1 lakh neem trees in district: Ernakulam's two-year greening mission reaches milestone
KOCHI: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday planted the 1,00,000th neem (aryaveppu) sapling on the campus of Rajagiri High School, Kalamassery, marking the culmination of a massive two-year-long tree-planting drive across Ernakulam district.
The environmental campaign was launched on June 5, 2023 — World Environment Day — when Industries Minister P Rajeeve planted the first sapling, with the mission to plant 1 lakh neem saplings across the district. Spearheaded by Sriman Narayanan's 'Ente Gramam Gandhi Jeevitham Mission', based in Muppathadam, the initiative has now reached its green milestone.
The final phase of the campaign saw the planting of the remaining 12,000 saplings in the past few weeks in various parts of the district, ensuring the target was met before the next Environment Day cycle. 'Ernakulam is one of the districts worst hit by air, water, and soil pollution. Neem, with its remarkable purifying and medicinal qualities, is an ideal choice to fight this environmental degradation,' said Sriman Narayanan, who leads the mission.
Known for its immunity-boosting and pest-repelling properties, neem tree is also believed to have benefits in post-Covid health management. The organisers focused on densely populated urban colonies, where both human and ecological health need urgent attention. The saplings were sourced from nurseries in Tamil Nadu.
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Indian Express
8 hours ago
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Voice from inside one of India's widest tunnels: ‘Can't build by fighting with rock'
There are many stories behind the 4.89-km-long, eight-lane tunnel on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway that cuts through Mukundra Hills in Rajasthan's Kota. One of them is that of 58-year-old Madhukar, who has built tunnels all his life. He started this project during Covid in 2021 at the north end, in what could well be his last assignment before retirement in two years. Now, faced with a difficult 500m stretch — he calls it the 'nala portion' — Madhukar is determined to complete his ninth project successfully, and gets emotional while recounting his association with the tunnel. The tunnel, which falls between Ummedpura and Nayagaon village in Kota, is a key link of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway — one of the most ambitious projects of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) under the Bharatmala Pariyojna. With a width of 22 metres and a height of 11 metres, it is also one of the widest tunnels in the country, passing through different rock masses and substrata that include sandstone, shale, siltstone, mudstone and limestone. In the project cluster, which is divided into 53 packages, the Ummedpura-Nayagaon tunnel is being constructed by a joint venture of Dilip Buildcon Limited and Altis-Holding Corporation. It was originally a 30-month project scheduled to be completed in January 2024, but got delayed due to challenges during excavation and is now likely to be completed by the year-end. 'Hum rock se dosti karte hain, aap rock se dushmani karke tunnel nahi bana sakte (We befriend the rock, you can't make a tunnel by fighting with the rock). In this project also, we have come to the most difficult part, but we will pass it slowly. We have to just understand the behaviour of the rock,' said Madhukar, a resident of Khagaria in Bihar, who is in charge of the blasting. 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We are building two four-lane tunnels here, which will be a great achievement for the more than 2,000 people who worked on this project. Vehicle movement will start from these tunnels by March 2026,' he said. Dheeraj Mishra is a Principal correspondent with The Indian Express, Business Bureau. He covers India's two key ministries- Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Road Transport & Highways. He frequently uses the Right to Information (RTI) Act for his stories, which have resulted in many impactful reports. ... Read More
Indian Express
20 hours ago
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Like, follow, fear: Punjab's women take on patriarchy, one reel at a time
Written by Kumool Abbi The death of popular Punjabi YouTube influencer Kamal Kaur Bhabhi, also known as Kanchan Kumari, has sparked a complex debate spanning religion, gender, migration, and morality. It reflects the tension in traditional societies like Punjab that are caught between entrenched values and modern transformations. But this incident is just the tip of the iceberg. It exposes deeper fractures within a state in crisis. Post-Green Revolution Punjab is a shadow of its once-vibrant self. Agrarian distress, marked by declining returns, groundwater depletion, crop failure, soil salinisation, rising indebtedness, and farmer suicides, has driven marginal and small farmers along with agricultural labourers out of farming. The myth of Punjab as a prosperous agrarian state has faded. As the rural economy shrinks, families are increasingly turning to the secondary and tertiary sectors for survival. Amid this economic downturn, a subtle social transformation has been taking place, largely among the poor and Scheduled Castes. These communities, despite their vulnerability, have quietly altered the position of the girl child. Once devalued, daughters are now more likely to be born, nurtured and educated. Punjab's total fertility rate, at 1.6 according to NFHS 2019–21, is lower than the replacement level. This decline is linked to urbanisation, migration, enforcement of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, and improved female literacy. The 2011 Census showed female literacy in Punjab at 70.73 per cent, higher than the national average of 64.6 per cent. Among Scheduled Castes, female literacy stood at 58.33 per cent. These figures mark a quiet inversion of patriarchal norms, especially in poorer households where daughters are increasingly seen as assets. But this shift is not without complications. Girls from economically weaker backgrounds still face structural barriers. Higher education is often inaccessible due to safety concerns, limited mobility, and family preference for educating sons. Many women, after basic schooling, seek work in an oversaturated informal sector, often migrating to towns or city outskirts. There, they enter new public spheres, grappling with both opportunity and risk. At the same time, the image of Punjab's young men has undergone a tragic transformation. Once seen as vigorous, hard-working farmers, many are now perceived as idle, directionless and addicted to drugs or alcohol. The decline of male economic contribution has pushed families to depend increasingly on their daughters, who are also withdrawing from agriculture. The Periodic Labour Force Survey 2024 shows that the female labour force participation rate for ages 15 to 29 declined from 45 per cent in January to March to 44.1 per cent in April to June. 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Unlike middle-class women producing 'respectable' content, these women often turn to YouTube, Facebook and Instagram for monetised self-expression. Cringe content and soft-porn appeal in global digital markets can translate into income. Algorithms reward sensationalism, driving creators to push boundaries. Figures like Kamal Kaur Bhabhi and Preet Jatti reflect this shift. These women often use cultural codes to satirise patriarchy, drawing in male viewers while mocking the gaze that seeks to control them. But this digital transgression provokes backlash. The subverted male gaze produces anxiety over the loss of control. Women, seen as male property, are suddenly visible, vocal and economically independent. In response, men try to reassert control, often through violence or extrajudicial means justified as 'moral cleansing'. Such reactions are not just personal but social. Honour becomes collective, and the merging of reel with real fuels moral panic. Patriarchal dogma, often backed by religion, seeks to censor, contain, and silence. The remarks by influencers like Ranvir Allahabadia and Samay Raina only underline the urgency for regulation. A framework to protect women, minors and other vulnerable groups from obscene content is necessary. But equally important is understanding that these moral panics mask deeper anxieties about agency, autonomy, and the shifting gender balance in a society struggling to adapt to change. (The writer is Professor, Department of Sociology, and Director, Population Research Centre, Panjab University)
New Indian Express
a day ago
- New Indian Express
1 lakh neem trees in district: Ernakulam's two-year greening mission reaches milestone
KOCHI: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday planted the 1,00,000th neem (aryaveppu) sapling on the campus of Rajagiri High School, Kalamassery, marking the culmination of a massive two-year-long tree-planting drive across Ernakulam district. The environmental campaign was launched on June 5, 2023 — World Environment Day — when Industries Minister P Rajeeve planted the first sapling, with the mission to plant 1 lakh neem saplings across the district. Spearheaded by Sriman Narayanan's 'Ente Gramam Gandhi Jeevitham Mission', based in Muppathadam, the initiative has now reached its green milestone. The final phase of the campaign saw the planting of the remaining 12,000 saplings in the past few weeks in various parts of the district, ensuring the target was met before the next Environment Day cycle. 'Ernakulam is one of the districts worst hit by air, water, and soil pollution. Neem, with its remarkable purifying and medicinal qualities, is an ideal choice to fight this environmental degradation,' said Sriman Narayanan, who leads the mission. Known for its immunity-boosting and pest-repelling properties, neem tree is also believed to have benefits in post-Covid health management. The organisers focused on densely populated urban colonies, where both human and ecological health need urgent attention. The saplings were sourced from nurseries in Tamil Nadu.
