Affidavit by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in the matter of Sisir Kumar Panda Vs Union of India & Others dated 20/05/2025. The issue pertained to the removal of illegal construction/obstruction caused by the state authorities as well as the private persons in the ecological sensitive zone …
to enable them to do justice to their assignment, the primary judiciary in Orissa is being sensitised to various aspects of environmental laws. A recently held two-day education programme for the state's lower court judges was a step in this direction. And annual refresher courses may also be introduced soon. …
rampant unregulated fishing has caused the death of many endangered sea turtles in recent days. More than a thousand Olive Ridley turtles were killed while approaching the coast of Orissa to lay eggs in the sand. These turtles were either suffocated after getting trapped in fishing nets or were slashed …
• For effective development and utilisation of its natural resources, the Orissa government intends to draft a mineral policy soon. Along with this, the state also wants to formulate a gems policy to tap its vast gem reserves. • Around 4,000 villagers of Gondriala in Kodad mandal of Nalgonda district …
THE residents of 122 villages straddling Chilika lake in Orissa have been fishing in troubled waters for the past two decades. Ironically, the draft Bill - cleared by the state cabinet in December 2001 - to provide succour to them has sent their hackles rising. The legislation, when enacted, will …
WHAT IS FORBIDDEN: Prawn culture within 1000 metres of Chilika. Non-traditional methods of fishing, including pen construction, selective stocking, external supplemental feeding with artificial feed and application of drugs and chemicals. Sub-lease for fishing in Chilika in identified ecosensitive belts, including areas that may be conserved for breeding and migration …
The Madhya Pradesh government has made a landmark decision to allow villagers around the Tawa reservoir to retain their fishing rights. Not only will this enable locals to carry on fishing activity at the reservoir, it will also allow them to continue marketing their catch as well. Impressed by the …
in warangal, Andhra Pradesh, there is only one black Ambassador car in the official circle and it belongs to the conservator of forests. Painting the car black some 15 years ago was a conscious decision to evade attacks. The black Ambassador drives home the fear psychosis that has gripped the …
Left helpless, the affected states have started demanding amendments to the fca. About a year ago, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh wrote to the prime minster requesting changes in the act. When the coordination committee of the Union home ministry met in April 2000, one of the main issues …
Room number eight is located in a nondescript corner of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (aiims), New Delhi. Gauri Prasad regularly visits this room, which stores medical histories of cancer patients. A resident of Panipat, Haryana, Prasad has been afflicted with lymphoma for the past five years. Now …
We are not supposed to keep on publishing the report,' says N K Ganguly, director-general, icmr. "We are supposed to carry out research and cannot spend money on a particular project,' he justifies. It is as if icmr's cancer data is protected under the Officials Secrets Act. Repeated requests to …
The registries would have helped formulate a control programme . But in absence of the data, the nccp has been forced to source information from other places. "We use World Health Organisation's projections,' says Sudhir Gupta, chief medical officer, directorate general of health services at the mohfw. Ironically, the ncrp …
As prime minister A B Vajpayee was reminding the nation about threats from across the border in his Independence Day speech from Delhi's Red Fort this year, a group of extreme Leftist outfits, popularly known as Naxalites, were redrawing the internal map of the country. At a secret meeting held …
On july 11, 2001, fisherfolk across the country were thrown in at the deep end when the Union ministry of environment and forests (mef) announced a blanket ban on the catching, processing, stocking and sale of 60 types of sea creatures. These included the entire sub-class of elasmobranches (sharks, rays …
the familiar sound of conch shells (shankh) resonating during auspicious occasions may soon be a thing of the past, courtesy a recent Union government decision. The July 11, 2001, gazette notification by the Ministry of environment and forests has de facto banned the harvest, processing, stocking and sale of Xancus …
it is a paradox of sorts. Even as the Orissa farmers reel under recurring spells of droughts and floods, the state government has decided to raise the water tax for irrigation. The raised tax, to be imposed from the next kharif season, is substantial. The farmers will now have to …
Why has a ban been imposed on shark hunting in particular? Sharks have a vital role in the marine ecosystem since they are the apex predator at the top of the marine food chain. But today they are almost extinct, being a major target of the fish hunters. Their slow …
at first glance, the photographs on display fail to stir one's imagination. The vast mangrove forests along the Orissa coastline are just as picturesque as any other, with little pretension of offering a novel experience. In other words, the work focussing on the natural and supernatural, appears to be nothing …
Deforestation in the Hirakud dam's catch-ments has led to heavy siltation. The dam stores less water than its estimated capa-city. The state government's study of Hirakud's sedimentation shows that every year 12,000 acre feet silt is deposited. Out of the 53 km upstream spread of the reser-voir, 50 km has …
This year Orissa suffered one of its worst droughts as well. The drought gripped more than two-thirds of the state's districts. After the great famine of 1866, it was for the first time that drought of such a magnitude hit Orissa. It affected the lives of 11 mil-lion people. After …
