Floods feared in Arunachal and Assam; governments least prepared a landslide on the Indo-Tibetan border has blocked the course of the river Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) resulting in the formation of a reservoir. This may cause flood in downstream areas of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam if the barrier of mud and debris bursts under pressure from water accumulating on the other side. The

London, June 10: The melting of Himalayan glaciers due to global warming will lead to massive human migration in India which is dependent on river systems generated by these glaciers, said a report released on Wednesday.

Talks between Pakistan and India on the controversial Kishanganga Hydro Power Project have broken down, a private TV channel quoted Pakistan Indus Water Commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah as saying on Friday.

Talking to media in Islamabad on his return from India, Shah said the issue of the Kishanganga project came under discussion at the request of India but no progress could be made.

Environmental degradation is costing Pakistan about Rs 365 billion annually, and collective efforts are needed for conservation of the ecosystem. Dr Hammad Uwais Agha, the NWFP Secretary Environment, said this while speaking at a seminar organised by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in connection with the World Environment Day here on Friday.

The timber mafia, in connivance with criminal elements in Swat and Malakand area, is cutting trees at "free will" to foster deforestation in the country.

Felicity Carus

When Fritz Muller and Erwin Schneider battled ice storms, altitude sickness and snow blindness in the 1950s to map, measure and photograph the Imja glacier in the Himalayas, they could never have foreseen that the gigantic tongue of millennia-old glacial ice would be reduced to a lake within 50 years.

Athar Parvaiz

: The already exist ing disputes between India and Pakistan over water-sharing are expected to exasperate further given the forecast that the impact of climatic changes, due to environmental degradation, would cause drastic depletion in volume of water in the Indus River system originating from Himalayan glaciers.

Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives have put major environmental legislation on a fast-track, boosting chances a climate change bill will pass this month or next, leading lawmakers said on Wednesday.

RICHA SHARMA