A Bill that seeks to amend the existing law governing exploration and production of oil and gas as well as delink petroleum operations from mining operations was passed by the Lok Sabha on Wednesday (March 12, 2025). The Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill, 2024, is aimed at boosting investment …
This is a report of the national level public hearing on community forest rights. The Public Hearing was organised by CFR-LA and AJAM along with other people’s networks and forums on the 14th of December 2013 at the Constitution Club of India, New Delhi. Nearly 250 participants from national and …
Goa Minister for Forests Alina Saldanha has criticised the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), accusing it of trying to force the recommendations of the K. Kasturirangan Committee report on the Western Ghats on the State. In her letter dated December 6, the Minister reiterated the State government’s stand …
People of Chakkittapara say they have lived as one with nature, seek people’s report “If they touch us, it will be another Jallianwala Bagh here,” Chakkittapara grama panchayat president K. Sunil shouts over the anxious din of a grama sabha held at Muthukad Lower Primary School on the slopes of …
Activists Point Out Loopholes The expert appraisal committee of ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) gave environmental clearance to the Rs 2,000 crore Aranmula international airport, ignoring key issues such as reclamation of paddy fields, land acquisition, social and cultural disruption of people in an entire locality. Aranumula residents point …
Terms environment ministry’s memorandum unconstitutional. Madhav Gadgil, chairman of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), has said that his report is far from “dead” and the unrest in the State is an aftermath of the “sabotage of democracy” caused by the denial of role to the local population, especially …
Madhav Gadgil, chairman of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), has said that his report is far from “dead” and the unrest in the State is an aftermath of the “sabotage of democracy” caused by the denial of role to the local population, especially the grama sabhas, in decision-making. …
No government could implement projects such as the proposed airport at Aranmula disregarding public sentiments against it, especially in aspects of nature conservation, food security and socio-human capital stocks, Madhav Gadgil, ecologist and chairman of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), has said. Prof. Gadgil, who was in the …
The extremely fragile Western Ghats region is highly prone to natural calamities and chances of an Uttarakhand-like tragedy in the region cannot be ruled out if scientific conservation initiatives are not being implemented at the earliest, says a leading environmentalist. Significantly, the foreboding has come at a time when the …
The Western Ghats People’s Forum has demanded that grama sabhas be convened in all 123 villages in the State that have been included in the list of ecologically sensitive areas by the Kasturirangan committee report on Western Ghats. Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, forum general convener V.V. Augustine …
The Environment and Forests Ministry will soon take the final call on Vedanta’s mining of Niyamgiri hills, with the Odisha government having sent the gram sabha resolutions to the Centre for a decision. The Supreme Court directed that the gram sabhas of the affected villages be asked for their consent …
The Environment Ministry has decided to turn approximately 60,000 square kilometres of the Western Ghats across six States into an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA), banning mining, quarrying, thermal power plants and polluting industries over the entire range. All other projects would be allowed only with the prior consent of gram …
The Draft Rules for the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, are now being put in the public domain. These rules may be called the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Rules 2013. See also: The …
In the wake of the Supreme Court verdict that the Madhav Gadgil panel report will be valid till any other report on the subject is approved by the Centre, the Kerala Government will have to implement the report against its decision. The verdict has come as a major setback to …
“We don’t know how the villagers can consent to diversion of forest land five days after denouncing it” It all started with great excitement — organising groups, motivating young women to lead from the front, guarding the village borders to prevent vote buying through gifts — for it seemed important …
A comprehensive food security scheme based on the National Food Security Act, 2013, has been launched in Rajasthan, covering 4.64 crore people in the State’s population of 6.86 crore. In addition to the people living below poverty line, several other categories of beneficiaries have been created for the scheme. Chief …
Status report on implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 [for the period ending 30th September, 2013].
Status report on implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 [for the period ending 30th September, 2013].
Gram sabha at Taraimarh adjourned due to lack of quorum as villagers stay away On a wet and windy Saturday evening nearly 350 km north of the State capital, Raipur, a non-descript village registered a historic victory against Bharat Alumunium Company Ltd (Balco), an affiliate of India focused global miner, …
An Act to ensure, in consultation with institutions of local self-government and Gram Sabhas established under the Constitution, a humane, participative, informed and transparent process for land acquisition for industrialisation, development of essential infrastructural facilities and urbanisation with the least disturbance to the owners of the land and other affected …
Says state govt must find alternative bauxite mine for Vedanta Union Rural Development minister Jairam Ramesh today slammed the Odisha government for fuelling Naxal movement in the state by adopting a ‘very lopsided land acquisition policy’. Emphasising that the new land acquisition act proposed by the Centre would remove the …
