Relocated after their village was swallowed by the sea due to coastal erosion, women try to keep their community traditions alive as men migrate for longer durations   Satwiki Adla A woman carries a water drum down the main lane of New Podampetta—the village the community chose for itself, balancing safety from the ocean with the need to remain near their fishing grounds. Pic credit: Divyanshi Vyas PODAMPETTA, Odisha: Thrice a week, before the sun warms the sand, the women o

An anthology of essays by scientists, environmentalists, journalists, podcasters and NGO reps throws light on the water crisis, what we can do about it, and how we can reconnect with water Subuhi Jiwani File Picture Ice-caps rapidly melting — too fast to arrest glacial slide. In the near future — there will be no water left or too much water that is undrinkable, excess water that will drown us all. Disembodied floats, af

The Goa nightclub tragedy followed a script that is only too familiar. As the year-end party frenzy sees increased footfalls in nightclubs, pubs and cafes across cities, the occupational risks for the bearers, kitchen staff, cleaners and front-desk personnel who keep them running remain high Amoolya Rajappa Pic credit: Wikimedia Commons An old note dated October 22, 2021 reads like a floor plan drawn from memory: “A low-hanging roof in places, double-height open spaces in the

A review of over 90 interventions at national, state and city levels to assess how well they address both mobility and climate risks found that only five explicitly address both climate change and migration Swati Surampally Aditi Apparaju Pic credit: Padam Bhushan India has long been a country on the move. For many households, migration is a vital livelihood strategy  to manage risks, pursue aspirations, and diversify incomes. At the same time, India faces increasing climate

A new study maps deaths during the infamous monsoon flooding in Mumbai and finds that rainfall claimed as many deaths as cancer in the 2006-2015 period Amrita Rudra Pic credit: Wikimedia Commons Rainfall claimed nearly 8% of all monsoon deaths recorded in Mumbai, with women and children most vulnerable, shows a recent study that analysed mortality data from the city’s municipal corporation for the period between 2006 and 2015.  The findings, which show the poor accounted for

Fickle weather destroying farmlands and eroding livelihoods fuel rural to urban migration but some rural communities are finding ways to adapt. Faraz Rupani Pavan Khadse File picture Recent estimates from the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) suggest that over   400 million  (EAC-PM, 2024) people in India have migrated internally, from both rural and urban areas. While the report does not provide a rural-urban split, the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PL

From unpaid care work to the lowest-paid factory jobs, labour of migrant women is unacknowledged. With the home becoming an extension of work, over time this bodily overuse leads to the inability to work, produce, care, or even sustain itself Ambuja Raj Chulha or earthen hearths in Perumbavoor where women cook food. The fire is fed with spare wood from the plywood factories. Pic credit: Ambuja Raj Look inside, what we live inside is barely even a room. You really think cleani

Understanding India’s migration patterns is critical but a re there any systematic ways to measure and record the counts, reasons, destinations, and timing of movement to understand migration patterns? And why should citizens and governments care? Yashita Singh Migrant women working and living in a construction site in Bengaluru. Pic credit: Yashita Singh In India, migration is impossible to ignore and has been part of our culture . While the Census says most migration is due

Rain-fed farming has traditionally escaped policy and funding attention, though it engages more than 60% of India’s farmers. In Karnataka’s Koppal, it now finds itself competing with state-backed solar farms for real estate, at a considerable social cost Bhargavi S Rao Work-in-progress on the solar park installation in Talakkal in Koppal, Karnataka. Bhargavi S Rao/The Migration Story KOPPAL, Karnataka: A sea of solar panels has replaced the millets, pulses, and vegetables tha

Data centres worldwide consume vast amounts of electricity and water, potentially straining resources. With AI’s growth, the footprint is set to balloon. Vaishnavi Chandrashekhar Pic credit: Wikimedia Commons Last month, a UK government agency called  on residents to help mitigate the country’s water crisis.  Among the Environment Agency’s suggestions on how people could save water were expected common-sense ones such as turning off taps and fixing leaking pipes. And then the

Dizzy spells, irregular periods and no access to medical aid. Delhi's scorching heat before the rains hit the capital impacted its informal workers the worst, documents a researcher on the heat trail Tulika Bansal Illustration by: Tulika Bansal In May 2025, as Delhi reeled under temperatures nearing 50°C, its most vulnerable workers buckled up to bear the onslaught of the escalating climate crisis. Despite the heat, the city continued to function thanks to the people holding

The carnage seen at Sigachi factory blast in Telangana is not the first where workers and their families have borne the brunt and will repeat itself elsewhere unless drastic steps are taken Rosey Mukherjee File photo of rescue operations at the Sigachi chemical factory in Telangana. Picture via special arrangement HYDERABAD, Telangana : On June 30, 2025, a massive explosion ripped through Sigachi Industries’ chemical plant in Pashamylaram industrial area, Telangana, about 50

From tents in the rain to teeming barracks and now cramped vertical slums, Ulhasnagar has seen generations of migrants, first from Sindh, and now from within India, battle poor infrastructure, fragile healthcare, and institutional apathy with quiet resilience Dr Agrima Thakur Pic credit: Wikimedia Commons ULHASNAGAR, Maharashtra:  Take a walk down the myriad narrow lanes of this bustling town near Kalyan, and chances are you will still find a wizened old man telling the story

More cities are flooding under heavy rains, but drainage, zoning, and warning systems lag far behind. Vaishnavi Chandrasekar Pic credit: Wikimedia Commons This is a summer of floods.  That’s been especially evident in the US. In the state of Texas, a combination of two tropical storms created a system that produced 10 to 18 inches of rain over the Guadalupe River basin early July, causing flash floods that took at least 131 lives. (According to one report, the river rose from

Mumbai’s early monsoon and rising heatwaves expose deep gaps in climate preparedness. Despite big plans and budgets under MCAP, vulnerable communities remain overlooked and underserved Mansi Bhaktwani Pic credit: Wikimedia Commons In 2025 , Mumbai, along with several other parts of India, experienced the early onset of summer in February, followed by record-high temperatures and intense heatwaves, and heavy rainfall in May, which disrupted daily life across the region. Follow

It’s not just rising temperatures—moisture, unpredictability, and urbanisation are reshaping how India experiences heat. Vaishnavi Chandrashekhar One of Sanskrit poet Kalidasa’s most famous poems celebrates the shifting moods of the Indian calendar year in six cantos titled The Pageant of Seasons.  Were the fifth-century poet writing today, he might have called this year: A Confusion of Seasons. Take the past six months. Winter ended early, skipping spring and jumping into su

The trajectory of labour employment in the manufacturing sector—from formal to unorganized—has deepened worker insecurities and raises questions about the quality of work that a younger, newly minted generation of workers can aspire to Rosey Mukherjee A file picture of workers’ unrest at the Wistron factory in Kolar, Karnataka in 2023.  Picture courtesy Rosey Mukherjee   Mahesh, 45, had been a permanent employee in a cement manufacturing company for 10 years when his company

Domestic workers, largely women, go from their family to another family system to slave. There is an urgent need to regulate their wages,...

On the dusty outskirts of Mahemdavad, Gujarat, a three-year-old's death in a brick kiln peeled back the multiple layers of bonded labour,...

The third UN Ocean Conference at Nice, France will push for a treaty to protect the high seas and garner new commitments for ocean...