Dear Reader,
As Joshimath, in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, at once sacred and strategic, sinks, it has triggered the evacuation of thousands, even as the threat of a larger catastrophe looms. Environmentalists lament the umpteen unheeded warnings and the “arrogance” in seeking to dominate nature.
Mojo Story talks to Sunita Narain, India’s leading environmentalist and the editor of Down To Earth, who decries the “mindless and senseless” development in the Himalayas, without heed to the fragile and seismic ecology resulting in calamities like Joshimath.
The Probe speaks to citizens, hoteliers and activists in Joshimath, who point out that the first warnings against the unbridled construction and development in the Himalayas were sounded as far back as the 1930s given the “unstable” nature of the region. These were followed up in later decades by further warnings, including from the Geological Survey of India. All of which were ignored and turned a deaf ear to.
Amidst the growing disquiet on how the State in India collects, protects and uses citizens’ data, MediaNama reports that the Chennai Police is on the way to institutionalising a “police surveillance network in the city” - mostly without the citizens’ knowledge or approval.
As part of its ‘Mega City Policing project’, Chennai Police is set to procure 750 vehicle tracking devices, 2,900 surveillance cameras and 7 drone units. Chennai is already the city with the most CCTV devices worldwide, averaging 657 cameras per square metre.
And, even after being the dominant workforce in the weaving sector, with more than 70 per cent share, women’s contribution is understated and under-rewarded. Feminism in India reports from Uttar Pradesh on the state of women in India’s weaving sector - the second largest employer in the rural areas after agriculture.
For more such stories from the grantees this week, please read on.
Warmly,
Sunil Rajshekhar
IPSMF
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