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Dear Reader,
As the national capital goes to the polls this week, for the slum dwellers of Delhi, comprising 11 per cent of its citizens, it brings no succour or hope. They continue to live with the dread of losing their homes, with about 2.8 lakh of them already made homeless in 2023 alone.
Article 14 points out that these evictions are despite a Delhi High Court judgement more than a decade ago, the state’s own declared policies, and repeated promises by political parties, that no "forced eviction" will be effected without rehabilitation.
The Saranda forests in West Singhbhum in Jharkhand are famed for their rich biodiversity and copious wildlife. It is also the ancestral land of the Ho tribe. Within this expanse lies Kolhan, where a bustling weekly market not only acts as a hub for commerce but nurtures age-old tribal traditions. These marketplaces facilitate the trade of forest and agricultural produce among the villagers and foster links between tribal communities and non-tribal merchants. Main Bhi Bharat visits one such market in the village of Bada Jink Paani.
The Thrissur-Ponnani ‘kole' Wetlands in Kerala's Thrissur and Malappuram districts provide 40 per cent of the state’s rice production. This year the yield has fallen dramatically. Farmers, who have rarely been so severely impacted, are distressed and in debt. Although the turn of events has been attributed to climate change, Keraleeyam Masika reports that other factors, such as lack of weed control, have accentuated the crisis. The report looks at the problem and the solutions.
And, in the Kozhikode district of Kerala, the unusual and scorching heat this summer has affected crops worth crores. Hectares of paddy, vegetable farms, and banana plantations, have dried up. TrueCopy Think finds that the farmers do not have any viable antidote to the rising temperatures. Their only fall-back is the hope that the government finds ways to compensate them for the damage, and that things will be better the following season.
For more such stories from the grantees this week, please read on.
Warmly,
Sunil Rajshekhar
IPSMF
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