wildlife habitat, which has resulted in human-wildlife conflicts. Although species such as tigers (Panthera tigris) and rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) cause conflict, elephants (Elephas maximus) have become the focal point for conflict and conservation issues.