Order of the National Green Tribunal (Eastern Zone Bench, Kolkata) in the matter of Giri Gobardhan Forest Committee Vs State of Odisha & Others dated 15/05/2025. The Applicant Giri Gobardhan Forest Committee has filed the application alleging illegal felling of trees over an area of around 5 acres within the …
a major fire has destroyed a large tract of forest in the Shivalik Hills at Batandi in Jammu. This was the first fire in the region that engulfed the forest in late April. Although, the fire was soon doused, it is feared that high velocity winds may result in rekindling …
An outbreak of haze caused the closure of many schools in Sumatra recently. The thick choking smoke was triggered by forest fires which are quite prevalent in the region. The authorities tried hard to isolate the fires and prevented it from spreading. The level of haze varied in different areas. …
even though firefighters did their best to contain the spreading fire in Madumalai wildlife sanctuary in the Nilgris recently, more than 400 hectares of forest area was destroyed. The thick smoke forced the wild animals such as elephants and deer to come out on the main highway, cutting through the …
The Union ministry of urban development has issued a notification stipulating that construction activities that create noise will not be allowed after 10 pm. However, construction of highways, roads, and other government undertakings has been excluded from the purview of the regulation. At the National Research Laboratory for Conservation of …
Tourists were evacuated after raging forest fires engulfed three state-protected nature reserves, favourite destinations for campers in southern Chile. The fires consumed 15,000 ha of native forest in the Andean foothills. Officials believe that the fires have been caused by dry lightning storms in the mountains. Sergio Mendoza, the forestry …
A fire destroyed more than 50 square kilometres of blue pine forests surrounding Damchu, about seven kilometres towards Chukha, in Bhutan. Abetted by heavy winds, smoke that had wafted from the fire hung over the valley as far as Thimpu town, creating poor visibility.The blaze could not be put out …
Tall pines enveloping the mountains, is the image most commonly conjured up when one talks of the Himalayas. Few, however, know that many of these conifers are in fact forced entries and largely responsible for the fragile state of the mountains. Before the British entry into India, the Himalayan forests …
In an effort to check the growing incidence of forest fires, foresters in Trashigang in Bhutan are involving farmers of the area to combat the havoc. About 190 villagers in Samkhar and 135 in Kanglung have been imparted training in this connection. According to the forest range officer, Dorji Dukpa, …
in warangal, Andhra Pradesh, there is only one black Ambassador car in the official circle and it belongs to the conservator of forests. Painting the car black some 15 years ago was a conscious decision to evade attacks. The black Ambassador drives home the fear psychosis that has gripped the …
Left helpless, the affected states have started demanding amendments to the fca. About a year ago, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh wrote to the prime minster requesting changes in the act. When the coordination committee of the Union home ministry met in April 2000, one of the main issues …
Room number eight is located in a nondescript corner of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (aiims), New Delhi. Gauri Prasad regularly visits this room, which stores medical histories of cancer patients. A resident of Panipat, Haryana, Prasad has been afflicted with lymphoma for the past five years. Now …
We are not supposed to keep on publishing the report,' says N K Ganguly, director-general, icmr. "We are supposed to carry out research and cannot spend money on a particular project,' he justifies. It is as if icmr's cancer data is protected under the Officials Secrets Act. Repeated requests to …
The registries would have helped formulate a control programme . But in absence of the data, the nccp has been forced to source information from other places. "We use World Health Organisation's projections,' says Sudhir Gupta, chief medical officer, directorate general of health services at the mohfw. Ironically, the ncrp …
As prime minister A B Vajpayee was reminding the nation about threats from across the border in his Independence Day speech from Delhi's Red Fort this year, a group of extreme Leftist outfits, popularly known as Naxalites, were redrawing the internal map of the country. At a secret meeting held …
just a few clicks of the computer mouse can help scientists prevent wildfires to a great extent. To some, it may sound impractical, but is true. Computer simulations are being used by scientists to evolve ways to prevent forest fires. By combining satellite-derived vegetation data, topographic maps, weather data and …
Many parts of Malaysia have been engulfed by a thick smog resulting from forest fires in neighbouring Indonesia, where trees are burned to clear land for cultivation. Though the Malaysian government has admitted that air quality readings are at unhealthy levels in many areas, it has refused to reveal data …
Destruction of Brazil's Amazon rainforest in 2000 was the highest since 1995. The National Institute for Space Research reports that 0.56 per cent of the total jungle was cut in 2000. But since 1999, the number of forest fires decreased by 86 per cent. The institute's officials attribute the deforestation …
smoggy air damages plants, causes leaf injury, adversely affects plant growth and reduces fruit yield. Air pollutants such as sulphur, fluorides, ozone affect forest ecosystems adversely. This book brings out 30-35 years of research experience of around 30 scientists who have studied the effect of pollutants on plant life. The …
There are reports of fires in the alpine grasslands of Uttaranchal. The official version is that these fires are the usual controlled burning done by the forest department in the hills to prevent the outbreak of a major fire during the dry months. "This time it has been a dry …
A forest fire destroyed 121 hectares of pine forest in Bhutan's Thimphu district. Forest officials say that the fire started in an apple orchard where a 17-year-old schoolboy was burning papers. Due to strong winds, the fire caught on to the dry bushes and spread into the forest. The fire …