Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of In Re: News Item titled "Futala Lake’s charm fades amid neglect and poor maintenance appearing in ‘The Times of India’ dated 25.05.2025". The original application was registered suo-motu based on the news item titled "Futala Lake’s charm fades amid neglect …
Future Energy The Maharashtra Energy Development Agency's (meda) publication meda News has now evolved into a full-fledged quarterly magazine christened Future Energy . The periodical aims to "provide a platform for articulation of developmental issues relating to renewable energy, with special emphasis on power generation from renewables.' Full of informative …
The provisional figures for India’s forest cover are now ready, and Down To Earth has managed to acquire a copy. (see table: Change in forest cover) The figures, when compared to earlier ones, show an overall increase of 236, 800 ha of forest. Is that really so? Every two years, …
The Krishna river waters have changed course. They are suddenly flowing in the reverse direction, from the lower riparian state of Karnataka to Maharashtra which is an upper riparian state. But the water is bypassing Andhra Pradesh even though it falls in the way. The reverse flow is Congress-ruled Karnataka's …
In 1985, the Union ministry of non-conventional energy sources (mnes) introduced improved chulhas (fuelwood-based cooking stoves) to primarily conserve forests, reduce pressure on rural women who collect fuelwood and to protect their health against indoor air pollution. Called the National Programme on Improved Chulhas (npic), it formed a part of …
on december 25, 2002, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee unveiled an ambitious scheme to provide drinking water to all villages in the country by April 2004. The project, called
River waters are contested ground, full of complexities and all the confusion that contending parties bring to them. And there is very little that brings any clarity to the debate. There are almost no grassroots initiatives that articulate a larger alternative agenda for water sharing, rights and use. It is …
true, everybody loves a good drought. But the latest mantra is the interlinking of the country's rivers. Everybody loves it too. So much so, that it seems to be a favoured jingle with most political parties. It is an old virus. The first sign of its new mutation showed up …
An evaluation of the Government of India's NPIC (National Programme of Improved Cookstoves) was undertaken in six states to learn lessons and assess impediments to future stoves programmes. The programmes were assessed on the basis of stove design, consumer satisfaction, capacity for quality control, and the role of subsidies in …
if states like Madhya Pradesh and Kerala showed the way, Maharashtra appears to have taken it a step further. And that's good news for the people. By bringing out an ordinance to amend the Gram Panchayat Act, thus ensuring empowerment to the gram sabha (village assembly) and right to information, …
too little, too late. Four words that pithily describe steps taken by the authorities to plug hazardous waste oil imports in a case involving several Indian companies. For, it is after two years that the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (mpcb) has filed a petition against 11 firms which shipped hazardous …
ANDHRA Pradesh, the state where more than 500 farmers committed suicide after a failed crop in 1998, is now set to officially explore the commercial viability of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton. Earlier this year, in March, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) cleared the commercial use of Bt cotton. Mahyco-Monsanto …
The passing of away of Vilasrao Salunkhe is not a loss for the state of Maharashtra alone. It is a loss shared by all of India. I am reminded of a lighthouse that guides ships to safety in stormy waters. Vilasrao was that constant lighthouse, giving hope and direction to …
it took the forest department (fd) of Maharashtra just three days to raze to the ground the village of Totladoh, which had been tenaciously surviving for years in Pench National Park. The fd moved in for the kill after the Nagpur bench of the Maharashtra High Court gave its verdict …