Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of In Re: News Item Titled "Neglected Katora Houz in Hyderabad’s Golconda Fort Cries for attention appearing in ‘The Siasat Daily’ dated 25 May 2025". The application was registered suo-motu based on the news item titled “Neglected Katora Houz in Hyderabad’s …
There is no need to establish here that all Indian cities face chronic water shortage, particularly during summers. That government agencies are increasingly failing to meet the water demand of a rising urban population. And that the water table is falling all the time due to over-extraction from underground aquifers. …
industrialists in Delhi could soon be forced to pay up for common effluent treatment plants (cetps) in their area. A proposal to tax erring industrialists, who refuse to foot the bill for the construction of cetps, was put forth by state industry and environment minister Deep Chand Bandhu. He announced …
the recent eviction of illegal occupants from Assam's reserve forests has exposed an unholy nexus between various government departments in the state. It is believed that the encroachers possess legal documents, authorising them as owners of the forestland. The title deeds, they allege, have been issued by the forest department …
In response to a writ petition, Nepal's supreme court has asked the government to keep the capital city of Kathmandu free of garbage. Recently, the court issued a directive to ensure healthy environment by introducing standards as laid down in the environment act and regulations. The writ pointed out that …
They say the eye of the storm is calm. This is what I found when I visited the epicentre of war-tensions in India, the city of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir. This was a week when foreigners were leaving India, fearing a war, even a nuclear war, between India and …
on what is being seen as a red-letter day for the greens, the Supreme Court (sc) banned the felling of trees in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The apex court finally delivered its verdict earlier this month after a protracted legal battle that spawned a writ petition filed by environmental organisations. …
Residents of Gurdwara Road in Delhi's Karol Bagh succeeded in preventing the chopping down of around 90 trees that are more than 50 years old. After the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (mcd) felled four trees under a road-widening project, the people of the locality threatened to take to the streets. …
No loudspeakers are now heard from over 10 Mahim mosques in Mumbai for the 5 am azaan (call for prayers). For the past one month, these mosques have voluntarily stopped using loudspeakers to abide by the Supreme Court (sc) order which bans the use of loudspeakers between 10 pm and …
The biggest garbage dump in Mumbai will be closed now, courtesy the Supreme Court. Acting on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the resident welfare association of Chincholi Bunder area where the dumpyard is located, the court ordered its closure as it was posing a serious health hazard. The …
The documentary on the Onges tribe of the Little Andaman Island had an advantage that the panel discussion lacked. Sonali Dutta, the director, was showing rare footage. The panel discussion for most parts, on the other hand, was leaded with theoretical meanderings along known paths. Sonali's documentary gave the audience …
The Supreme Court gave a green light to the Rs 250-crore Ganga Action Plan (GAP) Phase II. The project, which was held up due to stay orders from courts, will be resumed after a long gap. Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam is all set to launch the project.
death is a seasonal visitor to Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh's largest district and wasteland. It comes just before sowing and after the harvest of groundnut, a cash crop that occupies 91 per cent of land in the district. More than 100 groundnut farmers have committed suicide since the last two years …
when Bhuna Bhil of Pathara village in Dungarpur ran away from the communal carnage in Gujarat, he faced a dilemma: what would he do back in his village? It had already exhausted all his sources of livelihood. Known as the 20th century desert, Dungarpur's 68 per cent population has been …
Poverty in Sarguja district has taken epic proportions. Unlike in the Mahabharat, the descendants of Pandavas and Kauravas have come together to fight a common enemy in Sarguja: poverty. And their fight is as heroic as the Mahabharat. Pandos, the local tribals and descendants of the Pandavas, are fighting for …
Irrigation is a luxury that only a few can afford in Mandla, a water-rich district in Madhya Pradesh. The district receives an annual rainfall of 1,300 mm, which can easily sustain three crops a year. But Mandla residents can barely manage one. The district is surrounded by the mighty Narmada …
While the Union government is bothered about the high cost of storing surplus foodgrain, groundnut farmers in Anantapur commit suicide. Clearly, measures of poverty need changing. Policymakers must now take into account the time spent by women to collect firewood or water. This distance needs to be shortened as this …
Rabindra Nath Mishra, an additional block development officer, is a bit worried. He thought calculating Phulbani's poor, as directed by the Supreme Court, would be easy. The expenditure limit of Rs 250 per month (as the decisive line between poverty and prosperity) seemed a ridiculous amount. But when the final …
extreme measures do work! Like it did for the staff of Valmiki Tiger Reserve who had not been paid their salaries since October last year. As a culmination of their efforts, the Supreme Court has now ordered the Bihar government to pay salaries to its employees at the Valmiki Tiger …