Ayaskant Das

1 week ago | frontline.thehindu.com | Ilangovan Rajasekaran |Vaishna Roy |Ayaskant Das

New Delhi’s decision to auction, for the first time in the country, 13 offshore mineral blocks for deep-sea mining, vide the Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2023, has met with a rare show of political unity in Kerala. Following protest demonstrations by fish workers’ unions, the ruling party and the opposition in the State have come together to unanimously oppose the project.

2 months ago | frontline.thehindu.com | Vaishna Roy |Ayaskant Das

In a Cabinet meeting held on February 2, the Sikkim government decided to divest its entire 60.8 per cent stake in Sikkim Urja Ltd (SUL), the company that owns the Teesta III project, in favour of Greenko Energies Private Ltd, a private partner in the project. Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang justified the decision on the grounds that it was done to avoid a debt trap.

2 months ago | frontline.thehindu.com | Vaishna Roy |Ayaskant Das

The Central government seems to have prioritised corporate interests over public safety in recommending environmental clearance to rebuild the Teesta III Hydroelectric Power Project in Sikkim. This 1,200 megawatt dam was washed away in a devastating glacial flood in October 2023, killing at least 55 people and displacing 10,000 others.

Oct 30, 2024 | frontline.thehindu.com | Peter Ronald deSouza |Vaishna Roy |Ayaskant Das

The London-headquartered corporate conglomerate Vedanta Group seems to be a major beneficiary of the Narendra Modi government’s decision to remove oil and natural gas exploration activities from the ambit of environmental impact assessment. It has enabled the Anil Agarwal–headed company to fast-track a Rs.264 crore oil exploration project in a wildlife-rich and ecologically sensitive area of Assam flanked by densely populated rural settlements.

Oct 26, 2024 | frontline.thehindu.com | Shubhangi Derhgawen |Deepanshu Mohan |Ayaskant Das |Ayesha Minhaz

The air around the Bandhwari landfill in Gurugram is thick with the stench of decay. “We earn our living here, but at what cost to our health?” asks Joginder, a supervisor at the site, as he watches sludge and filth spill onto the Gurugram-Faridabad highway. Just a stone’s throw away lies Mangar village, less than 35 km from Delhi.