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 …
1920s: The British introduced railway lines in Orissa. Commercial exploitation of forests began in a big way. 1930s: In Dhenkanal, people revolted against the king for rights over the forests they traditionally protected. Lapanga village in Sambalpur became the first recorded village to protect forests.The king of Mayurbhanj initiated JFM …
orissa's green cover has shrunk by 1,420 square kilometre (sq km) in the last nine years, bringing down the total forest area from 59,555 sq km in 1990 to 58,135 sq km in 1999, forest department sources said. The biannual report published by the Forest Research Institute at Dehradun in …
four villages in the Khurda tehsil in Orissa , are facing a severe drinking water crisis. The water, according to reports, contains toxins. The residents of Singpur, Balasing, Balasinghpatna and Pallibalasingh are struggling against the onslaught of a number of diseases but the state government is yet to take corrective …
January 5, 1998. A number police personnel and district officials in several vehicles descend on Kucheipadar, a remote tribal village in Rayagada district, Orissa. They dismantle a roadblock put up by the villagers. As several people including children and women gather, they are teargassed and lathicharged. People sustain injuries on …
What is the problem in Chilika? The local fisherfolk in Chilika for many years have used traditional methods to catch fishes to earn their livelihood. The problem started when the prawn culture began in the early 1990s. Big money lured the mafia, who comprise of non-fisherfolk, and influential people such …
the Orissa government has finally decided that there will be no renewal of leases for prawn fishing in the Chilka lake area. The government has also approved of a comprehensive fishery policy for the lake. Jagannath Patnaik, revenue minister of Orissa has said that a bill giving shape to the …
"i am proud to die for the rights of the fisherfolk.' These were the last words Bacchanidhi Behera uttered before he succumbed to a police bullet in the firing in Orissa's Sarano village in Khurda district on the night of May 29-30. Chilka Lake is Asia's largest brackishwater water body …
Olive Ridley sea turtles that arrived at the Gahirmatha beach in Orissa after a gap of two years continue to be in the news. Even before the excitement over the mass nesting has faded, the hatchlings have started to emerge ( Down To Earth , Vol 7, No 21). The …
with the successful testing of Agni ii on April 11, India has developed a combat-ready missile designed to deliver nuclear warheads anywhere in Pakistan and deep inside China. However, some environmentalist say that the testing was in violation of the defence ministry's commitment to the Orissa High Court. Two days …
The enthusiasm among wildlife lovers and conservationists about the 270,000-odd Olive Ridley turtles that arrived at the Gahirmatha beach in Orissa may be short lived ( Down To Earth , Vol 7, No 21). According to the state wildlife department officials, over 25 per cent of the turtles' eggs have …
The defence ministry violated its own commitment to the Orissa High Court when it test-fired Agni-II intermediate range ballistic missile from the Wheeler Islands. Only two days before the tests, officials at the interim test range at Chandipur in Orissa had filed an affidavit in the court on behalf of …
a recent study conducted by environmentalist Banke Behari Das and his team has warned that people living in Orissa's Sukinda valley will be exposed to high levels of toxic pollution. The region has the largest concentration of chrome ore deposits in Asia. Das said stomach ailments, respiratory and heart diseases …
The Supreme Court has called for more powers to be given to the National Environment Appellate Authority to enable it to handle environment cases expeditiously. Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu has directed forest and police officials to arrest all those involved in the slaughter of protected birds in …
India's ambitious missile programme seems to have turned turtle. Highly placed officials of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in Baliapal, Orissa, say they have postponed their testing of an improved version of the Agni missile for the second time. The move, they say, aims to help mass nesting of …
one morning, without any prior intimation, the local authorities told Jairam Majhi to abandon her family home and "go elsewhere'. They told Majhi, who lives in Kucheipadar village in southwest Orissa, that it was in the "interest of the nation'. And Majhi was not alone. "National interest', the officials told …
The nesting season of the Olive Ridley turtles at the Gahirmatha beach in Orissa begins in January and lasts till March. However, this year they have still not yet begun nesting. The beach is the largest nesting ground in the world ( Down To Earth , Vol 7, No 2). …
Chilka lake in Orissa has become a poacher's delight. The railway station in the sleepy town of Bhusandpur, the gateway to the lake, has become a thriving market for birds caught in and around the lake. Rafi, one of the traders who has been in business for several years, says, …
According to a recent survey, about 200 dead Olive Riddley turtles are washed away every day on Orissa's coasts ( Down To Earth, Vol 7, No 13). The survey was conducted by the Wildlife Society of Orissa (WSO). Between the coast of Paradip and Devi river mouth, nearly 6,000 dead …
