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 …
Four years of decentralised planning have resulted in a functional division between state plans and local plans. Policy analysts say this would lead to subsequent material improvement in local life, for example, better management of agriculture and water resources. "An important change is the right focus of planning and, so, …
The future of the decentralisation process is uncertain, and the real threat comes from the bureaucracy. A wide spectrum of people - from political leaders to policy planners - share such fears. "The bureaucracy is organised, and is a great problem. Earlier there was stiff resistance from the bureaucracy to …
according to a recently published article, greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions reduction programme undertaken by us cities could help meet 10 per cent of the total target usa has to meet under its Kyoto Protocol obligations. Urban planners in the us believe that enthusiastic participation by the municipalities in such programmes …
the exercise of developing methodologies for building two basic tools of air quality management for Delhi - an air quality index (aqi) and an emission inventory - was launched at an international workshop in the capital recently. The workshop was organised by the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (cse), …
A White Paper for Sustainable Coastal Development was released by Valli Moosa, the environment minister of South Africa recently. The document emphasises the importance of considering all aspects of the coast together while taking decisions about them and aims to establish a balance between the developed, rural and wilderness coastal …
it seems that the days of voluntary work and activism might soon be over. Of late the government has become intolerant to such people. Two cases with serious implications have come up in Goa. In one case, an animal rights campaigner was deported out of the country after being "hounded …
it is a vote that could affect the lives of around 30 million fisherfolk from all over India. When the Parliament meets for the monsoon session, the Lok Sabha will vote on the Aquaculture Authority Bill, which has already been passed by the Rajya Sabha. And for the thousands of …
Here is a success story. May every Keralite feel proud. Kerala is the most literate state in India, the first where population levels stabilised and now they have even successfully dealt with decentralised planning. But the god's haven't been fair to the state in the past few decades. The state …
1982: Balwant Singh Mehta, an Udaipur citizen who turns 101 this year, approaches the Rajasthan High Court to intervene and save the dying lakes of Udaipur 1992: The Jheel Sanrakshan Samiti (JSS) is formed and starts a campaign to save the lakes 1994: The court, responding to Mehta's petition, directs …
the polluted lakes of Udaipur, some of which have dried up to 60 per cent, may finally get a fresh lease of life. Acting on a petition filed by the Jheel Sanrakshan Samiti ( jss ), an Udaipur-based non-governmental organisation ( ngo ), the Rajasthan High Court has ordered the …
after an extensive consultation process involving stakeholders, the Central government has brought about a legislation, the Biological Diversity Bill, 2000, with salient features relating to access to biological resources of the country and securing sharing of benefits with local people. This has come as a result of public pressure and …
in march 1997 when the heavy drilling machines ploughed into the barren land of the desert village Sanawada, just a few kilometres from India's nuclear weapons testing site, Pokran, officials of the public sector Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd ( mecl ) told the residents, "There are precious stones beneath the …
In the past 50 years, the Indian government has spent vast sums of money on water resource development. Programmes have focussed on irrigation development for increasing Green Revolution-style agricultural production and drinking water supply. But no specific effort has been directed to drought-proof rainfed areas which suffer from high rainfall …
It is a point won by the people of Umbergaon district in Gujarat. Unnerved by the rising public outcry against the proposedRs 1,600-crore Maroli port, California-based multi-national company (MNC) Unocal has pulled out of the project and left its Indian partner Natelco to face the public wrath. On the other …
some meetings are convened to arrive at definite conclusions. But there are those that follow a routine merely to carry forward a tradition. The latter seems to be quite true in the case of the Conference of Parties ( c o p ) to the Convention on Biological Diversity ( …
With the spate of political support that the concept of rainwater harvesting has received in recent weeks from Central ministers and state chief ministers, the attack from pro-dam lobbies had to come. The government of Gujarat appears to be especially miffed as it had probably hoped that this drought would …
there are parched river beds as well as flowing rivulets; water at depths of 3-5 metres and dry wells even at 60 metres; hectares of land filled with cacti and areas lush with mango, lime, even water melon: the contrasts cannot be more stark among villages in Gujarat. On a …
the good thing about the United Nation's Commission for Sustainable Development ( csd ) is that it is moving in circles while all the other un commissions do not move at all. This was the cynical, albeit probably apt observation of a seasoned diplomat attending this year's eighth session of …
For years, residents of Gujarat's Saurashtra region have been demanding allocation of funds for desilting its numerous lakes and ponds. Till late, their appeals fell on deaf ears. The government maintained that desilting old ponds was not economically viable. It was cheaper to build new ones, it said. Not that …
