South Asia Citizens Web

The Hindu, August 19, 2012
Melting more than the glacier
by Meena Menon
Tears flew from Motup Chewang’s eyes as he spoke of his last visit to the Siachen glacier in 2005. Born in Nubra Valley in Ladakh, Motup, a mountaineer and tour-operator, says: “It was moraine all over till up to 16,000 feet. The glacier has receded so much.”
In 1986, as a guide to the glacier, he remembered the glacier’s snout lying at 10,000 ft. At a discussion organised by People for Social Action and (…)

Shreela Manohar, a 23-year old environmental health campaigner based in Chennai, has been researching and working to stop industrial pollution in Mettur for the past 4 months. She and the organisation she working with (Community Environmental Monitoring-The Other Media) have been associated with the Gonur West Agriculturists Development Union, a grassroots group of farmers in Mettur, providing the union with solidarity, techno-scientific and legal assistance and supporting their field work. Their campaign has been stonewalled consistently by industrial giants operating in Mettur, namely Chemplast and MALCO.

Land and land policy has received much attention in recent times. There are numerous discussions and activism around land policy. For example, the LLRC has recommendations about land disputes in the North; land disputes were mentioned in the resolution passed against Sri Lanka during the 18th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council; there are studies largely based on the notion of land rights; some civil society groups have organised themselves to work against land grabbing, and environmental groups are concerned about the impact of land use on the environment.

We would very much like to request you, Madam, to turn the KKNPP into a pro-people and Nature-friendly project, bring about solar power policy and projects all over our State, rectify the transmission and distribution issues, protect the interests of the Tamil people, and leave a wonderful legacy of visionary leadership and compassionate development with the people of Tamil Nadu and India.

The bogey of ‘Indian cultural values’ has stifled conversation on women’s sexual rights