Tikender Singh Panwar The cracks will travel – from Chalaunthi to Shimla, from Shimla to Kullu, from Kullu to the upper valleys – until the Lesser Himalaya responds not with fissures, but with collapse. The mountain has already spoken. Chalaunthi…
Revenues flow overwhelmingly to Central utilities. The resource is local. The land is local. The risks are local. The profits are not.
Delhi’s air crisis is not an isolated failure. It is part of a larger civilisational collapse, one where the state has quietly surrendered its most fundamental duty: safeguarding the commons.
The story so far: India continues to narrate its urban future through the loud vocabulary of megacities. But a quieter and far more consequential transformation is unfolding. Of India’s nearly 9,000 census and statutory towns, barely 500 qualify as large cities. The overwhelming majority are small towns, with populations below 1,00,000. This proliferation of small towns is a structural product of India’s capitalist development — and of its crisis.
Urban water shortages coexist with luxury swimming pools. Air purifiers buzz inside gated towers while pollution chokes the public realm outside. Climate extremes hit hardest those who contribute the least to the problem.
How are wetlands, lakes, and mountains shaping Srinagar’s economy? What role did Article 370’s dilution play in local livelihoods? Why are tourism, horticulture, and artisan trades struggling? What strategies can build a resilient, locally rooted economy?