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 …
What happened in your village in 1980? The horticulture department got 10 ha in 1978 or 1979 -- I can't remember exactly when -- from Shyam Singh Bhandari, the village pradhan, to build a seed farm for potatoes and apples. This was a part of our forest of oak, rhododendron, …
DOES TISCO, also known as Tata Steel, hope to succeed where Germany's Third Reich failed -- to last 1,000 years? So it would seem, going by the statement of Bihar environment and forest minister Sonadhari Singh that the steel giant has taken over West Bokaro Coal Mines on a 999-year …
Widespread damage to pine forests near Dharmsala in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh has prompted the Chaneta village panchayat to pass a resolution urging the government to halt resin tapping immediately. The villagers, concerned that trees are running dry because of indiscriminate tapping by the State Forest Corp (SFC), warned …
THE TITLE of this book is somewhat misleading for what it does is to examine in depth the interaction of social disciplines with forestry in its entirety. Agro-forestry, as the term is used here, embraces all related disciplines, such as farm forestry, wasteland development, reclamation of degraded lands and management …
DOWN TO EARTH has been consistently arguing that people"s self-management and control are the best ways to deal with the critical problems facing India, namely, declining productivity and the steady destruction of natural resources such as forests, grasslands, ponds, tanks and wetlands -- problems that result in extreme poverty and …
Bitter cold and acute food shortages could take a toll of an estimated 30,000 Armenian lives if attempts to open relief corridors through Turkey and Georgia fail, warned President Levon Ter-Petrossian recently. Especially at risk in the nation of 3.5 million are thousands of refugees who fled the fighting in …
GIRISH Karnad's genius for turning mythology to contemporary use surfaces once again in his exquisite and disturbing film Cheluvi. Based on a fable about a young woman who could turn into a flowering tree at will with the help of a mantra, it has a not-so-subtle environmental message. Cheluvi was …
CAR MANUFACTURERS in the US will begin offering "zero emission" vehicles by 1998. Overriding monopolistic concerns, the big three -- General Motors, Ford and Chrysler -- will cooperate closely in the development, design, testing and even possible manufacturing of the components of these electronic cars. While electric cars are still …
AT THE November meeting of the International Tropical Timber Organisation'(ITTO), some industrialised countries proposed labelling imported timber according to region of origin and whether it came from a "sustainably logged" forest. Timber from "unsustainably logged" forests would be banned by the consumer countries. The proposal was not accepted because of …
SOMALI activist Rakiya Omaar, who helped establish Africa Watch and served as its executive director for four years, has been dismissed for opposing the United Nations military intervention in Somalia. Omaar said she believed the arrival of USA-led troops "without prior consultation with Somalia's underground and with the relief organisations" …
This book is about a people's movement to save their forests and trees. Chipko movement started in 1970s in the Chamoli district of Uttar Pradesh and saw active participation of women in the forefront.
Cubans are embarking on an oil-free future by giving up automobiles for energy-efficient bicycles. Since the withdrawal of Soviet oil supplies in 1990, the number of private autos on the streets of Havana has gone down by almost two-thirds and that of buses reduced to half. The bicycle is fast …
The Japanese passion for golf is on a new course. Since 1987, 20 districts covering 32,000 sq km were earmarked for resort development. The total area covered by the resorts will eventually touch 60,000 sq km -- 16 per cent of the country's land area. A private study asserts the …
THIS RESOURCE guide to environmental action by women's groups and communities in the Asian Pacific region offers an excellent introduction to the issues involved, addressing all readers and not just women. A result of elaborate networking and coordination between women from different countries in the region, the book focusses on …
Arms outstretched on the edge of the cliffs Stand a few trees Ready to fly away with the clouds. They say these deodars once Kissed the Koku nala And embraced the skies so tight That the stars were startled By the village glow-worms every night. Now when the corn touches …
THE TRADITIONALLY smoke-filled Paris bars face an identity crisis: Will the recent ban on indoor smoking clean up their air? The law requiring special sections to be set aside for smokers was enacted after official figures put the number of smoking-related deaths at 54,000 last year in France. However, restaurateurs …
SHOULD a weed that provides income to villagers be eradicated? This is the dilemma forest officials in Jhansi district of Uttar Pradesh face. The lantana bush spreads like a weed and threatens the growth of trees by competing for soil nutrients. But a poor villager can earn up to Rs …
THE FIRST all-India tiger census in 1972 was designed by then senior research officer Saroj Raj Choudhury and his trainees at the Forest Research Institute in Dehra Dun. The method used the hind pugs left by a tiger. No matter how the tiger walks, its hind pugs are usually clear. …
Despite widespread international criticism, Japan has decided to go ahead with shipment of 30 tonnes of reprocessed plutonium from France and Britain over the next two decades to enhance its nuclear energy production. Even before the first cargo of 1.7 tonnes could set out from Cherbourg in France for Yokohama, …
"WE WILL stop all traffic on the Dehra Dun highway if our demands are not met by December 5," roared a crowd of more than 1,000 Gujjars and ban (rope) workers on November 5 at Mohand, 20 km from Dehra Dun, outside the Rajaji National Park (RNP). When the migrant …
