-TheThirdPole.net Going against its own orders, the government in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has ordered the fast-tracking of environmental clearances despite manifest evidence of illegal sand mining A few months after the Jammu and Kashmir government auctioned hundreds of stretches of riverbeds for mineral extraction, companies that won the bids are mining the riverbeds despite the lack of environmental clearance. This makes the mining illegal. But instead of...

-The Wire Science The camel is known popularly as the ship of the desert. But for all their resilience in the austere environs of the Thar desert, their numbers have plummeted in recent years. According to the 20th livestock census, released in 2019, there are some 2.5 lakh camels, down from the 4 lakh counted during the previous census in 2012. And this decline has environmentalists, policymakers and camel herders worried. Rajasthan...

-International Institute for Environment and Development, July 2020 The working paper entitled 'Deepening knowledge of MGNREGS’ contribution to climate resilience: A study of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh' strengthens the robust evidence base behind the climate resilience contribution of social protection, by investigating India’s largest social protection programme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). Guaranteeing 100 days’ paid wage labour to rural households that demand it and another 50...

-CaravanMagazine.in As swarms of desert locusts descended upon India this year, toxic insecticides were sprayed over two lakh hectares of land to contain their spread. But the measure could have serious environmental and health consequences. India’s Locust Warning Organization, or LWO, a body under the ministry of agriculture, uses fifteen different formulations of eight insecticides for controlling their spread. Five of these insecticides are banned, restricted or withdrawn in one or...

-Newslaundry.com The draft EIA Notification 2020, activists say, is a major setback for environmental justice as it weakens public consultation and dilutes compliance norms for corporates. The Indian government is censoring three environmental advocacy groups that are raising concerns about the draft Environment Impact Assessment Notification 2020. Fridays For Future India, Let India Breathe and There Is No Earth B have had their websites blocked. In a statement on July 13, Let India...