Price war over eucalyptus wood in Uttaranchal
Eucalyptus wood, widely used in pulp and paper industry, is rotting in Uttaranchal government stores because farmers are selling their produce directly to mills in the state and in western Uttar Pradesh. However, paper mills have refused to buy wood from the government, stating they are getting it cheaper from …
Sonitpur DFO gears up to stop illegal tree-felling
The Divisional Forest Officer, Sonitpur West Division, Assam, has taken all measures to stop the illegal felling of trees, unauthorized movement timber in and around the division. It has undertaken a series of raids which resulted arrest of 18 persons in illicit trade practise of timber.
If dam height is increased, oustees will be ruined : Medha
Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar alleged that Maharashtra chief minister Sushilkumar Shinde had reversed his predecessor Vilasrao Deshmukh's policy on the resettlement of those affected by the Sardar sarovar project. Mr Deshmukh
Illegal timber, firewood, trade rampant in Lumding
Illegal timber/firewood are carried by passenger trains in Lumding-Hojai section of Assam. From October 2002, more than 1,000 bundles of such smuggled firewood/timber have been confiscated and five persons were arrested by the joint team of Railways and Forest officials led by the railway commercial officers of Lumding division, stated …
Rs 21.5 lakh for watershed projects
An amount of Rs 21.50 lakh has been earmarked for development of nine watershed projects in Sivasagar district of Assam under the purview of the National Watershed Project recently. The nine projects in the district will come under Sivasagar District Field Management Samiti.
State to relinquish minor forest produce, allot land
In a major reversalof policy, the Madhya Pradesh state government has decided to de-nationalise all minor forest produce, barring tendu patta, sal seeds and kullu gond. The state government would no longer have a monopoly or control over all other forest produce.
Water conservation week draws success
Roof water harvesting system were installed in 327 government buildings owned by civic bodies during the water conservation week organised from March 22 in Madhya Pradesh. Work is in progress to install the system in another 1800 buildings.
1.17 lakh hectare land encroached
The Karnataka state minister for forest, environment and biology minister informed Puttur MLA D V Sadananda Gouda that 1,38,382 farmers in the state had encroached on 1,17,556.098 hectares of forest land. Of them 78,110 are the small farmers, the minister said, adding that steps were being taken to evict the …
Tribals, forest officials join hands to save sanctuary
An interesting role reversal is underway at the world-famous Periyar Tiger Reserve in Kerala. Tribals, who once lived off smuggling forest produce, are now actively participating in patrolling the park. And, forest authorities, who spent most of their time chasing the tribals away from the reserve, are now wooing them …
Timber rights of 5 villagers suspended
Timber Distribution rights of five villagers of the Nagar Forest Range, have been suspended by the divisional forest officer. The rights had been given to the people under the provisions of the Forest Settlement of 1894, under which all right holders could make use of standing trees of Deodar, Fir/Spruce …
Maharashtra strike
Around 4.5 lakh trucks, tempos, tankers and private buses went off the roads in Maharashtra for an indefinite period to protest against an order of Mumbai high court on phasing out of vehicles more than 15 years old.
Rs 30.64 cr Kurhed power project cleared
The Himachal Government has cleared the 4.50 MW hydroelectric project on the Kurhed Nallah, a tributary of the Ravi river in Chamba district. According to official information, the project would cost Rs 30.64 crore. The powerhouse of the project is located on the left bank of Kurhed Nallah.
Japanese loan for Punjab project
The Japan Bank for International Cooperation has extended a loan of Rs 202 crore for a Punjab afforestation project. The project to be taken up by the State Department of Forests and Wildlife Preservation would support to rehabilitate degraded forest areas to bridge the gap between the demand and supply …
`States` consensus vital for interlinking of rivers`
Kerala has told the National Water Development Agency, which assists the Task Force On Interlinking of Rivers, that the river networking proposals should be approved and implemented only with the full consent and cooperation of the States involved and in as just and equitable a manner as possible. Explaining the …
Hundreds of acres of forest set afire near Byndoor
It has been reported that hundreds of acres of land in the Ambikan forest area in Byndoor assembly constituency limits, (Karnataka), has been set afire by some vested interests with an ulterior motive to get the encroached forest land regularised under Akrama Sakrama scheme, by destroying the demarcation of forest …
Study begins on Narmada oustees
A fact finding mission into the rehabilitation of people displaced by the Sardar Sarovar and Man dam projects was launched in in Delhi. The mission was sent to the Narmada Valley by Habitat International's Coalition's (HIC) Housing and Land Rights Network (LHRN). Several shortcomings were found in the rehabilitation programs …
Forest cover in Nagaland shows remarkable increase courtesy NEPED
After the introduction of "Nagaland Environment Protection and Economic Development through People's Action (NEPED)' in 1995, the forest coverage in Nagaland has increased remarkably. NEPED is an agroforestry project funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) through the Indo-Canada Environment Facility (ICEF). It can be mentioned here that the …
Irrigation Dept creates additional irrigation potential
Additional irrigation potential of 6,850 hectares were created under the major and medium irrigation sector and 2,498 hectares under the Minor Irrigation sector in Assam. The total irrigation potential created thus totalled 9,348 hectares as against 28,916 hectares of additional irrigation potential created by the Agriculture Department during the same …
DDA plans more green patches for the Capital
Delhiites may soon see the city go greener. DDA has plans to develop several new parks in the city. Plans are also afoot to create a bio-diversity park spread over 200 acres near Wazirabad. It will have as many as 35 ecosystems which can support a variety of life-forms. The …
