Order of the National Green Tribunal (Central Zone Bench, Bhopal) in the matter of Kamal Tiwari Vs Union of India & Others dated 27/05/2025. The Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and Chief Wildlife Warden, Rajasthan stated that a high level meeting to review the progress on the demarcation of Nahargarh …
a survey currently underway in states to calculate the number of below poverty line (bpl) households is being opposed tooth and nail by civil society groups under the 'right to food' campaign. They are objecting to the exercise on two counts: firstly, the criteria used for poverty estimation are incorrect; …
Managing a village commons is difficult. But just imagine managing urban waste as a common property resource. This is exactly what the common effluent treatment plants (cetps) aim to do. Collect the waste of individual units from an industrial estate and treat it in a common location. Members
#1 Who is the polluter? What is their waste-typology? This is the first critical and often make-or-break step. Get the property rights regime wrong and it is clear that nothing will work, is the advice of common property managers in rural areas. It is the same for a cetp. Delhi …
If cetps are the answer, how do we make them work? The choice of technology, however important, is not the only challenge ahead. The key is to build a much stronger framework for common waste governance. In Delhi, for instance, a legal framework exists. But it is so convoluted that …
Pollution from small-scale industries has grown by leaps and bounds. So, building common effluent treatment plants (cetps) has become a fashion. The Union ministry of environment and forests (mef) has instructed state pollution control boards to set up cetps in industrial estates. Central assistance of 25 per cent is given, …
The Supreme Court has partially lifted its blanket ban on mining in the Aravalli hills. Mining is now permitted in some parts of the 250-kilometre stretch. The apex court has modified its earlier order providing relief largely to Rajasthan and parts of Haryana. The court had earlier categorically ruled out …
Languages are like oysters holding pearls of wisdom. Tove shares one such: "Pekka Aikio, the President of the Saami Parliament told me this in 2001. Finnish fish biologists have just
"The last time we had any rain was in 1997, not a drop since. God knows what's in store for us.' Ram Karan is the grand old man of Laporiya in the Jaipur district of drought ravaged Rajasthan and, coming from him, a statement like this means the situation is …
The Supreme Court (SC) in a recent order has banned all mining activities in the entire Aravalli hills in Rajasthan and Haryana. The order follows the court's earlier directive in May, prohibiting mining within a five-kilometre (km) radius of Delhi (see: Down To Earth, Vol 11, No 12, November 15, …
the Supreme Court (sc) has come down heavily on the Union and Rajasthan governments for showing slackness in the implementation of food-for-work schemes. The sc reprimand comes in the face of the recent hunger deaths in Baran district of the desert state. The apex court ordered that the chief secretaries …
the first reports of death due to hunger in Baran district of Rajasthan followed an all too familiar path. Outcry in the media, denial by local administration, visits by the bigwigs and then a blame game. So what did the people get? A temporary relief in the form of some …
I travel in drought-hit Rajasthan. I want to see, and record. What does really happen when an area is hit by drought? It doesn't rain over Rajasthan the way it used to. Less rainfall has led to a drop in groundwater levels. This year, Rajasthan got 208 mm rain. That's …
the dramatic decline of the vulture population in India has now got official recognition from the World Conservation Union (iucn). It has upgraded three species of Indian vulture on to the critically endangered list. The white-backed vulture (Gyps bengalensis) long-billed vulture (Gyps indicus) and the slender-billed vulture (Gyps tenuirostris), says …
November 15Legend has it that the beautiful goddess Saraswati sprung from the forehead of her father Brahma, the god of creation. It is said that as soon as Brahma looked at her beauty, he was filled with desire for her. Unhappy with the amorous attentions he bestowed upon her, she …
The Bandi river in Rajasthan is dying. Flowing through various villages of Rohet tehsil in Pali district, its water has a reddish hue like red rum. It can no longer be used for irrigation or drinking. "Even animals do not drink this water,' says Gangadhan Charan, a resident of Gadhawara …
The lac dye is bright red. It is derived from insects like cochineal, kermes and lac, also called Kerria lacca. It takes about three lakh insects to yield one kilogramme of dye. These scale insects thrive on a variety of trees and bushes such as kusum (Schleichera oleosa), palash (Butea …
