Jairam Ramesh's order of May 6 rescinding his earlier stop-work notice with regard to the Maheshwar dam surprises many. ON May 6, Jairam Ramesh, the Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests, made a confession while responding to a questioner at a public meeting. He said he had been under “pressure” to overlook environmental violations while clearing certain projects. “Regularisation of illegality is a peculiar Indian characteristic. First you...

A renowned wildlife scientist, Ravi Chellam has been eased out as head of the country's foremost wildlife conservation NGO -- Wildlife Conservation Society-India -- for being part of a government committee that backed tribal rights over forest lands under the Forest Rights Act. Officially, the NGO has asked Chellam to sign on a separation agreement but sources said that he was given a 'leave or be thrown out' notice by...

A growing number of endangered olive ridley sea turtles have been getting killed in Eastern India’s coastal state Orissa by mechanized vessels defying a fishing ban on one of the world’s largest turtle sanctuaries, Gahirmatha. While the government said "no more than 800" were killed since November last year, environmentalists counter that the casualty count of these tiny turtles is actually 5,000. The problem illustrates the situation that confronts Orissa and other...

The promise of the FRA remains largely unfulfilled, says a committee set up by the Ministries of Environment and Forests and Tribal Affairs. IT seems hard for a government used to controlling most of India's common lands to let go of them. Even though it has passed a law mandating more decentralised governance of forests, the government itself is proving to be the biggest obstacle in its implementation. Other than in...

Environment minister Jairam Ramesh tied himself in knots on Monday to defend the guidelines his ministry had issues on turning national parks and sanctuaries into inviolate critical wildlife habitats, bypassing provisions of the Forest Rights Act. Even as his statement contradicted the guidelines issued by the environment ministry on February 8, Ramesh defended them claiming that `news reports' against the fresh set of rules were `misleading'. TOI had reported how the...