Telangana Govt Illegally Laid Roads In Protected Forests

The Telangana government has drawn flak for allegedly violating forest conservation laws by taking up road construction works in at least three reserve forest areas in the state. The road construction activities were taken up by the state government under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).

The issue came up for discussion at the 49th meeting of the Regional Empowered Committee (REC) under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC). According to the minutes of the meeting, of the 24 proposed road development projects, nine have been completed in reserve forests without obtaining permissions.

This means that the Telangana government allegedly failed to obtain the requisite permission before going ahead with construction and also violated the forest conservation and wildlife protection laws in place.
The committee also asked the MoEF&CC office in Hyderabad to issue a letter to the state government, to direct its field officials to ensure that no work in violation of the Forest Conservation Act shall be undertaken.

👉Hydnews

To escape floodwaters, Kaziranga’s large herbivores risk moving through human-dominated spaces: study

Annual floods spur Kaziranga’s wildlife to move to higher grounds to seek refuge. A study finds that large herbivores while migrating for refuge during floods, risk navigating human-dominated spaces, which they would otherwise avoid.

Elephants navigating the Kaziranga floods

The findings provide support for retaining woodlands or wooded areas on human-use lands, increasing land-use diversity, and retaining bamboo, all of which can provide natural cover and favour their movement decisions and space use.

To trace large herbivore movement and space use between Kaziranga and Karbi Anglong, the researchers looked for signs of elephants, wild buffalos, rhinos, hog deer and muntjac in form of dung (fresh) or pellets and their tracks (i.e., footprints) in the intervening human-dominated space on either side of NH 37 during the major floods of 2016 –– when 70–80 percent of the park was submerged –– and contrasted these findings to their results from a survey conducted the previous year during the dry season.
An increasing focus on the needs of migratory species in light of likely climate impacts is an important area for future research and policy.

👉Mongabay India

India’s Himalayan states desertifying most rapidly

Six states in northeastern India were among the top 10 places in the country with the highest rates of desertification between 2003 and 2018, according to a recent report. These are Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya.

Punjab, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand in northern India also witnessed some of the highest rates of desertification, the most recent estimates by Space Applications Centre under Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Mizoram in the North East has been desertifying at the fastest rate in the country, the ISRO data showed. Land degradation and desertification increased 2.8 times in the state in the 15-year period studied.
A total of 0.18 million hectares (mha) underwent degradation/desertification in those years — an increase of over 188 per cent. The state lost more than 13 per cent of its land to degradation/desertification in 2018-19 itself, according to the Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India

👉DTE

Kerala’s homegardens are a natural solution for climate change mitigation

Homegardens in Kerala are a traditional natural solution that will help in climate change mitigation. Studies show that restoring carbon- and species-rich ecosystems is among the cheapest and the quickest nature-based climate mitigation measures.

Traditional homegardens in Kerala display good carbon sequestration potenial. The trees and the soil in homegardens store organic carbon and avoid them being released into the atmosphere
Homegardens are defined as intimate, multistory combinations of various trees, plants, herbs and crops, sometimes in association with domestic animals, around the homestead. They cannot be confused with ornamental manicured (home) gardens with exotic and non-native species.
Homegardens provide many ecosystem services—from providing food and fuel and holding rich biodiversity to fixing soil nitrogen, acting as carbon sinks and windbreaks and managing hydrological cycles.

A study on the biodiversity of 75 homegardens in Kerala, revealed that the biodiversity was comparable with natural forested regions in the area
Urbanisation and monoculture have already dwindled the number of homegardens. Without further research or the political will to conserve them, the simplest solution to conserve biodiversity could be lost, say experts.

👉Mongabay India

Sugar unit infringes environmental norms: How does it affect lives in Amroha

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) August 24, 2021 formed a joint committee and sought a report on a plea against infringement of environmental norms in operation of a sugar factory by Wave Industries Pvt Ltd in Uttar Pradesh’s Amroha district.

In 2007, the company set up 30 megawatt co-generation power plant and traded 23 megawatt to UPSEB (Uttar Pradesh Electricity Board). The infringement of environmental norms was reported in village Maleshiya, tehsil Dhanaura, Amroha, Uttar Pradesh.

The order added that four-five kilometres of the region has already been contaminated. The water from hand-pumps has turned brown and is contaminated with synthetic compounds. The order was in response to a petition filed by Chanchal Devi. The plea alleged that the pollution puts in danger the health of 5,000 students and 1 lakh inhabitants of around 15 villages. The unit additionally illegally extracts groundwater without consent, even when the said block lies in an ‘over-exploited’ zone.

The petitioner knocked on NGT doors after the regulatory authorities turning deaf ears to their petitions, they alleged. The petitioner had earlier filed complaints on July 14 and 30, 2021 to the State Pollution Control Board, Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA), Chief Secretary (UP) and district magistrate, Amroha, but to no avail.

👉DTE

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