Reply affidavit on behalf of the Central Ground Water Board in the matter of Suo Moto case titled "Haryana 60.48% groundwater over exploited Kurukshetra worst Jhajjar best says" appearing in the Tribune, January 8, 2025. The CGWA report, May 3, 2025 addresses the issue of groundwater exploitation and violation of …
It is probably the most important battle of our times, the battle for natural resources like land, natural gas, telecom spectrum and coal mines. Who owns them-the state, citizens or private players? How to make the best use of them? A series of supreme court judgements on one hand several …
India's Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia yesterday said a variety of environmental, economic and technical issues need to be settled before implementation of the ambitious inter-linking of rivers. Referring to the Himalayan component of rivers inter-linking, Ahluwalia said “effective exploitation” of capacity of these rivers is critically dependent …
The Maharashtra Government will announce a new policy for mining of sand and minor minerals next month, said Mr Sachin Ahir, Minister of State for Environment, in the Legislative Assembly on Monday. He was replying to a calling attention notice of MLA Mr Shashikant Shinde (Nationalist Congress Party). Mr Ahir …
India says any apprehensions in the minds of neighbouring countries over the proposed linkages of trans-border rivers are "misplaced", as the project has been backburnered. The river-linking work would start only after memorandums of understanding and development project reports are prepared, Indian Water Resources Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal told a …
A supreme court order in India asking the government to link more than 30 rivers and divert waters to parched areas has sparked concerns in neighbouring countries. Bangladesh says it would be hardest hit because it is a downstream country to two major rivers that flow from India. New Delhi …
Community-based conservation reverses top-down, centre driven conservation by focusing on the people who bear the costs of conservation. In the broadest sense then, community-based conservation includes natural resource or biodiversity protection by, for, and with local communities. Nepal has joined hands with international communities and embarked on the modern era …
Healthy ecosystems provide us with fertile soil, clean water, timber, and food. They reduce the spread of diseases. They protect against flooding. Worldwide, they regulate atmospheric concentrations of oxygen and carbon dioxide. They moderate climate. Without these and other “ecosystem services,” we’d all perish.
The Corporate Affairs Ministry has suggested some ‘fine-tuning’ of the new mines bill, which is being examined by a parliamentary panel and provides for profit sharing by mining firms with the project-affected people, among other provisions. Questioning a clause in the new bill that provides for issuing at least one …
Exploring the prospects of the ecosystem services approach for natural resource management and poverty alleviation in India, this paper points out that it is vital to have an understanding of the political economy of negotiations over natural resource use. An appreciation of the synergies and trade-offs between ecosystem services is …
A two-day workshop, titled “Fishery-dependent Livelihoods, Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity: The Case of Marine and Coastal Protected Areas in India”, was held in New Delhi during 1-2 March 2012. The workshop was a follow-up to the one held in Chennai in 2009, which was titled “Social Dimensions of …
This case study examines how REDD+ and adaptation policies are currently aligned in Nepal’s national policy, before assessing whether planning for REDD+, outlined in the Readiness Preparation Proposal (R-PP), is likely to contribute to adaptive capacity at the local level.
How much of the benefits of economic growth accrue directly to farmers and workers who lose their livelihoods when agricultural land is taken over for development? If handled properly, the Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2011 offers an opportunity for equitably addressing the interests of diverse sections affected …
The second annual Asia REDD+ Working Group facilitated by Community Forestry International was held in Kathmandu, Nepal. Members from government, NGOs, field project representatives, international donors, and technical & financial resource persons attended from ten countries: Nepal, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Philippines, USA, UK, France, Germany, and Japan. The Asia REDD+ …
The conservation and sustainable use of Bhutan’s biodiversity through securing the economic, social and spiritual wellbeing of the Bhutanese people. The National ABS policy covers the utilization of Bhutanese genetic resources and traditional knowledge associated with biological resources when used for commercial and/or research purposes. This policy excludes biological resources …
Water resources minister Ramesh Chandra Sen on Sunday told the parliament that the government was selecting experts to constitute the Bangladesh side on the joint survey team for studying the impacts of the proposed construction of Tipaimukh Dam across the Barak River in the Indian state of Manipur. ‘Bangladesh has …
The mainstream paradigm of understanding grass-root environmentalism in India as “environmentalism of the poor” might be challenged by an alternative prototype forest movement in the Bengal Dooars prior to the Chipko movement. It was fought against the exploitative design of ecosystem governance under the taungya method of artificial regeneration as …
This volume of case studies comprises one of two main publications resulting from the Oct. 21-22, 2011 Land Tenure and Forest Carbon Management Workshop hosted by the University of Wisconsin/Madison’s Land Tenure Center (LTC), Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, and Geography Dept. Contributed by an impressive array of researchers, NGOs, …
The goal of preserving nature is often in conflict with economic development and the aspirations of the rural poor. Nowhere is this more striking than in native grasslands, which have been extensively converted until a mere fraction of their original extent remains. This is not surprising; grasslands flourish in places …
Commenting on the Mullaiperiyar conflict, former President, Mr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, has said that the leaders of the States concerned have to sit together and arrive at a consensus to resolve the issue. Speaking on the sidelines of the AgriCon 2011 conference, Mr Kalam also suggested nationalising rivers to resolve …
A high amount of silt deposit on the bed of the Teesta combined with the hydel power projects upstream in Sikkim and Bengal has reduced the flow and the volume of water in the river, an expert report has said. Around 10 million tonnes of silt is deposited on the …
