Many years ago, a national daily carried a striking half-page photograph on its front page. It showed how a powerful politician had brazenly diverted the course of a river in Himachal Pradesh to provide easy access to a resort he and his partner had built.

The exposé caused a storm in Parliament, then in session. The government acted swiftly by cancelling the resort’s licence. Ironically, the politician later rose to become the chief minister of a central Indian state. The more things change, the more they remain the same.

Today, a similar tale of river tampering is unfolding under the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation in Maharashtra. The Mula Riverfront Development........

© Free Press Journal