December 2014
Fighting the Impending Catastrophe of Land Pollution in Kashmir
The possibility of an epidemic looms large over Anantnag, the second biggest district in Kashmir after Srinagar. After the floods, which hit the region in September earlier this year, the problems of sanitation and hygiene have become manifest. Fumigation of the busy areas in the city, especially the bus stand...
IMPACT: Villagers take back community land from corrupt headman
A quiet village on the border of India and Nepal, Semri-Dumri is a sleepy hamlet where nothing seems to happen. A paved road blends solemnly into sand a few miles behind the vaguely identifiable border. Motorcycles that pass through can be heard from a distance, along with the stones rattled...
Land Taken on Name of Development but no Compensation, Mandu Block, Ramgarh, Jharkhand
The Central Government’s recommendations to make significant changes in the Land Acquisition Act 2013, most significantly the removal of the consent clause have left civil society and human rights activists shocked. The changes have been justified by those in power as a means to make the process of acquisition much...
Few teachers and no toilets in middle school
“We want to be taught properly in our class and we want there to be discipline in our school,” says Meena, a student of the only middle school in all of Gaunaha Block, Bihar. VV-PACS Community Correspondent Tanju Devi reports on the woeful infrastructure of this school that serves the...
Documenting the Aftershocks: Village in Kashmir cries for compensation
Floods that hit Kashmir earlier this year, destroyed the crops of Krechapathri village in Shopian district. Community Correspondent Musheer ul Haq Manhaas reports on the damage caused by water and the troubling conditions faced by locals. The Assembly Elections that will conclude on Friday have delayed the rehabilitation drive following...
Kashmir Flood Survivors still wait for compensation
As the Assembly Elections come to a close in Jammu & Kashmir, those affected by September’s floods continue to wait on relief and compensation. Will the newly formed government be able to take on this mammoth task? This report from Lelhaar in Pulwama evidences the damage done to the lives...
35 families lived the year without electricity in Kashmir
A kerosene lamp sits on the switchboard of the transformer stand in Wandelvangam, Jammu & Kashmir. It is in lieu of the electricity to be provided by the switchboard. The residents of the area haven’t had any electricity for about eight months now. “He (the Executive Engineer of the...