great himalayan national park

This Park was notified in the Tirthan, Jiwa, and Sainj valleys of Himachal, preventing access for over 200 villages to traditional sources of livelihood. The Kisan Mazdoor Haq Sangathan was assisted in conducting an alternative study to assess the biodiversity of the Park and the impact of human activities.

An aluminium smelter with ancillary chemical plants, six thermal power plants, and thirteen coal mines have come up on the periphery of the Renusagar reservoir on the Rihand river at the border of Uttar and Madhya Pradesh. Activists and researchers of the Banwasi Sewa Ashram are being assisted to assess the impact of the pollutants on agriculture and human health.

aravali mining

Tarun Bharat Sangh convened a meeting of other concerned groups from different districts of Rajasthan to discuss the trends in mining in the region and its effect on livelihoods and environment. HazCen has brought out a compilation of the data to help in formulating significant areas for research and policy advocacy.

eastern ghats

Agragamee in Rayagada, Orissa and Samata in Visakhapatnam, Andhra have been provided with technical support to understand the impacts of bauxite and calcite mining and the manufacture of magnesia from seawater. This has led to further support for research and campaigns by several groups who have constituted Mines, Minerals and People.

The basis for assessing hazards lies in the two major disciplines of toxicology and epidemiology. Sponsored by The Other Media, a review of the Indian literature was done. This indicated that the techniques used need to be significantly modified for Indian conditions, priorities have to be set by the needs of local and affected communities, and policies and norms should be formulated on the basis of such community-based research. These findings are being used extensively to guide HazCen’s activities.

The Bharat Gold Mines Limited in Karnataka has been declared as a sick industry and referred to BIFR for closure. At the request of the Bangalore Support Group, HazCen collected secondary data and interviewed a large number of managers, supervisors and workers. BGML has been deliberately made sick by a series of policy and management decisions, which has reduced productivity and increased costs. The study indicates a strategy by which the industry may be revived and the economy of the entire Kolar belt reinvigorated.

Research into the basis for fixing minimum wages was initiated at the request of the National Centre for Labour. The study revealed that, while the Minimum Wages Act has not been extended to all states, there is also no consistency in the specification of wages with a great deal of variation for the same kind of work. Hence, the study concludes that minimum wage should be fixed on the basis of minimum needs and job security. Further suggestions are given on how to strengthen the implementation mechanism.

1997 Air Pollution and its Effect on Agricultural Productivity in South Sonbhadra District; Banwasi Sewa Ashram
The heavy cost of environmental damage by air pollution, from a cluster of coal mines, thermal power plants, and heavy chemical industries becomes manifest when the impact is measured on fruit trees and agricultural crops by village level workers.

1997 A Review of the Indian Literature on Epidemiology of Occupational Health; Centre for Social Medicine and Community Health
A review of a selection of Indian studies on the impact of dust and fumes, chemicals, thermal stress, posture, noise, and other occupational hazards on the health of workers, reveals a pattern of widespread death and disease.

1997 Grazing in the Great Himalayan National Park: an Assessment; Mazdoor Kisan Haq Sangathan
Is the notification of a National Park consonant with the protection of wild life or is the protectionist model a bias of the scientists concerned? - a group of villagers conducts their own scientific investigation and comes up with revealing answers.

1998 Bharat Gold Mines; Bangalore Solidarity Group
What are the facts of the closure of the Kolar gold fields? - is gold extraction from the depleting ore no longer economically viable, or are there larger forces at work to rob the nation of its wealth, and workers of their livelihoods?

1998 Toxicological Studies and Standard Setting for Chemical Exposure; Bhopal Support Group
Of the over 100,000 chemicals in commercial production, very few have been investigated for their toxicity. It is the efforts of the workers and their associations that have established the foundations for setting of exposure standards.

1998 Minimum Wages; Self Employed Women's Association
There are different methods employed for computing the minimum wage. Which one is rational and in the interests of the wage labourer? - particularly if she or he is irregularly employed in the informal sector?

1998 The Land Acquisition Act; The Other Media
An analysis of the historical basis of the Act of 1896 and its evolution through judicial interpretation illustrates the paradox of the principle of "eminent domain" being used to define "public purpose" in a democratic polity.

1999 Responsible Care in the Chemical Industry; International Labour Office
Only 19% of the members of the Chemical Manufacturers' Association have subscribed to the Responsible Care programme, and even in their industrial units there has been limited implementation, with marginal regulation and training inputs by the government.

1999 Political Economy of Sub-standard Settlements in Delhi; Care India
The existence of multiple and ad-hoc policies and programmes has created a dependence of the urban poor on the organised nexus of property dealers, contractors, politicians, and administrators.

1999 Standards for Water Supply to Delhi Development Authority Flats; Transport Research and Injury Prevention Programme
A study of the actual use of water, sanitation, electricity, and transport facilities by the residents of different categories of DDA flats, and the recommended standards that emerge from such a study.

2000 Globalisation and the Construction Industry: A Study on Mechanisation and Labour Replacement; Nirmaana Mazdoor Panchayat Sangham
As new technology enters the construction industry, it adds to the profits of the owners while, at the same time, the profile of the workforce begins to change to a higher skill, higher wage category but with smaller numbers being employed.

2000 Water Management in the Campus; Gurukul Indraprastha College
An estimate of the water harvesting potential of the campus and the storage in abandoned quarries, with provision for supply of potable water and better sanitation.

2002 Common Effluent Treatment Plant at Najafgarh; Nirmaana Mazdoor Panchayat Sangham
An examination of the functionality of the proposed CETP, with respect to the needs of the industry, the disposal of toxic waste, the costs involved, and the displacement of a squatter settlement to make way for the plant.

2002 Resettlement at Jaunapur; Odh Panchayat
A comparison between different locations for the resettlement of a labour colony located in a Sanctuary, with respect to land availability, water requirements, and livelihood opportunities.

2002 Delhi Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan; Department of Environment, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi
Part of the National Biodiversity Strategy, based on widespread consultations amongst different stakeholders in Delhi, and identifying the sources of environmental degradation in the National Capital region as well as the possible mitigation measures.

2002 Mortality and Morbidity in Resettlement Colonies of Delhi; Centre for Social Medicine and Community Health
What happens to communities when they get displaced to the periphery of the city in areas where there are no civic facilities and work opportunities? What are the major causes of death and disease and how do people cope with them?

2003 Status of Three Wheeler Scooter Rickshaws; Bharat Tipahiya Chalak Sangh
Autorickshaw drivers have been universally condemned for polluting the air and fleecing the customers. This is an objective examination of the factors that make the drivers into victims of a system that does not provide for an adequate living with reasonable facilities.

2003 A People’s Housing Policy; Sajha Manch
What is the growth of slums due to? What is the policy regarding their relocation and resettlement? Why is there a shortage of accessible and affordable housing? Is there enough land and credit in the city to house the poor near their place of work? What could be an alternative policy from the people's perspective?

2003 Gender Training Module; Action Aid India
A practical guide for development agencies to incorporate gender concerns into project design. The presentation follows a question and answer format that allows the participant to think things through and examine his/her own biases with respect to the position of women in society.

2004 The Informal Sector in Solid Waste Management; Chintan Environmental Action Group
The study reveals that the informal sector recycles almost 40% of the total waste in the city. However, since it is not legally recognised, no provisions are made in urban plans for it to operate and it is, therefore, subjected to harassment by all the official agencies.

2004 Pollution of the Yamuna at the Pushta in Delhi; NGO Forum
A Court order and a Ministerial dictat implicates all slum dwellers in the pollution of the river and mandates their removal from the banks of the river. A factual examination of the evidence leads to an analysis of the real motives behind the eviction drive.

2005 An Enquiry into the Reasons for Burning of Coach-6 of the Sabarmati Express; South Asian Forum for Human Rights
Was the Godhra coach burnt by an attacking mob? The report of an independent investigation correlates the fire marks on the coach to the manner in which a fire spreads, the depositions by passengers, the post-mortem and injury reports, to arrive at the most coherent theory possible.