model town: Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram, is likely to be the northeast region's first planned township. The move to prepare the city's master plan was actually triggered by fears about an

Lakes were critical for Indian cities. They prevented floods and recharged groundwater. Today, these holes in the ground are either lucrative real estate for builders, the last resort for slum dwellers, or garbage dumps. In the past decade, concerned citi

Drought-proofing is a far cry. The drought of 2001 in 11 states of India is likely to go down as one of the worst in the past century. Government drought relief schemes fail due to bad planning and corruption. It can"t even provide short-term relief to th

The government’s drought relief programmes are bound to fail in the long run. Even the Planning Commission acknowledges that funds for the drought relief is becoming illegal income for officials, politicians and contractors

Employment Guarantee Scheme, first of its kind drought relief scheme has had no impact on the drought-prone areas of Maharashtra in almost 30 years because it has failed to involve people in managing rural assets

Revisits by Down To Earth reporters to villages that undertook water harvesting offer some valuable lessons in drought management