Shillong: Meghalaya loses approximately 10 million metric tones of top soil annually through practice of shifting cultivation, deforestation and other methods of soil degradation activities, said the Director of Soil and Water Conservation, KC Momin at the annual general meeting of Meghalaya Soil and Water Conservation held at the Conservation Training Institute at Byrnihat in Ri-Bhoi district on

Wanton coal mining in Meghalaya is not only harming the environment but also affecting food grain production of the State by degrading the cultivable land and polluting the irrigable water supply.

"In particular, paddy cultivation has been adversely affected in the coal mining areas," a State Government report said.

MIRZA, Sept 28

Ongole, July 27: Aqua culture and salt industries have turned soil saline in many parts of Prakasam district making large chunks of land unfit for cultivation. Salt cultivation is on in 7,867 acres in four mandals of the district and in the last one decade, aquaculture is also on the rise in nine mandals.

Studying the data spread over 23 years (1981-2003), the Food and Agriculture Organisation has concluded that 24 per cent of the global land area has degraded. This is over and above the extent of land that had already degraded. The situation has only worsened since 1991 when the previous assessment was made. According to the FAO, in India about 592,000 square kilometres of land has deteriorated

Visakhapatnam, July 16: The state secretary of CPI, Dr K. Narayana, said that their party was opposing the state government's proposal to develop Coastal Corridor between Itchapuram in Srikakulam district and Tada in Nellore district and launched a pro-CPI test campaign in this regard to create awareness among those living in the coastal areas about the ill effects of the proposal.