The apex Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of the environment ministry has gifted away 5,000 hectares of pristine forest, much of which provides crucial corridors for animals to move from one habitat to another.

The FAC has recommended the diversion of 60 hectares of forest located within the Gola corridor in Uttarakhand. Green lawyer Ritwick Datta points out, “This corridor is the only feasible path for the movement of elephants across the Gola river but it is being diverted for the construction of the NH-87 connecting Rampur to Kathgodam.”

The Cabinet committee on economic affairs is expected to accept the environment ministry’s proposal to create a National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems (NPCA) by merging the existing National Lake Conservation Plan and National Wetlands Conservation Programme.

The objective will be the holistic conservation and restoration of the water quality of lakes and wetlands thereby improving biodiversity. The estimated cost of the proposed project, planned for the 12th Plan period, is `900 crores on 70:30 cost-sharing between the Central government and the respective state governments while for the Northeastern states it will be on a 90:10 basis.

Bowing down to pressure from various Opposition political parties and civil society organisations, the Orissa government on Wednesday put off the land acquisition process for the 12-million-tonne Posco India integrated steel project at Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district.

The government also withdrew the 14 platoons of police forces it deployed at Gobinpur village, a part of the project site, as demanded by leaders of various political parties and Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), the local CPI-backed anti-displacement forum.

The environment ministry is hardly a “green roadblock ministry” as is being made out by the PMO.

The MoEF’s Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) on River Valley and Hydroelectric Projects considered a total of 262 hydropower and irrigation projects in the last six years and green signalled every single one of them. Contrary to the PMO’s claims, not a single project has been rejected. This means that between 2007 and December 30 2012, stage 1 clearance was given for hydropower projects with an installed capacity of 48,456 MW which is 25 per cent more than what India has installed in 66 years of independence.

Amidst political controversies, land acquisition for the Rs. 52,000 crore Posco steel project resumed with tight security at Gobindpur village in Orissa’s Jagatsinghpur district.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has banned dumping of debris, including solid waste, on Yamuna river banks to avert the “serious threat” of water pollution and directed the governments of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh to remove the rubble immediately.

“Debris is being thrown on the river banks and it is a serious threat to the change of course as well as water pollution of river Yamuna. Certain directions need to be issued forthwith in order to ensure that pollution of Yamuna is prevented and the debris from the site removed.

Representatives of five organisations working among the survivors of the Union Carbide gas disaster on Tuesday criticised the working of National Institute for Research in Environmental Health (NIREH) and said the performance of this organisation has been woefully short of meeting the target of benefiting the victims of the 1984 gas disaster.

Addressing a press conference here, representatives of five NGOs working for the gas victims said that NIREH was established as the 31st centre of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on October 11, 2010 with the primary objective of carrying out research to benefit the survivors of the disaster.

In the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japan has decided to build the world’s largest offshore wind farm to replace the crippled nuke plant.

A new study on the Himalayas warns that unprecedented dam building could pose a serious threat to people living in that region, apart from resulting in the extinction of several flora and fauna spe

The Orissa government on Saturday announced the launching of a pilot project under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) to provide at least 150 days of work to poor peop