Guwahati, Sept. 24: The northeastern states are facing a shortage of 0.68 million urban dwelling units, with Assam still topping the list despite recording a decrease since 2007.

SHILLONG: There is a decrease in the forest cover in the State as per an official report. The decline is a cause of concern considering the ecological impact it could have in the area.

While the forest cover in the State was 77.23 per cent as per the report in 2009, the percentage stands at 77.02 in 2011 showing a decline of 0.23 per cent. Rampant felling of trees in West Khasi Hills coupled with encroachment of forest areas by people in parts of Garo Hills have resulted in the loss of forest cover. There are also reports of deforestation in Garo Hills.

State power utilities have been penalised for not complying with the provisions of the Electricity Act, 2003, while drawing power under the unscheduled interchange mechanism.

In a path-breaking order, the Central Electricity Regulatory Authority (CERC) has imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh each on utilities in Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Madhya Pradesh, and Rs 90,000 each on utilities in Punjab and Tamil Nadu for not having letters of credit and thereby causing non-compliance.

The Citizens Concern for Dams and Development (CCDD) has expressed its concern with the formation of a sub-group between the governments of India and Bangladesh for conducting joint surveys to asse

Imphal: A citizens’ group on Thursday opposed the formation of an India-Bangladesh joint sub-group on Manipur’s Tipaimukh power project.

The mega-power project, one of the largest in Northeastern India, is vital for meeting the increasing electricity demand in the region, but has been opposed by environmental groups and opposition parties in Bangladesh. “Any decision on Tipaimukh dam construction cannot be bilaterally decided only by India and Bangladesh as the land, rivers, forests and all resources in Manipur belong to the indigenous people of our state.

India yesterday handed over a copy of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Tipaimukh Hydropower Project to Bangladesh as the two countries finalised the Terms of Reference for a joint study on the

NEW DELHI, Aug 27 – The first meeting of the India-Bangladesh Sub-group on Tipaimukh Hydroelectric project got underway here today.

The first meeting of Bangladesh-India joint sub-group on the proposed Tipaimukh Hydro-Electric Project will be held in New Delhi on Monday, aiming to formulate terms of reference (ToR) for studying

New Delhi: India has lost hundreds of acres of forest cover, mostly in North East but this was largely due to various reasons like shifting cultivation, rotational harvesting and biotic pressures besides tree felling.

The largest dip in forest cover was in the North East which lost 550 sq km. This loss was very partially made up elsewhere, even as there was an overall negative growth in green cover, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment and Forests Ms Jayanthi Natarajan, has said in Parliament recently.

IMPHAL: There shall be no public hearings relating to oil exploration in Manipur. On Friday, a public hearing held at Nungba in Tamenglong district had to be wound up following protests from the villagers. The private company had plans to explore oil in 17 different places of the State. The Jubiliant Oil and Gas Private Limited was authorized to explore oil deposits in Manipur.

If the project was approved, exploration works would go ahead. However, there have been oppositions from the villagers in all public hearings. From the very beginning, the Committee on the protection of natural resources in Manipur has been opposing the government move, During the public hearing at Nungba, a large number of villagers had come to disrupt the proceedings.