Judgment of the Supreme Court in the matter of In Re: Zudpi Jungle Lands. A batch of applications involved a peculiar issue concerning the situation prevailing in the six districts of eastern Vidarbha region namely Nagpur, Wardha, Bhandara, Gondia, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli. The issue pertains to the status of the …
COUNTRIES on the Pacific rim have asked Japan to use an ocean route well away from land when it begins importing plutonium by sea from France later this year. These include Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Micronesia. Japan intends to import 30 metric tonnes …
TIMBER worth crores of rupees is being stolen from the UP forests. Trees are cut either without permission or with the connivance of those in authority. Timber worth Rs 30 lakh was seized in a single seizure recently, reflecting the magnitude of the problem, which is complicated further by terrorist …
IF THERE was one thing that African leaders wanted out of Rio, it was a convention on desertification. And finally they got it. The 47th general assembly has now been asked to set up an intergovernmental negotiating committee for the convention. The jubilant Africans, however, had numerous tense moments with …
WEN LIAN TING, Malayasia's permanent representative to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), won the epithet of "dragon lady" during the Rio summit for her unwavering opposition to the forest convention. The tough UNCED prepcom meetings, spread over a period of two years, required enormous mental and physical stamina, which …
The minister of state for environment, Kamal Nath, had some radical words to say in Rio. "I don't understand why people here are talking about forests being national or global resources. In my country, they are more community resources," he told an interviewer. Surely, that statement will gladden the hearts …
STARVED of fresh water and no longer able to withstand the encroaching Arabian Sea, the Indus is dying a slow death. The channels of this mighty and historic river are running dry, while salt water is destroying the lush tamarisk forests which once lined the river, the estuarine timmar, or …
China, this fortnight, detonated its biggest nuclear test ever. The explosion, about 70 times as powerful as the one at Hiroshima, is seen as a sign of China's nuclear prowess. And also as a slight to the US which has been putting India under the cloud for its missile programme. …
NEPAL'S Terai region seems hell-bent on courting environmental disaster. In the last 30-odd years wetlands and swamps have been reclaimed and massive rivers have been tied down by dams. The flood plain area has grown, while the sal and mixed forests have disappeared. By 1959, in the Chitwan valley alone, …
WHAT IS common between Rajasthan's deserts and quality paper? The National Chemical Laboratory has isolated an enzyme from a micro-organism found in the Haldighat region of the state. This chemical breaks down a component of paper pulp, hemicullulose, which lowers the quality of paper. But the enzyme leaves the cellulose, …
WHILE foresters and policy-makers cry themselves hoarse calling for bans and pointing accusing fingers at goats, the animals themselves go on unperturbed, secure in the fact that for the poorer sections, they are often the only means of survival. The primary accusation against goats is that of desertification, though all …
THE first deal to trade pollution permits has been signed in USA. This fortnight, two American power plants have agreed to buy from the other the right to emit sulphur dioxide. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) will buy the right to emit 10,000 tonnes of sulphur dioxide, the main cause …
THE spotted owl is creating a flap in USA. A bitter fight over its habitat has driven everyone from President George Bush to the common environmentalist and loggers barmy. This fortnight, the spotted owl lost over 680 ha of its forest habitat in the Oregon region of western USA as …
ARUNACHAL Pradesh is one of the greenest states in India. Yet today, despite having only seven persons to a square kilometre and about 8.4 million ha of rich vegetation, the state is gravely threatened by deforestation. Forest officials claim an almost 14 per cent increase in forest cover between 1980 …
Energy problems have reached alarming proportions in the Tawang and Bomdilla areas. Since the last five years, Choizm, of Khamba hamlet of Lohu basti in Tawang, has been hiring help at the rate of Rs 40 per day and paying Rs 1,000 for a truckload of firewood. She has also …
Arunachal Pradesh's tribals believe they have an absolute right over the state's land and forests. The state takes a different view of the matter. The entire area lying between the McMohan Line and the Inner Line is technically owned by the state. In actual practice, government land constitutes only 26.16 …
NEITHER the Honduran government nor Stone Container have had theii way. For it was the people's will that ultimately prevailed. The Honduran government has had to reject a contract that would have given Stone Container, a Chicago-based producer of paper bags and packages, the right to harvest between 0.4 million …
NEARLY eight weeks after the March 14 fire that damaged a portion of the Nagarhole National Park and Reserve Forest -Asia's largest deciduous forest - the debate is on as to what happened on that day and the week thereafter and how much damage was actually done. On that day …
Over 2,500 hectares (ha) of forests in Kerala have been destroyed by fires this summer. Fires are reported to have destroyed extensive acreage in several of the 14 sanctuaries and national parks in the state, including 250 ha in the Erakivulam National Park, 500 ha in the Thakkady Wildlife Sanctuary …
IS one born a woman or does one become one? Were women all through history burdened by inequitous norms and rules even during the period when surplus accumulation did not form the basis of social order? Are women innately non-violent and nurturing beings, particularly in interacting with nature? The two …
A proper inventory of atmospheric emissions from natural sources is basic to our understanding of the atmospheric cycle of the trace metals (and metalloids), and is also needed for assessing the extent of regional and global pollution by toxic metals1. It is generally presumed that the principal natural sources of …
