Stop construction in green belt: HC
Jammu and Kashmir High Court has directed that work on two buildings in the green belt beside the famed Dal Lake should be immediately stopped. The division bench of the high court comprising Justice B C Patel and Justice Bashir Uddin taking strong note, ordered the work to be stopped …
Tamil Nadu tough on sale of sandalwood
Besides the controversy over sharing the Cauvery waters, the sale of sandalwood by Tamil Nadu to Karnataka is developing into a thorny issue. Karnataka is virtually dependent on its neighbour for sandalwood. The price of the best quality of sandalwood at the auctions now is about Rs 9 lakhs per …
Landfill site to be set up for dumping hazardous wastes
An Industries Waste Management Association has been formed by the Landfill Core Committee, constituted by the Tamil Nadu Pollution control Board, for setting up a secure landfill site to dump hazardous wastes in Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur.
Increase green cover by 30%, orders CM
Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday called upon forest officials to put in all efforts to increase the green cover in the State by 20-30 per cent by 2010. He was speaking at the inauguration of three day workshop on governing for results for the Marri Channa …
Babu launches 'Swot' to increase forest cover
'Pursuing strengths, overcoming weaknesses, using opportunities and issuing threats'(SWOT) is the new programme started by the Andhra Pradesh state government to increase the forest cover from the present 23 per cent to 33 per cent. Launching the programme, chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu told the officials to pursue their strengths …
Dalit panchayat chiefs oppose wasteland project
Dalit panchayat presidents in the Tamil Nadu state have opposed the comprehensive wasteland development programme announced by the State Government and sought distribution of land to landless farm labourers. The programme would affect rural areas adversely and lead to disempowerment of local self-governments, whose rights over common resources were being …
TN to introduce Bill on rain water harvesting
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa announced that the State government would soon introduce a Bill making it mandatory to install a rain water harvesting structure in all new buildings. Talking to reporters at the Secretariat, she said irrespective of whether the new buildings, government or private, was constructed for …
Bush defends forest plan as 'common sense' policy
President Bush set the stage for a showdown with Congress on curbing Western wildfires by moving to speed up timber-cutting projects in overgrown national forests. The president's most controversial proposal would bar citizen appeals and lawsuits challenging such logging. U.S. President George W. Bush is greeted by firefighter David Goodnough …
Calling for a green Ganpati
With the Ganpati festival hardly 15 days away, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has been unable to stop trees being cut to accomodate Ganpati pandals. Nearly 45 trees were 'pruned'along the route leading to Mumbai Central station from Sat Rasta, leaving one side sparsely green and one skeletal side.
Dispur eyes Central funds with forest protection plan
The Assam State Forest department will approach the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Planing Commission with a full-fledged forestry actin plan to avail adequate funds to face the challenge of forest protection and conservation in Assam. The expert committee on identification of forest areas, forced as per …
Trees on society plot were uprooted overnight : witness
Five individuals, including a news photographer, have endorsed before additional municipal commissioner S.J. Kunte that the plot on which the Pataliputra society in Andheri came up was earlier covered with trees. Mr Kunte was appointed inquiry officer by the Lokayukta V.P. Tipnis to ascertain whether the trees had been cut …
CM stops drive to evict tribals from forest land
Maharashtra Chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh halted the forest department's drive to evict encroachers and told the department's staff that they should instead emulate the Amravati model and distinguish between encroachers and adivasis who have been tilling the land.
Narmada waters might reach Rajkot today
The Narmada water released into the Maliya canal would reach Rajkot (Gujarat). The water has already reached Morbi According to water supply board officials the problems of water theft from the canal has been solved after persuading the villagers to co-operate with the autorities and they were assured of adequate …
Water shortage persists in many areas
Various parts of Orangi, Baldia, North Karachi and Surjani Towns (Pakistan) have been facing acute water shortage for the last one week, forcing the residents of these poor and low-income localities to consume sub-soil unhygienic water.
Now contempt pours into Cauvery muddle
The Cauvery water dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu took yet another ugly turn today, wit Tamil Nadu filing a contempt petition in the Supreme Court against Karnataka which names Chief Minister S M Krishna as one of its respondents for defaulting on water releases. The Centre also stepped into …
Sandalwood trees uprooted in Coimbatore forest College
The Tamil Nadu forest department has ordered uprooting of 79 sandalwood trees on what is commonly referred to as the Forest college campus, housing the State Forest Rangers college and the Institute of forest Genetics and Tree Breeding. The popular theory floating around is that the trees were being felled …
Brick-lining of courses saves Haryana 20 per cent water
The Haryana Command Area Development Authority has so far incurred a sum of Rs 277 crore on the construction and brick lining of 2700 water courses. Disclosing this, a CADA spokesman said that this had resulted in saving 20 per cent of precious water, increasing revenue by 91 per cent …
Greenery disappears along Feeder Canal
Greenery on both sides of the Feeder Canal, stretching from Farakka to Jangipur, may soon disappear, thanks to the smugglers ruling the roost in the area. The departments concerned admitted to reports of tree-felling along the 40-km stretch of the canal.
Wasteland scheme thro panchayats demanded
Women's rights activists on Monday urged the Tamil Nadu state government to amend its order allotting wasteland to private parties under the Wasteland Development Scheme to include land rights to marginal farmers.
