Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna announced that 50 per cent seats of Van Panchayat Sarpanch will be reserved for women in addition to which, all Van Panchayat members will be insured by the State Government. The Chief Minister made these announcements while speaking at a State level workshop on strengthening and developing Van Panchayats organised by the Forest Department on Monday.

The Uttarakhand Forest and Rural Development Commissioner has directed the Compensatory Afforestation Management & Planning Authority (CAMPA), Uttarakhand chief executive officer to facilitate plantation of fruit trees in forests to mitigate the human-monkey conflict in the State with CAMPA funds.

Expressing grave concern over the reports about manufacturing of “synthetic” milk emanating from various parts of the states close to the national capital, where supply of such milk could not be ruled out, the Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notices to the Centre and six states seeking reports on the issue.

A bench of Chief Justice of India S.H. Kapaidia and Justices A.K. Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar issued the notices to the Centre and states of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Uttarakhand asking them to file affidavits specifying action taken by them to check the supply of spurious milk and milk products within four weeks.

The Supreme Court Wednesday issued notice to the central and five state governments on a petition seeking complete curb on the sale and supply of synthetic and adulterated milk and its products like ghee, khoya and paneer. An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia issued notice on a petition by Swamy Achuthananda Tirth seeking direction to the centre and state governments to ensure the supply of healthy, hygienic and natural milk and milk products.

The Uttarakhand Revenue and Irrigation Minister, Mr Yashpal Arya, on Friday directed officials to remove hurdles coming in the way of construction of the proposed multipurpose Jamrani dam project on Gola river in Nainital within one month's time and complete it as soon as possible.

During a meeting here, Mr Arya described the project as very important for the State and said its early construction is among the top priorities set by the Government.

They demand resumption of work on power projects in Uttarakhand by May 20

Three Padma Shri awardees on Friday threatened begin a fast from May 21 if the government did not resume work on power projects in Uttarakhand by May 20. The announcement has become all the more important as several women on dharna at the Vishnugad–Pipalkoti project site have threatened self-immolation if work is not resumed immediately.

Minister of environment and forests Jayanthi Natarajan expressed concern that states with tiger reserves had not taken the initiative to deploy the Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF).

Despite providing 100 per cent Central assistance to the states of UP, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Orissa, these states have failed to enhance protection around critical tiger habitats by using a trained local workforce.

The Nainital district administration and Corbett National Park authorities have started work to raise awareness among owners of resorts around Corbett regarding the recent Government order banning sound amplification in resorts within 500 metres of the national park. It is worth mentioning here that following a directive of the Uttarakhand High Court on a Public Interest Litigation filed by a local NGO, the State Government had ordered a ban on sound amplification in resorts within a specific area around Corbett in April this year.

The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and National Tiger Conservation Authority (NCTA) has asked the State government to tighten the vigilance in the five tiger reserves in Karnataka.

According to a letter written by Dr Rajesh Gopal, Member Secretary, NCTA, a copy of which is in possession of Deccan Herald, gangs of poachers have planned to raid 29 tiger reserves in Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. Bandipur, Nagarahole, Dandeli-Anashi, Bhadra and Biligiriranganathaswamy Temple tiger reserves in the State are on the list of the poachers.