If forests belong to the forest-dwellers, then the coastal areas should belong to the fishing community. Acting on this line, the government is proposing to bring in a new law — modelled on the Forests Rights Act — to establish rights of Fishermen on the coastal areas and resources found therein. The Forests Rights Act, passed by Parliament in 2006 and brought into force in 2008, recognises the rights of tribals...

The people adversely affected by the Tarapur Atomic Power Station today said they would revive their agitation against the project and meet villagers protesting a nuclear plant at Jaitapur to create awareness about the dark side of the project. The announcement came days before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s scheduled visit to Tarapur to inaugurate a nuclear reprocessing facility. “The government has offered a higher compensation package to the local residents affected by...

In recent years, the agricultural growth rate has tended to be lower than the population growth rate. This year, the former is nearing the target of 4%. But we still have a very large percentage of undernourished children, women and men. Poverty and destitution also remain stubborn. The Indian food security enigma rises from the mismatch between the grain mountains and the hungry millions. What are the prospects for ensuring...

Acceding to the demands of the fishing community, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has agreed to drop or modify many provisions of the draft Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) 2010 notification. Chairman of the National Fish workers Forum (NFF) Matanhy Saldanha toldThe Hindu here on Friday that the draft notification, brought out in September 2010, had drawn the ire of the fishing communities for its failure to reverse the liberal...

Majority believe environment, livelihood are at stake Region falls in seismic zone III, which is not suitable for nuclear plants Villagers contest NPCIL claim that 626.527 out of 938 hectares acquired is barren It will be a mistake to construe the people's struggle against the proposed Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project as an agitation for higher compensation, says a social impact assessment report prepared by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. A majority strongly believe...