The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
the Tamil Nadu government's effort at coastal regulation in tsunami-affected districts has taken a controversial turn. The government had ordered the relocation of houses within 500 metres of the High Tide Line (htl) and also of those between 500 metres and 1 kilometre (km) if the topography so demanded. But …
in its attempt to create order in the chaos that has followed the tsunami disaster, Sri Lanka is facing the complexities of reconstruction. One particularly problematic sphere is coastal regulation. While there is a renewed push from the government for regulating construction along the country's coasts, its efforts lack public …
Acursory perusal of the draft National Environment Policy (nep), 2004 indicates that we are inching towards a scientific approach in managing environmental matters in the country. Keeping aside sectoral considerations, the document stresses that poverty alleviation is essential for environment protection. But despite attempts to study the environment holistically, the …
in his generous pre-election mood, Prime Minister (pm) Atal Bihari Vajpayee has assured some Bharatiya Janata Party (bjp)-governed states that important environment laws would be relaxed. The coastal states have been promised that the coastal regulation zone (crz) rules, which control development and construction activities along India's coastline, would be …
THE original coastal regulation zone (CRZ) rules passed in February 1991 had seven sections. They have been amended nearly twice that many times in the past decade, and the government, if recent evidence is to be believed, is still interested in flogging this horse to grim death. The Prime Minister …
The battle between the Union minister of environment and forests, T R Baalu, and Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa over an amendment to the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification has taken a fresh twist. A division bench of the Madras High Court has suspended for two weeks the operation …
In a novel approach to marine protection, a private company handed over 4,653 hectares along the bottom of the Great South Bay to an environmental organisation. The deal
a fresh controversy has lashed the 7,500-kilometre-long Indian coastline with the Union ministry of environment and forests (mef) seeking to water down stringent laws governing the Coastal Regulation Zone (crz). A draft notification was issued recently to relax restrictions on construction activity within 50 metres (m) of the high tide …
To check further degradation of the coastal ecology in India, the Supreme Court banned all construction activity in the coastal areas within 500 m of the high water mark on April 18. The court set aside the Central government notification which permitted development activity within 200 m from the beach …
The five-month-old ban on hunting and trading in sharks and 52 species of molluscs has been relaxed partly (Down To Earth, Vol 10, No 15, December 31, 2001). Considering the livelihood problem of the fisherfolk, the Union ministry of environment and forests recently issued a revised notification saying that the …
the picturesque Digha coast near Kolkata has been dogged by rapid erosion in recent years. Taking serious note of the steady deterioration of the coast, the West Bengal government recently sent an SOS to the Union government requesting it to protect the coast and its population from further environmental degradation. …
A division bench of the Kerala High Court dismissed a batch of writ petitions which challenged the inclusion of rivers and backwaters in the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification. The petitioners, hailing from Vypeen Island, had contended that in the draft CRZ Notification of December 15, 1990, rivers and backwaters …
it seems to be a never-ending battle. As the Aquaculture Authority Bill (aab) was placed in the Lok Sabha for the umpteenth time, fisherfolk from all over India took to the streets protesting against the Bill. In March 1997, the aab was first introduced in Parliament and passed within an …
At least 35 beach towns in Costa Rica have got the Bandera Azul award for their compliance with national environmental standards. The award, which comprises a blue flag, is presented on the basis of an assessment done during the annual evaluation programme of the government. The programme, evolved five years …
The Sri Lankan government is implementing a Rs 557 million master plan in Wennappuwa for the conservation of the western and south western coastlines. The project is going to be implemented by the fisheries and aquatic resources development ministry. These coastlines are largely exposed to violent sea erosions with the …
The Goa High Court has passed important judgements aimed at protecting the state's coastal ecology. It has rejected the high tide line for the coastline in south Goa, which had been marked by the state government without consulting the Union government. Procedural functions have been formulated for the state officials …
East Timbalier, one of the islands that protect the Louisiana coastal wetlands in the us, is expected to disappear in just a few years, perhaps as early as 2004. Narrowed and cut by hurricanes and oil and gas exploration efforts, East Timbalier is just a shadow of its former self. …
A White Paper for Sustainable Coastal Development was released by Valli Moosa, the environment minister of South Africa recently. The document emphasises the importance of considering all aspects of the coast together while taking decisions about them and aims to establish a balance between the developed, rural and wilderness coastal …
The Indian coasts are to be opened to accommodate construction activities. There is a debate brewing in the nation today whether this move will benefit the coastal communities or simply fill the coffers of certain powerful lobbies. There is also a feeling that it will thrust the fragile marine ecosystem …
In our haste to reclaim coastal regions for human development we seem to be forgetting one simple rule of nature: what is dumped out will eventually return to us in equal measure
