Order of the National Green Tribunal (Southern Zone, Chennai) in the matter of Yelahanka Puttenahalli Lake and Bird Conservation Trust Vs State of Karnataka & Others dated 02/05/2025. Pursuant to the tribunal order dated April 24, 2025, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) informed the court that as per …
THE CAUVERY, one of the major interstate rivers of south India, has been both a blessing and a curse to Karnataka and Tamil Nadu: it has helped farmers but also caused discord. Irrigation from the Cauvery has been more developed in Tamil Nadu than Karnataka. The reason is geological: Whereas …
For 50 years the Mettur dam was completed. Tamil Nadu farmers used more than 75 per cent of the Cauvery waters, which was largely responsible for the tremendous escalation in rice cultivation in the state. The crisis, however, set in after Karnataka began developing its irrigation system based on the …
The Karnataka forest department will launch joint forest planning and management programmes beginning this September, according to forests and wildlife minister M P Keshavamurthy. The programmes are intended to "obtain the willing participation of forest-based communities in an active effort to check the state's fast degrading forests". Official surveys indicate …
SCIENTISTS have found that several sheep in south India, which were thought to be suffering from rinderpest are actually infected with peste des petits ruminants (PPR), a new viral disease hitherto thought to be restricted to West Africa. Rinderpest usually afflicts Indian cattle, wild Indian bison and smaller ruminants such …
EVEN AS the world prepared to celebrate Environment Day on June 5, environmentalists in Karnataka filed a complaint against the state pollution control board (SPCB) for failing to discharge their duties under the Water Act, 1974, and the Air Act, 1981. On May 11, Ram M Apte, an advocate and …
With commerce minister Pranah Mukherjee and commerce secretary A V Ganeshan both indicating the government was veering around to the pro-Dunkel point of view, its opponents have become worried. The Karnataka Rajya Ryot Sarigha (KRRS), the most prominent critic of the proposals, said it would try to persuade opposition members …
Ranging behaviour of the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) was studied using radio telemetry in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve had home ranges of over 500 sq km. These sizes are much larger than those defined by earlier studies. The study ranged across the three southern states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and …
A typical PALM exercise takes about five days and includes the following: Day 1: Introductory The focus is on understanding the history of the village, its layout and the infrastructure available. Some other exercises called "empathisers" and "equalisers" are also included. These are held in the village and include the …
WHEN VISITING a village in Tamil Nadu's Dharmapuri or Karnataka's Mysore districts, you may come across a group of about 25 adults busily laying out an intricate design on the ground, using powdered rice, coloured chalk, twigs and pebbles. The designs are not mere patterns in colour; they are diagrams …
In a chilling reminder of his prowess as an outlaw, sandalwood smuggler and poacher Veerappan and his gang exploded an electronic landmine, which destroyed a van carrying members of a task force set up specially to nab him. Twenty-two policemen died in the April 9 explosion at, which occurred less …
The hilly tract of Uttara Kannada district in the Western Ghats of India has been famous for its arecanut and spice orchards for several centuries. The cultivators have evolved complex horticultural practices to maintain productivity under conditions of high rainfall, hilly terrain and leached soils.
THE PRISTINE woods of the Biligirirangan Hills in Mysore district, a reserved forest, are marred by denudation that has left only a few eucalyptus and silver oak patches on the lower slopes. The destruction by contractors has wrought havoc on the Soliga tribals, who have lived in Biligirirangam for centuries. …
BANGALORE is witnessing dramatic protests these days against foreign businesses. Less than a fortnight after agitated farmers raided the offices of Cargill Seeds India Pvt Ltd (Down To Earth, January 31), there were demonstrations in the city against the state government's intention to approve construction of a model township near …
Why are you opposed to the township? The Japanese are coming to make money for themselves. We do not agree this will benefit Karnataka or India. Moreover, the government has been so secretive about the nature and features of the township. The chief minister has given contradictory information. What are …
Why do you want the township? It will bring in an investment of more than Rs 20,000 crore. Nobody in India can match this scale of investment in the present economic situation. What do feel about the fears expressed by environmentalists? The Japanese are extremely quality conscious. They will go …
THE RECENT attack on the Cargill Seeds India Pvt Ltd office in Bangalore, by members of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS), is evidence of the growing awareness among Indian farmers about "gene thefts" by multinational corporations (MNCs) of the genetic resources of the Third World. More such attacks can …
INDIA is probably the most industrialised developing country in the world today, with more than a million trained scientists. But this has only resulted in creating a deeply divided society. The last three decades have witnessed a proliferation of institutions set up to promote rural development through science and technology. …
A FEW YEARS ago, L Narasimharaju abandoned his M.Tech studies at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore and moved to a village. His mission? To help pass on to the people a technology to make cheap and effective cement for rural areas. Narasimharaju based himself at Ungra village …
SANDALWOOD smuggling is raising quite a stink in Karnataka, where poacher-smuggler Veerappan has reportedly recruited three retired army personnel and a former BSF jawan to train other gang members in planting mines and staging ambushes. The four, whose identities are still secret, are supposed to have been paid Rs 4.5 …
