The Sethusamudram Ship Canal connecting the Bay of Bengal to the Gulf of Mannar will be constructed by dredging a channel in the existing coastal waters either side of the Palk Bay. The canal will reduce the steaming distances between the east and west coast of India and will improve navigation within the territorial waters of India. It is a challenging project which will impose a range of impacts both in the short and long term on the coastal waters of both India and Sri Lanka.

The present study analyses viable methods of rainwater harvesting in drought-prone Bolangir and examines different bio-physical and socio-economic factors that influence the performance and sustainability of the water harvesting structures (WHSs). The study reveals that the traditional WHSs have proved to be extremely useful not only in normal years but also in water-scarce years.

If soil quarrying is a threat in the terai, mining poses huge hazards in the hills of Kumaon. Soapstone or talc and magnesite quarries have been taking over commons for over two decades, depriving local people of large tracts of the forestland, pasture, watersheds and farming land.