Land for steel plants endangers Daroji bear sanctuary

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BELLARY, Karnataka: Nature lovers and wildlife activists have expressed grave concern over the severe threat to “Karadidham”, Asia’s first and biggest sloth bear sanctuary, located near Hampi in Bellary district following allotment of land for steel plants.

“We are not against development and setting up of large-scale industries for value-addition to natural mineral wealth, particularly iron ore, in the district through the newly established Vijayanagar Area Development Authority (VADA). But our concern is for the severe threat posed to the … Read More

Killing Softly, But Surely

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Spread before me is a grassland — a seemingly unending sea of golden grasses gently swaying in the wind, looking not unlike waves rising and falling to the rhythm of the wind. Out of this azure landscape, something, a bird, shoots straight up in the air some two metres high, but before I can catch and ‘paint’ the picture in my mind’s eye, it’s gone…then, a few furlongs ahead, another one emerges, leaps, a hen-sized bird–shimmering black body, silvery white … Read More

Carnivores and People in India

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India is a fascinating country. Not only is it is home to the largest number of languages, religions and cultures but also supports some of the richest biodiversity areas in the world. If we consider just the large carnivores, India has 4 species of large cats, 4 bears and 6 in the dog family. If we compare this to all of Europe, they have only 4 species of large carnivores. Even at a human density of more than 300 people … Read More

Centre rejects Vedanta’s Niyamgiri mining proposal

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NEW DELHI: The Union environment and forests ministry on Tuesday rejected the clearance for Orissa Mining Corporation to mine Niyamgiri hills for Vedanta’s aluminium refinery in Lanjigarh. The rejection is the most drastic of the measures taken by the government, which has generated the impression that noose could be tigthening around Anil Agarwal’s $1.7 billion operations in Orissa. The MoEF has decided to slap a showcause notice on the aluminium czar, asking why his refinery unit should not be denied
… Read More

Hospital threatens Guindy National Park in Chennai

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CHENNAI: Wood apple trees form a canopy over the mud trail leading through the forest, the chirruping of crickets fill the air, butterflies flit to and fro, and an ashy drongo sweeps across and settles onto a branch. It’s hard to believe that the busy Sardar Patel Road is just a 10-minute walk away. It’s noon at Guindy National Park (GNP) and not the best time to spot creatures but there’s still so much to see.

A recent announcement, however, … Read More

Frontline of a New War: Environmentalists Under Threat

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‘Amit Jethwa shot dead’ read the SMS received at about 9 pm on July 21st. I did not know him personally, but I knew Amit,  activist, and warrior for any ecological cause — be it the case of an elephant being treated cruelly in a circus or illegal mining in Kodinar bordering Gir or protesting against a shipyard that would impact the nesting of olive ridley turtles. It was a sleepless night, and I spent most of it trying to … Read More

India’s Vanishing Birds

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One of the most significant and exciting achievements of Indian ornithology, in recent years, was the rediscovery of the Jerdon’s Courser in 1986. The last authentic record, by Howard Campbell, was in 1900. First recorded by Capt. Surgeon T.C. Jerdon, an Indian Army Medical Officer, in 1848, it was subsequently reported by Blanford in 1867 and 1871. Always a rare bird, these limited sightings were restricted to a few river-valleys in Andhra Pradesh. Despite surveys by reputed ornithologists like Salim … Read More

Wildlife Beyond Boundaries

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The elephants stood at the stream’s edge. As the adults drank in measured trunkfuls, calves gambolled in the water. Just above them, on the slope, a large sambar stag emerged silently from the undergrowth. From a cluster of trees above came the scolding call of a giant squirrel, as a troop of Nilgiri langur foraged in the canopy. Just as we were slipping into a reverie, imagining ourselves in pristine wilderness, a woman called loudly to her children playing nearby … Read More

Tourism, But Not at the Cost of Wilderness

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Unregulated tourism in tiger reserves has created quite a furore of late, with even the Prime Minister Dr Man Mohan Singh writing to Chief Ministers of Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh cautioning against “unregulated and unplanned tourism,” following a report and media outcry on the negative impact of tourism on tigers and other wildlife on Corbett.

Resorts (along with other construction) is blocking critical tiger and elephant corridors, there is government infrastructure on crucial grasslands,  too many vehicles enter parks, some … Read More

The Kudremukh Saga — A Triumph for Conservation

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December 31st, 2005 was an environmentally historic day that went virtually unnoticed, even by most environmentalists.  It was the day on which a landmark judgment of the Supreme Court of India took effect, bringing the curtain down on a mining operation that was causing havoc in the Western Ghats of Karnataka.  The Supreme Court’s order was all the more remarkable because what was closed down was no two-bit operation but a massive, government-owned, export-oriented, profit making mining operation of the … Read More