-Down to Earth In Odisha, both these commodities are nationalised, thereby curtailing the rights of the people on them As the harvesting season for bamboo and kendu leaf approaches in Odisha, tension is building between the forest-dependent communities and the forest department. In Kalahandi district, around 100 Gram Sabhas are planning to assert their rights over bamboo and kendu leaf despite legal curtails. “In Kalahandi Jangal Manch meeting on February 28, we decided...
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Uttarakhand district violates Forest Rights Act for Pancheshwar dam project -Ishan Kukreti
-Down to Earth The Pithoragarh administration has not even formed district-level committee to implement FRA The proposed 5040-MW Pancheshwar dam project, to be jointly carried out by India and Nepal, has been facing flak from environment activists for some time now. In a latest development, around 10 civil society organisations (CSOs) wrote to the Uttarakhand Chief Minister and the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs, objecting to the manner in which district administrative...
More »Grass or tree?: A rule reclassifying bamboo claims to benefit tribals - but industry will gain more -Nitin Sethi
-Scroll.in At the heart of the problem is a discrepancy between two laws on rights for Adivasis to the bamboo growing on their traditional forestlands. Across the world, taxonomists have classified bamboo as a grass. But under Indian law, it was treated as a tree. This definition has long given state forest departments monopolistic control over the valuable natural resource. On November 23, the central government loosened this grip by amending the...
More »Ten years of Forest Rights Act: Maharashtra tops in implementation-but credit goes to one district -Mridula Chari
-Scroll.in Gadchiroli has recognised community forest rights in 66% of eligible land, compared to the state’s figure of 15%. Ten years after the Centre passed a law granting Adivasis and other forest dwellers rights to manage resources in forest lands, Maharashtra has emerged as the front-runner among states in implementing the provisions of this legislation, followed closely by Kerala. A new report by Community Forest Rights Learning and Advocacy – a collective...
More »Madhya Pradesh forest department violates FRA, seizes tendu leaves from tribals -Ishan Kukreti
-Down to Earth The leaves were reportedly confiscated as the women were selling them to buyers other than the forest department Without any legal rationale, the officials of Madhya Pradesh Forest Department seized tendu leaves collected by 24 tribal women in Barwaha village near Mungaoli town. The incident happened on May 31 when the women were returning after collecting the leaves. The leaves, used in rolling beedis, are a part of the...
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