Clearing decks for execution of country

The Environment Appraisals Committee of the Ministry of Environment and Forests has agreed in principle to the construction of the Renuka Dam in Himachal Pradesh.

With this clearance, the work on the dam is expected to pick up and conclude in six years time.

The climate change conference in Poznan, which ended last week, would be remembered for little else but the activation of the Adaptation Fund a year after it was set up.
Developing countries, including India to some extent, can now send proposals to the Fund for projects to safeguard vulnerable communities and areas against impacts of climate change and global warming.

Clearing the air over the seismic survey on the Brahmaputra riverbed, the Multi Disciplinary Advisory Group (MDAG), constituted by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests for providing guidance on seismic survey, today clarified that Oil India Limited (OIL) had not been allowed to carry out any survey.

GUWAHATI, Dec 15: Green signal from the Multi-Disciplinary Group (MDAG) constituted in accordance with the directive of the Ministry of Environment and Forest is a must for Oil India Limited (OIL) to conduct the proposed seismic survey of the Brahmaputra bed. The MDAG will give its mandatory nod only if it finds that the survey will not affect the aquatic animals of the river.

RTI sets a precedent the environment and forests ministry will now have to release all information related to the amendment of the 2006 environment impact assessment (eia) notification. The ministry will also have to make public, details of approvals the National Biodiversity Authority (nba) has granted for access and use of India

New scheme, old proposal THE Union environment and forests ministry has come up with a new scheme for compensatory afforestation in case of forest land being diverted for non-forest use. Under the scheme the user will identify a piece of land, develop a forest and transfer it to the forest department. Called the Green Credit Scheme, it has got administrative approval and has been

Even as the dreaded Avian Influenza (H5N1 strain) has come back to haunt India, particularly through the recent outbreak in Assam, the Chilika lagoon has been included in a multi-centre study aiming to identify sources of the killer virus.

GUWAHATI, Dec 5: Like many of its other negative achievements, Asom has topped in encroachment of forest lands in the country. The State Government has, however, put the blame on the Recognition of Tribal and other Traditional Dwellers Act, 2005 for its failure to free 3.5 lakh hectares of forest lands that are under illegal occupation.

Voluntary organisation Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) on Tuesday announced that it would take recourse to the path of agitation to frustrate the seismic survey being conducted by the Oil India Ltd (OIL) on the Brahmaputra, which is proposed to explore oil. The agitation to resist the OIL seismic survey may culminate in self-immolation by the samiti members, warned the voluntary organisation.