Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of News Item titled "CAG faults city’s waste processing" appearing in the Shillong Times dated 16.09.2024 dated 24/03/2025. Reply affidavit dated March 21, 2025 has been filed by the Deputy Commissioner, East Khasi Hills district, Shillong. The affidavit stated that two …
The sacred does sell. A community in Mawphlang, Meghalaya is showing the way. It has put up a toll barrier on the road leading to the Ka Law Kyntang or sacred grove. You pay a minor but valuable sum to enter the grove. Close by in Makarwat, which falls in …
Is traditional medicine the answer to the healthcare needs of the state? In rural areas, traditional medicine is the major healthcare option. It is well respected, as western medicine system is non-existent in far-flung places. Even otherwise, traditional and modern practitioners participate equally in providing healthcare. Our medicines are highly …
local residents, politicians and activist groups are steadfastly resisting the Uranium Corporation of India Limited's (ucil) latest attempt to mine uranium from Meghalaya's Domiasiat village, which has the largest reserves of the radioactive metal in India. The public sector undertaking's officials met Meghalaya chief minister (cm) D D Lapang recently …
This report contains the proceedings of the fourth national workshop on environment statistics held on 22-23 April 2003 at Shillong. The workshop focused on harmonization of the framework for environmental accounting in India based on the system of integrated environment and economic accounting and identification of data requirement for environmental …
Flood Studies in India brings to fore several aspects of this natural disaster that are not yet conventional wisdom in policy circles. The book looks at floods from a variety of expertise areas, such as civil engineering, meteorology, hydrology, remote sensing, geomorphology and geography - the only way to do …
there is no money to conduct an elephant census in Meghalaya. Faced with frequent human-pachyderm conflicts, the state forest department had planned an elephant census last month as part of its elephant conservation programme. However, the project has failed to take off due to paucity of finance. Several conservation schemes …
Unquiet woods With the ban and without access to forest revenue, Northeast economy is in doldrums THERE is an unusual quietness in the forests of India's northeast, arguably the country's best timberlands and one of the world's biodiversity hotspots. Brought about by the Supreme Court's blanket ban on tree felling …
THE ban comes at a time when the region's economy is in an inertia and is desperate for an economic miracle. The post-ban realisation of the economic potential of forests and the apex court's instruction to measure the sustainability of forests comes as a reminder of the development model that …
Ban blessing Some people in the region regard the ban as a blessing in disguise. Though the situation was difficult initially, they have ventured into other sources of income. In Tirap district, many people once involved in timber trade have now switched to tea cultivation. Says Mithi: "We are promoting …
Reinforcing laws The court acted methodically. First, it asked states to define forests. Interestingly, a clear definition of forests is not given in the existing legal instruments - Forest Conservation Act (FCA), 1980, Forest Conservation (Amendment) Act, 1988, and the Indian Forest Act, 1927. Under Section 2 of the FCA …
many medicinal plants species in Meghalaya and other north-eastern states are on the verge of extinction because of uncontrolled and illegal trade. This was stated in a recent report of the Trade Records Analysis of flora and Fauna in Commerce , India. The report also recommended that Coptis teeta and …
In a novel scheme to keep Delhi roads free of litter, the municipal corporation has decided to levy a penalty of Rs 50 on those found spitting, dumping vegetable, groundnut skins and cigarette buds in public places. Over four tonnes of fish died in the Railadevi Lake in Thane, Mumbai, …
tucked away in the northeastern part of India, the eastern Himalayan state of Meghalaya is witnessing an environmental regeneration of sorts. Environmental consciousness is also gaining popularity among the tribals in this state. According to Khasi folklore, the forests of Meghalaya are sacred because the spirit of U Ryngkew lives …
Indigenous is the byword in the water harvesting techniques followed in India's northeast. In Meghalaya, an intricate network of bamboo pipes is used to irrigate betel leaf or black pepper crops in rocky areas where no channels can be built, a practice which has been raised to a sublime level. …
about 26 per cent of Vietnam was covered by natural forests in 1991, compared to 67 per cent in 1943. In the past 25 years, the total area of natural forests (both upland and coastal) has declined at an average rate of 350,000 ha per year. This has led to …
DUNGLENA AIZAWAL Almost every house in Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram, has developed its independent water supply system to counter the acute scarcity of water. Water is harvested as it falls literally from the rooftop. Rainfall is rarely small in quantity in the hilltop town of Aizawl. But over the …
THE hunt for a commercially valuable wild plant in the Khasi and Jaintia hills of Meghalaya may virtually lead to their extinction. The fern-like creeper which is locally known as Tmain Ala (Lycopodium clavatum), is found in abundance in these hills. The plant is used in fireworks, dusting powder, flashlight …
TO THE Khasis of Meghalaya, Cherrapunjee, the place receiving the highest rainfall in the world, was known as Sohra. Briti~h administra- tors, who declared it their official state headquarter in 1835, consistently mispro- nounced it as "Churra" to finally call it Cherra. Its close geographical proximity to the plains of …
