Temple trust fined for illegal felling of trees
The Samparpan Sewa Trust of Vasaniya Mahadev temple situated at Vasan village in Gandhinagar district, of which former chief minister Shankarsinha Vaghela is one of the trustees, has been imposed a fine of Rs 4,000 for illegal felling of more than 400 trees in the land encroached by the trust.
Plan needed to prevent forest fires in Garhwal
A viable disaster management plan must be urgently prepared to save the fragile Himalayan ecosystem from recurring forest fires. According to reports available , the devastation caused by forest firesthis year in the Garhwal Himalayas was extensive with more than 80,000 hectares of forests turned to ashes by the first …
CBI sleuths raid forest offices in city
The Central Bureau of Investigation conducted a raid on the Delhi government's forest department ofices on Monday and seized documents in connection with a fraud pertaining to the purchase of tree guards. Sources said CBI officials raided the forest department headquarters at Kamla Nehru ridge, south division office at the …
Forest guards were killed by poachers
The three forest guards, who were reportedly kidnapped by the forest brigand Veerappan were shot dead and burnt by elephant poachers at Akkamalai Sandhu in the Hognekkal forest range, police said.
Forest resources in Assam dwindle
The forest resources in the State have dwindled during 1994-1999 with valuable forest products, mainly the trees of rare varieties such as titasopa, lali, bonsom, gamari, gandkoroi ect, felled down illegally by the miscreants who have encroached upon the forest products.
People protest to save trees
Nearly 400 activists braved monsoon rains to join a street protest against the government's plan to cut trees in one of Dhaka's largest parks to build an international conference centre. "Save the trees, our good friends," the demonstrators chanted marching through central Dhaka streets around Osmany Uddayan, the park chosen …
Hathnikund barrage commissioned
The Rs 220 crore Hathnikund barrage across River Yamuna has been formally commissioned. It replaces the 125-year old dilapated Tajewala Headworks that regulates the river downstream to feed the main irrigation canal of the State - the Western Yamuna canal.A part of this water goes to the National Capital Territory(NCT) …
Moving house? You can take your favourite tree along
Fully grown trees can now be uprooted and transplanted - at a price. Explains Praveen Kumar of Plumule Agro, a company that specialists in tree transplantation:"It is a highly skilled job and quite expensive. However, the survival rate at 80-85 per cent is very high and so most government agencies …
Dinosaur fossils discovered in Antarctica
Geologists have discovered the fossilised remains of massive dinosaurs in Antarctica, signs that many prehistoric "eating machines" were spread over a much broader territory than previously believed.
M.P. Forest Minister refutes BJP's charges
The Madhya Pradesh Forest Minister, Mr. Ratnesh Solomon, today came under a mild attack from the main Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in the Assembly as the MLAs alleged through a calling attention notice that there has been large-scale illicit felling. They further alleged that a teak mafia has been active …
Aravalli project to continue
Haryana will raise about 1.60 crore plants in 10,000 hectares as part of a forestry programme for which it has earmarked Rs 41 crores for the current financial year.
Conditions on importing logs unacceptable to firms
The four Thai firms seeking approval to import logs from Burma cannot accept the conditions the Forestry Department has set for the granting of permits, an executive for one of the traders said yesterday. Taweesak Mongkolkosol, managing director of TMS Intertrade & Services Co, a partner of Polpana Co, said …
Bodo militants aid encroachers
Hundreds of encroachers backed by the National Democratic Front of Bodoland have been invading the reserve forests of Sonitpur district from various Bodo-dominated areas of Assam to settle, causing largescale destruction of the environment.
Washington forest preserved for $13.1 million
A last-minute $1.5 million gift helped a Washington state conservation group meet a Tuesday deadline for raising $13.1 million to save a patch of state-owned forest from loggers' chainsaws. As the Loomis Forest Fund prepared to ask the state for more time, the anonymous donation pushed the fund over the …
Upper house approves dioxin bill
The Diet in Japan moved closer to the enactment of a bill aimed at reducing dioxin emissions when the House of Councillors unanimously approved it. The anti-dioxin bill, which was sent to the House of Representatives for further discussion, would legally set the level of tolerable daily intake of dioxin …
The one good thing Veerappan has done
The name of Veerappan evokes images of dead elephants, cut trees and bloodied guns.Bizarre as it may sound but a recent scientific study has shown that the forest cover has actually increased in areas where Veerappan has been active.Scientists B. Shivaraj and Shashidhar who conducted this study say that these …
NGO assists villagers to reduce dependence on forest
"Operation Eye of the Tiger-India", a Dehra Dun-based NGO,is running a programme in the Corbett Tiger Reserve and its surronding areas to reduce the dependance of neighbouring villages on the forest. The programme, which was launched recently, included giving 238 families in the northern boundary villages of the tiger reserve …
TN waits for Krishna water
PWD Miniter Durai Murugan hopes that the Andhra Pradesh government releases Krishna water from the Kandaleru reservoir to Chennai under the Telugu Ganga programme in a couple of days. The release of the water, which was originally scheduled for July 1, has been delayed due to an agitation launched by …
Tehri oustees take to street
The setting up of an ambitious project and the winding up of another has brought hundred os people on the streets in this economically backward part of Garhwal. For the sixth day in succession, residents of the old Tehri town, that is fared to be submerged under the proposed reservoir …
Extensive afforestation programme for Kannur
A comprehensive afforestation, eco-restoration and conservation programme focussing on wastelands, degraded forest area, mangroves and sacred groves(kavus) in the district is in the pipeline as the Social Forestry wing of the Forest department has drawn up a forestry project to be implemented with the participation of the local communities, local …
