Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of In Re: News Item Titled "Neglected Katora Houz in Hyderabad’s Golconda Fort Cries for attention appearing in ‘The Siasat Daily’ dated 25 May 2025". The application was registered suo-motu based on the news item titled “Neglected Katora Houz in Hyderabad’s …
Chekkottu Kariyan (C K) Janu is an adivasi leader in Kerala. She is on bail after she was imprisoned for more than 40 days for leading an agitation demanding tribal rights over the Muthanga Wild Life Sanctuary in Wayanad district in Kerala (See: The truth about Muthanga). C K Janu …
What are the most important issues for tribals in your area? I would say education, poor living standards, the need for sound water management, and improvement in the communications infrastructure. There is a lot of discontentment among tribals in Jharkhand against the forest department over the issue of unsettled claims …
What are the most important issues for tribals in your region? Are they the same as they were 50 years ago? Tribals need development, like the rest of the country. I don't look at tribals with a separate perspective. We have been segregating them since independence. That's why they are …
You publicly demanded regularisation of land taken over by the tribals in Singhbhum. You made it a precondition for joining the Arjun Munda cabinet Yes. It is their land. They have their ancestors' tombstones to prove it. I have been demanding a resolution to this issue for a long time. …
Why are there so many disputes over forestland in the state? Why are tribals pitted against the forest department? Land is not an issue in tribal areas. The issue is development and exploitation of the region by the government of Bihar. There are no roads, water employment. Land is not …
What are the most important issues for the tribals in your area? Unemployment, migration and lack of development. You were part of the protest against the Koel-Karo project. Would you scrap the Koel-Karo project if you come to power? I did support the movement against the project. But I don't …
You have spent a lifetime struggling for Jharkhand. How does the new state look to you? This is not the Jharkhand that we fought for. That included 22 districts including those in West Bengal, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh. What's your stand on the Koel-Karo project? I led the movement for …
When did you rise to political prominence? What were the issues that propelled you to the political stage? When the Karzan dam was built in 1979, 19 villages, including ours, were submerged. We were paid compensation. In my student days back in the early 1980s, I was with the Congress. …
What are the most important issues for tribals in your region? Political empowerment, land alienation (by non-tribals, forest laws, dams, mining and militancy), education, poor standard of living and insurgency. Why are these issues crucial? Earlier, there was a safety in separation. The British administration didn't exist in Karbi-Anglong as …
What are the most important issues for tribals in your region? Economic development, unemployment, agriculture, poor roads, irrigation, education and health and electricity. When did these issues become so important? There is not too much difference in the issues that were important earlier and the ones that are important today. …
What are the most important issues for tribals in your region? The question of maintaining tribal identity, government failure to understand tribal sentiment, land alienation, displacement and rights related to the forest. Why are these issues crucial today? Tribals don't need just the money. Even in the 21st century, half …
the Jammu and Kashmir government launched a major eviction drive to remove encroachments from the catchment area of Wullar lake in Baramulla district. A vast piece of land was cleared in Magnipora village. But in the face of stiff resistance, the police and paramilitary forces had to burst dozens of …
Brazil's last hunter-gatherer Indian tribe, the Awa, recently won legal recognition for its land after 20 years of hard struggle. Helped by pressure group Survival International, the 300 surviving tribal people cleared their land of illegal ranchers and settlers and demarcated their territory. The ruthless encroachers had earlier forced the …
The Delhi High Court (HC) has directed the Union and state governments to remove all illegal encroachments, including places of worship, from the banks of Yamuna river within the next two months. The concerned authorities have been asked to file a compliance report by May 14. The order was passed …
Peruvian local communities are on the warpath. They are accusing mining companies of not only causing contamination in the region, but also holding them responsible for the seizure of their land. More than 1,000 of these community members marched to the nation's capital, Lima, and demanded action against the big …
the recent eviction of illegal occupants from Assam's reserve forests has exposed an unholy nexus between various government departments in the state. It is believed that the encroachers possess legal documents, authorising them as owners of the forestland. The title deeds, they allege, have been issued by the forest department …
in a district where not toting a double-barrelled gun or revolver is considered a violation of the dress code, the word ‘fraud’ was redefined with astounding audacity. Without firing a single shot (quite uncommon in this trigger-happy territory), three junior officials of Bijnor defrauded the government of Rs 100 crore …
flash floods have not only swamped many areas of Andhra Pradesh, it has also left many questioning the effectiveness of the state government in handling disasters, let alone drafting a preparedness plan. The state administration could do little to undo the mess. Incessant rains lashed the cyber state in the …
Bellanwila-Attidiya marsh, the only remaining wetland in Colombo, Srilanka is facing a threat due to encroachment and fillings. The marsh has been identified as an important one in the Asian region by the World Conservation Union. The marsh, spread over 150 hectares is the only one in Colombo with a …
The Lacandon forest, the land of the Mayans, is fast disappearing. Only about one third of the area is still intact. The forests may last only for 15 years if crop burning, forest fires, insufficient environmental protection and invasion by displaced indigenous people continues. In 1998, forest fires destroyed around …
