Affidavit on behalf of Union Territory of Puducherry in the matter of a news item titled "India lost 2.33 million hectares of tree cover since 2000 Global Forest Watch" which appeared in the Indian Express, April 13, 2024. The report dated April 25, 2025 said that there is no loss …
just whom would you vote for as the greatest Gandhian in the Indian sub-continent of the post-Independence era? Our vote will unhesitatingly go to the Pakistani social scientist Akhtar Hameed Khan, in whose memory social activists from all over Pakistan met on October 12, 2000, his first death anniversary in …
Sahashradhara, Dehradun, India. A soft drink shop greets thousands of tourists at this confluence of a thousand streams. So what's the big deal? Well, its just that the shop is located right inside a microhydel powerhouse that supplied electricity to three nearby villages for over four years. Two year ago, …
As the world wakes up to a depleting finite sources of power like coal and the growing opposition to big dams, countries all over the world with water resources and difficult areas to electrify are opting for the community mode of electricity generation and distribution. "Today, a confluence of technological, …
In India, the Central Electricity Act, 1948, does not allow individuals, communities or cooperatives to take up electricity generation and distribution. Only a private company bound to sell power to the government can do so. Of course the company has to sell power at rates the government fixes. Since such …
Three years ago, when Chija Maya, a resident of Piughar, spoke about a run-of-the-river microhydel power station in her village, many people thought that she was whistling in the dark. Though hydro-electricity first came to Nepal in 1911 to light the King’s palaces, it still remains a dream for 85 …
after having revived the Arvari rivulet through the sweat of their brow, the 70 villages in the rivulet's basin in Alwar district, Rajasthan, have gone one step ahead. They are taking proactive measures to deal with the third consecutive year of drought. This is being done through the Arvari Sansad, …
The Arvari Sansad, or Arvari Parliament, is a shining example of community ownership and management of natural resources. After reviving the rivulet with assistance from the voluntary organisation Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS), the people are absolutely confident of one thing: natural resources are best managed when communities regenerate these through …
A year after the devastating cyclone in Orissa, the rebuilding process is still going on. On the environmental front, however, the state government is yet to take large-scale programmes to regenerate the area. In the aftermath of the cyclone, a group of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) had proposed to the government …
A demand to revoke four forestry-related laws of Thailand has been made by various grassroots groups. The groups believe that these laws do not give recognition to community rights in natural resource management. They declared the Forestry Act of 1941, National Park Act of 1960, Forest Reserves Act of 1964 …
The Biological Diversity Bill, which was introduced on May 15, 2000, in the Lok Sabha, is currently under scrutiny of the parliamentary standing committee on science, technology and environment. The committee is conducting a series of hearings with experts from across the country to get their opinion on the bill. …
Get on with it The Supreme Court's go-ahead to the Sardar Sarovar Project ( ssp ) was long overdue. It is a good judgement. It lays down the framework within which the project can continue. This will ensure that the work on the dam moves forward swiftly. The message is …
communication is vital for progress, and road links are crucial for this. A novel and viable approach for building rural roads and maintaining them was evolved in Madagascar in 1995. The approach advocates that the government, business institutions and local communities jointly undertake road construction projects. The need for such …
Monks in Thailand have started a unique campaign to save threatened trees. At least 100 monks living in rural areas are trying to preserve the forests of the country. This is being done in the wake o some recent surveys, which have indicated that more than 70 per cent of …
Atul Kaushik Hats off to Anil Agarwal for his insightful piece on Kashmir and environment. It is such rational thinking that can resolve the trade-environment debate. Uday Turaga The column you wrote on the issue and the perspective that you brought to the Kashmir issue is immensly creative and appealing. …
Sanjay K Srivastava IFS The article by Anil Agarwal is atrocious with heinous flavour and needs to be debated upon. We have umpteen number of officers who have served in such difficult areas where ‘Veerappans’ operate. Anil Bhardwaj IFS Anil Agarwal’s article is not at all a responsible statement. He …
Excerpts from letter to the editor from M Mahmood Husain, Chennai Forty years ago, Veerappan's haunts in Tamil Nadu forests were mine too, almost every one of them. Every nook and corner was intensely familiar for ten years or more, right from probationer days in the Forest Service. What memories …
Sometimes it is wonderful to have an opportunity to say, "we told you so." Particularly you feel strongly about the issue. A recent issue of Science (September 29, 2000) carries a comment from nine eminent us scientists and economists who argue that "equal per capita emission rights to the atmosphere" …
the people of Bhaonta-Kolyala village of Alwar district of Rajasthan have constructed a stone checkdam, reinforcing their earlier Johad (earthen dam). "This has been possible because of the Rs 1,00,000 prize given to us by Down To Earth ( dte ),'says Kanhaiya Lal, one of the villagers. The Down To …
