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 …
the Supreme Court (sc) has imposed perhaps the biggest fine against a public interest petitioner, ending a three-year-long controversy over the classification of a 15-hectare plot in Korba district, Chhattisgarh. It ruled the plot was not forestland (see
1805: Nilambur Kovilgam, a ruler of a Kerala province, annexes 40,500 ha of Gudalur 1845: Kovilagam's successors (jenmies) start leasing out land to plantation companies. They also employ tenants to cultivate land directly under their control 1940s: Migration from Kerala; migrants are employed as tenants in jenmi lands 1950s and …
Mangroves, although have unique ecological characteristics and multifarious uses are in a very much degraded state. In Orissa, except Bhitarkanika, the small patches of mangroves which are available along the coastal track are considered as the relics of a glorious past when thousands hectare of land was covered with mangroves. …
Sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) is one of the most widely distributed large mammals in India. At the same time, the sloth bear has suffered as much as other large mammals from human impacts on forested areas. The North Bilaspur Forest Division, Chhattisgarh, which is an un-protected area, harbours a large …
Environmentalists fear Scheduled Tribe Bill will put India's forest cover at stake. Matkuli is the base camp as you begin your climb towards Pachmarhi. Located inside a 1,500 sq km Project Tiger area comprising two sanctuaries and one national park, it has grown from a small village of 50-odd houses …
Human population increases and development in Northeast India have reduced and fragmented wildlife habitat, which has resulted in human-wildlife conflicts. Although species such as tigers (Panthera tigris) and rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) cause conflict, elephants (Elephas maximus) have become the focal point for conflict and conservation issues. This article presents several …
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Madhya Pradesh (mp) chief minister Digvijay Singh are playing the blame game over the settlement of tribal communities' claims to forestland. It may be noted that elections to the mp legislative assembly are due later this year, and the state has a sizeable tribal …
I would love to write a handbook on the Indian bureaucracy. But for now let me focus on a favourite, the yes-minister technique. Do nothing, and then when pushed, unleash chaos. Nothing succeeds as much as failure. Every solution has a problem. Take the issue of encroachments in forests. The …
In a significant decision, the Supreme Court (SC) directed the Assam forest department to pay Rs 1,000 per month against every hectare of encroached forestland in the state. "This amounts to Rs 28 crore per month as fine to the SC,' said state forest minister Pradyut Bordoloi. He pointed out …
the extensive drive of the Union ministry of environment and forests (mef) to evict encroachers from more than one million hectares of forestland across the country by September 30, 2002, is facing stiff resistance in a number of states. The recent mef notification (see box: Highlights) could affect approximately 350 …
it took the forest department (fd) of Maharashtra just three days to raze to the ground the village of Totladoh, which had been tenaciously surviving for years in Pench National Park. The fd moved in for the kill after the Nagpur bench of the Maharashtra High Court gave its verdict …
a team comprising secretaries of the forest and revenue departments has been set up to file a detailed report on the rampant land-grabbing in the forests of the Mathikettan region in Kerala. The Union ministry of environment and forests has also taken stock of the situation. Earlier, the state government …
After the poisoning of elephants last year, Assam's Nameri National Park is in the midst of a fresh controversy. It is now political pressure coupled with an encroachment muddle that threatens to wreak havoc on one of the few well-protected natural reserves of the state. On April 27, 2002, Congress …
India's forest cover has been showing a rapid decline. With community participation and social forestry being alien concepts the government sponsored conservation drives were unable to touch the chord of success. To ensure better co-operation, the joint forest management ( jfm ), programme was proposed by the ministry of environment …
poaching and encroachments threaten the 79 sq km Orang National Park ( onp ), habitat of the famous one-horned rhinocerous in Assam. During the last five years, no less than 44 rhinos have fallen prey to poachers, official sources admit. Barring one natural death, the sanctuary, which falls on the …
environmental degradation and failure of the monsoons has resulted in a famine in places like Kinnakorai and Kundah taluk s (blocks) of the Nilgiris in the Western Ghats. Unfortunately, the reason for this famine is little understood by the people, either due to ignorance or sheer negligence. The Nilgiris are …
The Supeme Court (SC) has expressed concern over the reports of considerable encroachments in forest area in Karnataka. It has directed the state government to give districtwise particulars in this regard and furnish the Steps taken by it for recovery of the encroached forest lands. The bench, comprising justice A …
the forest department in Maharashtra has confiscated properties worth Rs 70 crore on 120 acres of forest land in the Alibagh forest division of Raigad district. Forest department officials seized luxurious bungalows allegedly belonging to leading industrialists of the state. "All these bungalows were constructed in blatant violation of the …
