The Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Mr Jairam Ramesh, on Tuesday set a target of increasing India

NEW DELHI: What activities harm the 7,000km-long Indian coastline and what should be permitted? Should ports and airports be allowed to come up freely or should even small patches of mangroves be saved at all costs? Answers to such questions could soon be answered with the environment minister setting up a committee under M S Swaminathan to chart out the way for implementing coastal regulations.

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.

Expressing grave concerns over the rampant environmental degradation in the country, environmental experts have said that Pakistan, especially Sindh, is facing an environmental disaster.

Pacific islands are trying low-cost ways to protect crops and coasts from cyclones that are a bigger threat -- for now -- than rising sea levels that could wipe low-lying nations off the map.

Cyclone Aila

The ongoing wanton destruction of the mangroves in the Puttalam lagoon has resulted in immense environmental damage to the lagoon and the surrounding area. Environmentalists and the residents of the area expressed concern for haphazard clearing of the mngroves by a group of racketeers receiving political patronage.

MUMBAI: Environmentalists are up in arms after the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) recently converted a pathway into a six-kilometre tarred road that cuts through 102 hectares of mangroves along Thane Creek. Greens fear that the pucca road will encourage trespassing into the mangrove zone and encroachment by builders.