Deforestation

Order of the National Green Tribunal regarding large scale felling of toddy yielding palm trees in Bihar, 05/06/2025

Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of In Re: News Item titled "Are missing palm trees causing more lighting deaths in Bihar appearing in ‘The Times of India’ dated 29.05.2025". The original application was registered suo-motu based on the news item titled "Are missing palm trees causing …

Missing the wood for the trees

The informed environmentalist will find it difficult to agree with the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) decision to ban the use of wood in its buildings and -- defying all ecological logic -- substitute mineral products for it. The implicit assumptions in this decision are that the use of wood …

Letter to deputy forest protector, East Kutch forest department to the Kutch collector on allocation of land to Adani Chemicals Ltd

Letter to deputy forest protector, East Kutch forest department to the Kutch collector on matter pertaining allocation of land located at Mudra Taluka, Kutch District on rent to Adani Chemicals Ltd, for the production of salt.

Leaf storm

DEFORESTATION in tropical regions could cause the disappearance of 50-150 plant species every day, reveal recent statistics collated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources***(where?). The data shows that about 25,000 plant species are in danger of extinction, and at the present rate of destruction of …

Wood cuts

GLOBAL warming, depletion of the ozone layer and loss of biodiversity have become the most terrifying bogeys of the world community in recent years) and have spawned a series of international conferences and workshops. The book under review is a selection of some of the papers presented at one such …

Turning on the heat

WHEN temperatures soared to alarming levels this summer in India, the rising level of global warming was squarely blamed. Many saw the rise as a confirmation of their worst fears that all of Earth is getting increasingly warmer. Although it is inconclusive as yet whether global warming was actually responsible …

The race to cool the planet

1980s Growing public Concern over scientific Evidence that Earth is getting warmer and the need to control the emission of greenhouse gases NOVEMBER 1988 First session of the Inter-governmental Panel for Climate Change sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Meteorological Organisation DECEMBER 1990 The UN General …

BANGLADESH

Rampant deforestation in Chittagong is worrying Bangladesh government authorities. According to the country's forest department, indiscriminate logging has rendered barren at least 1,620 ha of private forest land in the Chittagong district alone in the current year. Rapid urbanisation is the major factor behind the deforestation. Trees are being mowed …

When the water begins to stink...

The Amazon drama all over again, but this time without the cameras: that"s what has happened to the rainforests of Paraguay. A dense forest makes way for pastures and crop lands. A host of once sparkling rivers polluted during the United Nations" drinking water and sanitation decade (1981-90). Abundant rainfall …

Logging ban lifted

LOGGING may resume in the forests of Seattle in USA after a 3-year ban, but on a limited basis. Judge William Dwyer had issued the logging ban in 1991, after environmentalists had filed a lawsuit against the erstwhile Bush administration for "deliberately refusing to comply with the laws protecting wildlife". …

Felled by an incentive

The government of Delhi has been inadvertently encouraging the illegal felling of trees. Outdated city laws have created an anomalous situation in which there is an incentive to break the law, a recently-released report of the Comptroller and Auditor General pointed out. In 1992-92, the prescribed penalty for illegal felling …

Inverse proportion: species quantum and carbon dioxide

WHAT could the consequences be of the rapid extinction of plant and animal species, as witnessed this century? A team of researchers at the Centre for Population Biology, of the UK's Imperial College at Silwood Park says that it has demonstrated experimentally, for the first time, that the loss of …

Forests bite the bullet

TERRORISM in Kashmir has hit the forests. According to estimates made by the Jammu & Kashmir administration, based on studies conducted by environmentalists, a cohort of militants and smugglers has butchered at least 100,000 trees in the past 3 years. According to state officials, militants have also established saw mills …

Barren horizon

ECOLOGISTS warn that largescale tree-felling may cause a drastic reduction in rainfall in Pakistan's Baluchistan and transform the beautiful orchard valleys into a barren landscape. According to some estimates, over 1 million trees in various jungles of the province were hacked down by the local populace. If there is no …

Unkindly cuts

DEFORESTATION has become a major problem in north-eastern India. In the past 2 years, more than 63,500 ha of forests have been destroyed in the region, 24,300 in Assam alone. This alarming trend has finally drawn the attention of the Union government and, according to government sources, prime minister P …

If you want to read a book...

IF WE are to have 3 books for every Indian child, there won't be a single tree left standing in the country. We simply do not have enough wood for so many users. If the massive drives towards total literacy and universal primary education are successful, we might soon find …

The seeds of trouble

THE Sri Lankan economy is being threatened by the evils of privatisation, according to environmentalists. They maintain that this has resulted in large-scale deforestation in several tea and rubber estates in the country, especially in the Horton plains and Namunukula in the south. The wanton destruction not only threatens the …

The nature of human health

IT NEEDS little imagination to realise that a degraded environment undermines human health. But the linkage between a deteriorating environment, economy and increased health vulnerability needs to be seriously examined. Of still greater importance is the necessity to integrate health interventions with local needs to reverse the downward spiral. The …

Hacked heart

I WAS 14 when we moved out of the village. Though I do not remember much of 'the village, the tree that bore saffron flowers has a permanent place in my heart. My most playful years spent swaying in its arms and on its branches. As the sun shown its …

Saved from the axe

WRAPPED AND bound in red tape, the 276 obstinate deodars growing near Tutu village in Rampur sub-division of Himachal Pradesh's Shimla district were an uncomplaining target for freewheeling woodcutters roaming the area. This time round, they were saved from the axe by a bunch of gritty village women. The deodars …

Irangate replay across the Atlantic

A MAJOR, Irangate-style controversy is building up over a L1 billion framework accord on military sales that is ostensibly linked to British aid in 1988 for the Pergau dam project in Malaysia. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has taken a dim view of Britain's aid policy and …

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