-IPS News NAYAGARH (IPS): Kama Pradhan, a 35-year-old tribal woman, her eyes intent on the glowing screen of a hand-held GPS device, moves quickly between the trees. Ahead of her, a group of men hastens to clear away the brambles from stone pillars that stand at scattered intervals throughout this dense forest in the Nayagarh district of India’s eastern Odisha state. The heavy stone markers, laid down by the British 150 years...
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Consent of tribal and forest-dwellers not required to decide on diversion of forest land: Environment Ministry -Urmi Goswami
-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: The environment ministry has said the consent of tribal and forest-dwelling populations isn't necessary before deciding on diversion of forest land for projects, possibly putting the government on a collision course with the Supreme Court. The ministry's move seems to ignore the court's April 2013 order making it mandatory to obtain such consent before diverting forest land. It also seems to infringe upon the authority of the...
More »Killing a country’s ecology -Colin Gonsalves
-The Hindu The Environment Minister insists on clearing all hydro projects, even when the government itself earlier agreed that the Himalayas must be avoided for development work. A battle of epic proportions between the hydroelectric power companies and the people of Uttarakhand has now culminated with the struggle shifting to the office of the Prime Minister of India. It began with the extraordinary and far-sighted 2014 decision of the Supreme Court in...
More »PMO tells Tribal Ministry: Sitting on projects is ‘lack of commitment’ -Jay Mazoomdaar
-The Indian Express A standoff between the ministries of tribal affairs and environment and forests over the issue of clearances has stalled three key projects, prompting Nripendra Misra, principal secretary to the Prime Minister, to intervene and question the delay. The projects, which are being tracked by the project monitoring group (PMG) of the cabinet committee on investment, are in three different parts of the country: the 2×500 MW project of...
More »Tribal Ministry objects to diluting forest law -Jay Mazoomdaar
-The Indian Express In a last-ditch effort to stop moves that it says will "entirely defeat the purpose" of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), the Ministry of Tribal Affairs has strongly objected to the revised guidelines for forest clearance that the government is in a hurry to notify. Prepared by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) after a push from the Prime Minister's Office, the new rules will ease the...
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