Sandalwood consignment seized
The seizure of as many as four trucks of two varieties of sandalwood in Guwahati on transit from Tamil Nadu to Myanmar, has created a great deal of concern in circles concerned here over fears that the international smugglers are using the North-east as a safe corridor for smuggling the …
Trees felled illegally in NFL colony
With the sacking of the Punjab Forest Minister, another case of reckless felling of trees has come to the fore in Nangal. The NFL had recently allowed the felling of 297 trees from its colony.
Chamera oustees queue up for relief
Following the Himachal government directive to the district authorities to release the compensation to the oustees of the Chamera project, the members of ousted families are making a beeline to the office of Relief and Rehabilitation Department in Chamba.
Ban on borings
Bad news for those willing to construct a house on plots purchased from the private property developers. The Uttar Pradesh State government is planning to put a complete ban on new borings and installation of submersible pumps. Besides, a drive against those atatchig tullu or the booster pumps directly in …
Kerala to clarify policy on sandal units
The Forest Minister, K Sudhakaran, denied allegations of corruption in the auction of bamboo, raised by the Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan, in the Assembly. Mr Sudhakaran said the Government would soon clarify its policy towards sandal oil factories.
Plant saplings before felling trees: HC tells government
Pulling up the State government for failing to check indiscriminate felling of trees, the Karnataka High Court has ordered that the authorities concerned should plant a sapling before felling a tree and take care of it for at least two years. A division bench comprising Justices M F Saldanha and …
KMC tree planting hits hawker hurdle
The KMC's monsoon tree planting programme, kicked off with much fanfare on World Environment Day on 5 June, has hit a hurdle. The problem foxing civic authorities is that for the first time theyhave been unable to identify a single open space for planting saplings in four wards in the …
Trees married to escape slaughter
Unable to bear the slaughter of trees, Krishnakanta Biswas arranged a ritual to get a pair of saplings married off to spread his message of keeping villages green in West Bengal.
Six year stall on smokestreet
Contrary to the position taken by the West Bengal state transport minister Subhas Chakraborty that it is impossible to implement Bharat Stage-II norms for auto emission rules in "just 10 months" the government knew for the past six years which way the foul fumes were blowing, officials admitted.
Capt removes Lal
Punjab CM Amarinder Singh removed Minister for Forests Harbans Lal Singh from the Cabinet for his alleged involvement in the multi-crore tree felling scandal in Ropar district, a spokesman saId. A letter in this regard has been sent to Governor O P Verma.
Higher humidity helps weaken Arizona wildfire
A change in weather calmed a wildfire burning about a half-mile from an exclusive desert neighborhood today, greatly reducing the danger to dozens of homes, officials said. Relatively high humidity of 30 percent to 50 percent extinguished flames in some areas above the homes in Ventana Canyon and cooled the …
Coimbatore bamboo economy looks up
The Coimbatore District Industries Centre is mulling over the possibility of covering the bamboo product makers in the Chennai city and surrounding areas under the National Programme of Rural Industralisation.
Conservation of forests need of the hour: Singh
The need of the hour is to conserve forests as "we are at the crossroads of ecological history", said Lt Gen (Retd) Ajai Singh, Governor of Assam at a function on the eve of Van Mahotsav at Raj Bhawan. Sri Singh said the need for conserving the forests and extending …
Subhas steers smoke engine
Pushed to the wall by the April 2004 deadline set by Calcutta High Court in implementing Bharat Stage-II auto emission levels, state transport minister Subhas Chakraborty advocated the transport lobbies arguments in pushing back the changeover as far as possible.
`Increased` forest cover is due to technicalities
At first glance, the news about Maharashtra's forest cover is cheering. The Forest Survey of India's latest report shows that forest cover in the state increased in almost a thousand and 2001 - from 46,672 square kilometres to 47,482. Maharashtra has lost a lot of natural forests over the past …
WSO opposes water privatisation
The Wildlife Society of Orissa today opposed privatisation of water resources as proposed in the new draft water policy of the state government. Private control over water resources woudl not only spell disaster for the aquatic eco-system, but also jeopardise the livelihood of fishermen and faemers said WSO secretary Mr. …
Tribals demand regularisation of forest land at the earliest
Raising a united voice against the "autocratic" attitude of the forest department, over 5,000 cultivators of forest land of the eastern tribal belt gathered at a 'sammelan' at Lalbag Tekri in Godhra in Gujarat and took an oath en masse not to give give up their right over their land. …
M.P., Gujarat get funds for development
The Union Ministry of Rural development has released funds for development of wasteland in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra under the Integrated Wastelands Development Project.A sum of Rs 1.02 crores has been released for Ratlam district in Madhya Pradesh, Rs 48 lakhs for Junagarh in Gujarat and Rs 39.23 lakhs …
Where have all the greens gone?
If Ahmedabad is rated high on the pollution charts, the fault doesn't entirely lie with the increasing vehicular traffic but also on the fast depletion of the city's green cover. In fact, one finds that the state of green cover (unfortunately it is anything but a 'cover') in the city …
