The minister for environment and forests, Jairam Ramesh’s order stopping Vedanta Aluminum Ltd and the Orissa Mining Corporation from mining bauxite in the Niyamgiri Hills to feed the company’s adjacent Lanjigarh aluminum refinery plant located in one of the country’s poorest districts in the name of tribal interest tends to miss the wood for the trees. It is based on the report of a four-member expert group under N C...

At least 14 people died in the last 24 hours in the 12 flood-hit districts of western UP, taking the toll in rain-related incidents in the state to 270. Nearly 5 lakh people across 1,032 villages have been affected, 47 villages have been marooned. On Wednesday, the Army was called out in Shahjahanpur district. Relief Commissioner KK Sinha said: "Ramganga and Garrah are in spate in Shahjahanpur and the Army has been...

Interlinking of rivers has the potential to increase India's arable land by 35 million hectares (mha), Minister of State for water resources Vincent H. Pala said Tuesday. Harvesting flood waters to recharge of ground water would increase the availability by about 36 million cubic metres, he added. Speaking at the conference on water organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here, Pala said: 'India has to create an irrigation potential of more...

Activists and many residents blame a hydel project for the growing frequency of landslides in some Uttarakhand villages. THE nearly 3,500 residents of Bhatwadi village along the Uttarkashi-Gangotri highway in Uttarakhand saw their world come crashing down around them on the night of August 12/13. A massive landslide that hit the village formed cracks up to five metres wide on the highway and these crept up the hills to over 100...

At least 76 people have died and several are still missing in Uttarakhand after cloudbursts and landlslides triggered by heavy rains. The region has seen some respite after four days of heavy downpour. The Chief Minister himself took stock of the situation in Haridwar and Almora districts, which have been most affected by the floods. Congress President Sonia Gandhi too visited the nature ravaged state on Tuesday accompanied by Defence Minister...