-IANS DEHRADUN/ HARIDWAR: There was still no clarity over the number of deaths in the flood-ravaged Uttarakhand, with a state minister on Sunday not ruling out an "estimate" of 10,000-plus and chief minister Vijay Bahuguna putting the number of missing people at 3,000. Uttarakhand health minister Surinder Singh Negi did not discount assembly speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal's claim on Saturday of the toll in the tragedy having crossed 10,000. "He (Kunjwal) has given...

-PTI   Chennai: With Environmentalists citing ecological degradation as the reason for the natural disaster in Uttarakhand, the Centre on Sunday said it would take stock of the situation and study such concerns once rescue operations were completed. "We have to wait till the rescue operations are over and then we have to take stock of the situation before we decide on anything," the Union Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan told reporters in Chennai. She...

-PTI BHUBANESWAR: Cautious after the devastation in Uttarakhand, Odisha government on Wednesday asked all district collectors to ensure that no brick kiln operated on river beds. Revenue and disaster management minister S N Patro said the flood situation in Uttarakhand had worsened due to large constructions on the river banks and flouting of Environmental laws. In Odisha, unscrupulous persons were setting up unauthorised brick kilns along the rivers which lead to erosion of...

-The Times of India AHMEDABAD: A major hurdle in increasing the height of Sardar Sarovar dam on Narmada river from the present 121.92 metres to 138.64 metres has been cleared. Both Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh governments said during a meeting convened by Union government's department of social justice on Thursday that the process of rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) has been completed in their respective regions and that they have no objection if...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: It's clear that the devastation caused by the flash floods and landslides in Uttarakhand was at least in part due to Environmental degradation of fragile mountain slopes and reckless commercialization. Yet, weeks before the calamity state CM Vijay Bahuguna had railed against "Environmentalists" and "Green Statutes" for hampering development work during a May 23 meeting in Delhi with Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Plan deputy chair, to finalize...