Women need to be at the forefront of India’s water governance
An opinion piece co-authored by Deepanjana Saha and Sarvesh JP, arguing that women’s accumulated knowledge of local water systems, their sources, reliability, and stress signals, is systematically excluded from India’s water planning. The article traces how JJM, Atal Bhujal Yojana, and irrigation institutions include women at the service-delivery layer while decisions on extraction, allocation, and […]
When the silver fish leaves home
Hilsa (Tenualosa ilisha) catches in the Bay of Bengal have shifted from rivers to the sea, and from West Bengal towards Gujarat. Warming seas, weaker monsoon flows, rising estuarine salinity, dams and the overharvesting of juvenile fish are disrupting the species’ upstream spawning migration. Uncoordinated fishing bans across India, Bangladesh and Myanmar mean that fishing […]
Farmer As Data Point: AgriStack’s Consent Deficit And DPDP Act
The article argues that AgriStack risks violating farmers’ data privacy because consent may not be genuinely informed or voluntary, while land, crop and financial data could be shared or used commercially. It warns that inaccurate land records may exclude tenant and sharecropping farmers from benefits, and calls for stronger data protection, limits on commercial data […]
World Food Day: Why indigenous seed preservation knowledge matters
Co-authored by Anushka Gurung and Sonam Yangchen Bhutia, the article highlights Sikkim’s rich indigenous knowledge and explores how traditional seed preservation practices sustain agricultural biodiversity, safeguard cultural heritage, and strengthen resilient local food systems. Published in Down To Earth on World Food Day (16 October 2026).
Limits of app-based inquiry
Science is a way of thinking. Observation and thought are fundamental components of the spirit of inquiry. Technology and tools have certainly lowered the entry bar for beginners.
Floral Feasts of Sikkim and Darjeeling
Sharing an article I wrote for Goya on the edible flowers of Sikkim and Darjeeling: how they’re foraged, cooked, and used in everyday food. This article is about more than recipes. Through the edible flowers of Sikkim and Darjeeling, it weaves together traditional knowledge, family stories, and memories of food passed down through generations. But […]
India’s UNESCO Tentative List now has 78 entries. What changes on the ground?
A Tentative List entry is a step towards nomination, not a new layer of legal protection. In the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, that distinction decides what recognition is worth
Before India prices its grasslands
How India’s grassland carbon and biodiversity credit schemes risk sidelining pastoral commons and consent
Beyond STPs: Why reliable sewage networks are key to cooling India’s data centres
Recent media reports have made two important arguments about India’s rapidly expanding data-centre industry: that treated wastewater can meet much of its cooling needs, reducing competition with households, rivers and aquifers for freshwater; and that the problem cannot be blamed on data centres alone but reflects the deeper failure to govern water as a scarce […]
Persons of forest, prisoners of men: How orangutans turn up in India
The orangutans – ‘Orang Hutans’ in Bahasa, which translates to “persons of the forest” – spend their time on treetops, feeding on fruits, leaves, bark, or flowers. Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/persons-of-forest-prisoners-of-men-how-orangutans-turn-up-in-india-4144588
