In order to use tenanted land for setting up of projects for community or public purpose, the Goa government has introduced the Goa Land Use (Regulation) Bill, 2024 seeking amendment to Section 3 of Goa Land Use (Regulation) Act, 1991 so as to specify in the Right to Fair Compensation …
after 48 days of struggle by the Adivasi-Dalit Samara Samithi, the Kerala government agreed to assign around two hectares of land in the estate areas of Sugandhagiri and Pookot to each tribal family on October 16, 2001. In other areas, 0.4-2 hectares of land was to be given, depending on …
Japan continues to face legal ripples created by its decision to fund the construction of a dam in Indonesia. A fresh wave of 4,600 Indonesians has now sued the Japanese government, alleging that the project has wrecked their livelihoods by forcing them to resettle. Last year, more than 3,800 Indonesians …
the Orissa government has finally begun disbursing compensation to likely oustees in the lower Suktel dam project. Nineteen families of Magurbeda village in Balangir district have been handed over a rehabilitation package of more than Rs 12.5 lakh. Ironically, the first lot of beneficiaries chosen by the state authorities will …
The Union government is keenly wooing private investment for its mega river linking project. In a recent meeting, chairperson of the project task force Suresh Prabhu tried to convince the business audience that the cost of rehabilitation would be inbuilt as in China's Three Gorges dam project. Prabhu also did …
"Abandon all hope, all ye who enter" This inscription that marks the gates of hell in Dante's Inferno could well be true for Jharia town in Jharkhand. For, the underground fires that have been raging in the coalfields here for over several decades are now beginning to engulf its thickly …
the underground fire has resurfaced as a raging row in Jharia, a small industrial town near Dhanbad in Jharkhand. What has stoked the controversy afresh is state chief minister (cm) Babulal Marandi's announcement that nearly 0.3 million people would be evacuated from the area. Local leaders, irrespective of their political …
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 …
BATYA POREY ALORAN (STIRRINGS AFTER THE CYCLONE) . Sumit Chowdhury . Produced by Action Aid . 80 minutes Argues Kolkata-based documentary film maker Sumit Chowdhury, "destruction after any natural calamity records losses as much as it throws up the possibility of building afresh without going back to certain exploitative situations …
Legally, Paras Nath doesn’t exist. At the age of 52 he is still clueless about where he hails from. Nath was barely five years old when he began toiling hard to grow sal trees in the forest. “Even my parents were not able to trace their antecedents, but they too …
Can the country's top business groups utilise their corporate skills to manage national parks? They can, believe the Kotharis and Piramals. The two have jointly established the first corporate wildlife fund of India. The ambitious initiative envisages the setting up of a Wildlife Conservation Trust which will get patronage from …
As we begin, we must remind ourselves that of the 25 million persons displaced on account of development projects, less than 50 per cent have been rehabilitated. The rest have been
Debate on the right rehabilitation policy for those displaced by dams has been on for years. Folklore has it that the only fair and proper compensation lies in rehabilitation on the land. How did this theory develop? Multipurpose river valley projects, like Bhakra, Hirakud and the Damodar Valley Corporation were …
Driven by personal trauma, Kanak Mani Dixit, the editor of a Kathmandu-based magazine Himal, had launched a campaign against spinal injuries in April 2002. Then, on July 12, he undertook a 1,200-kilometre journey across three nations in a Volkswagen Beetle to raise funds for the cause. Dixit had met with …
Fishing, boat traffic and industrial effluents have put the rare Chinese Yangtze river dolphins at risk. But there is hope on the horizon for these aquatic creatures with Chinese scientists chalking out a plan to save the species. According to the plan, the endangered dolphins would be captured by professional …
The people of Pudukkottai, one of the most backward districts in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, are dependent on dry land farming mainly due to lack of indutrialisation and low rainfall. Quarries too are a secondary source of livlihood, which provides boulders and stones for construction of buildings. Extreme …
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 …
After 30 long years of virtual inaction by the powers that be and a violent struggle by local communities, the fate of the 710-megawatt (mw) Koel Karo hydroelectric project is sealed. Or so it seems, with sources in the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (nhpc) claiming that the project
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 …
The precarious conservation status of the tiger has aroused global concern in recent years. Tigers are under threat from many factors include depletion of prey, direct killing and pressure on their habitat due to fragmentation and degradation of habitat quality. From 1998, the Karnataka Tiger Conservation Project (KTCP), supported by …
