Hydropower project okayed
The NWFP government(Pakistan) has finally decided to construct Malakand-III Hydropower project near Dargai in Malakand Agency, some 110 kilometres north-east of Peshawar. The tenders for the civil works are expected to be floated in the next couple of days. Presiding over a high-level meeting, NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah …
Encroachment of forests costs state Rs 2028 lakh : PAC
The West Bengal government has sustained an estimated revenue loss of Rs 2028 lakh owing to encroachment of a sizeable portion of forest land. This came into light via the latest report filed by the Public Accounts Committee.
Agencies will tend to Mumbai forest, says ministry
The ministry of environment and forests has proposed to set up forest development agencies in all the 775 forest across the country in a phased manner, said minister of environment and forests, T R Baalu. The ministry has also launched the Greening India programme as a part of their tenth …
Major timber smuggling racket in Hojai busted
Despite the Supreme Court's ban on illegal felling of trees and strict surveillances by forest personnel, how Hojai in Assam has been made a paradise of illegal valuable forest wealth by the smugglers from the rich reserve forest under Hojai sub division, came to light as the Forest Department and …
Strict action to curb illegal felling
A scheme is on the cards for providing alternate source of livelihood to those carrying head loads of fuel wood for a living. Informing this in reply to a question the minister for Forest department said that according to a survey about 80,000 people are carrying headloads of fuel wood. …
Encroached reserve forest land cleared
In the second phase of the eviction drive launched against the encroachers of reserve forest lands, the forest department of Biswanath Chariali, Assam, demolished 221 houses in Bhimajuli area under Biswanath reserve forest recently last and cleared 256 hectares of encroached lands, informed Jorges Ahmed, DFO, Sonitpur East Forest division.
Govt. has banned tree felling in 16 districts
Madhya Pradesh State Government has banned tree felling in 16 districts of the State. This was informed by forest minister Harvansh Singh in 'Hello DD' programme telecast by Bhopal Doordarshan. In order to ensure proper preservation of trees in urban areas, for the first time, enforced under which even the …
HC orders eviction from Jan 1, 1977
A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court today directed the Government to take steps to evict all encroachers of forest lands in the State, who made encroachments after January 1, 1977, and not to regularize any encroachments made after that date. The direction was issued by a Bench comprising …
HC directive on cardamom estates in Mathiketan
A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court today directed the Director of Forest Development Corporation whether the corporation had the requisite men and machinery to take care of the cardamom estates in Mathiketan shola. The court also directed the Central Government standing Counsel to ascertain whether the Spices Board …
Minister unhappy over slow plantation drive
The Pakistan environment minister, Barrister Shahida Jamil, has expressed her dissatisfaction with the slow progress of the spring tree plantation campaign. She was presiding over an inter-provincial ministerial meeting for Monsoon Tree Plantation Campaign 2002, held in the ministry.
$108.2 m World Bank loan for Andhra forest project
The World Bank has approved a $108.2 million credit support a project that will help poor people living in and around the forests of Andhra Pradesh. "The project will help communities improve their livelihoods through direct management of the forests and strengthen the legal framework governing community rights to timber …
Chinese bamboo encroaching on Japan's forests
Mount Udo, straddling the cities of Shimizu and Shizuoka in central Shizuoka Prefecture, is known for its beautiful views of Mount Fuji. But it is also being "polluted" by bamboo thickets. According to an analysis of data provided by the geo-observation satellite Landsat, bamboo breeding areas in the prefecture increased …
Forests need more security
There may be success stories of villagers fining those axing trees in a protected area. But not all is well with the Union environment ministry''s India Eco-development Project which is focused around tiger reserves and national parks in seven states. A comprehensive project level review by the Union environment secretary …
More funds to augment water supply
The Centre has released the first installment of Rs 50 crores to improve basic amenities, especially the availability of drinking water in those areas of Haryana which fall within the National Capital Region.
'Govt. evicting tribals from tribal belt areas'
When the Assam state Forest Department is making all out efforts to evict the encroachers from all the reserve forests of Assam, it has been alleged that the Forest Department instead, is conducting eviction drive at the Balipara tribal belt and thereby causing problems for the inhabitants.
25 pc forest cover in 10th Plan : Baalu
Forest development agencies are being constituted in 775 forest divisions of the country. The project has been taken up in a phased manner. This is a part of the Centre's plan to bring 25 per cent of the total area of the country under forest cover during the 10th five …
Lifting of ban on timber trade urged
Owners of forests in Hazara demanded lifting of ban on the cutting and sale of timber and legal cover to the business, especially of windfall wood. Anjuman-i-Tuhafuz Haqooq Malikan Hazara Division President Jehanzeb Khan advocate said at a press conference at the press club that the business was being carried …
The road to a wasteland
Recent satellite imaging carried out by the Assam Remote Sensing Application Centre (ARSAC) projects that most alarming saga of a rapidly vanishing forest cover in Assam largely due to large scale encroachment and the illegal conversion of reserve forest land into agricultural land. The satellite pictures of our forest cover …
Haji Ali trees are being damaged
More than 130 full-grown trees along the road are Haji Ali have either been mutilated or hacked over the last few days, say local residents, who believe that this is being done at the behest of hoarding contractors.
Centre warns HP on forest fellings
Taking a serious notice of the "dilution" of the afforestation programme, the Union Ministry for Environment and Forests has warned the Himachal Government that it will be constrained to stop all forest fellings in the hill state unless it came out with a comprehensive plan for the regeneration of affected …
