Mr. Jairam Ramesh has written a letter to Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik asking for more safeguard measures for Tigers in Orissa. He has suggested at-least eight measures and has also asked the Orissa Chief Minister to intervene personally. The letter has been prompted by the visit of a senior official from the National Tiger Conservation Authority to Similipal National Park, who appraised Jairam Ramesh about the situation. The letter recommends that a small contingent of the state armed force … Read More
Three Coal Blocks Opened in Chhattisgarh Against Recommendation of Forest Advisory Committee
The Union Environment Minister has eased his stand against the ‘go no-go’ policy where three coal blocks were cleared in the dense Hasdeo-Arand forests in Chhattisgarh. The clearance comes against the recommendations of the forest advisory committee (FAC). The minister has given six reasons for his decision. He has said that the projects are on the fringe of thick forest blocks and that the project had been curtailed from original versions. The proponents were also said to have accommodated the … Read More
RTI Response from Environment Ministry Indicates Nearly 200 Tigers Poached in the Last 12 Years
An RTI application filed with the Ministry of Environment and Forests reveals that 197 tigers were killed through poaching between 1999 and 2011. The ministry also attributed the local extinction of tigers in Sariska and Panna to poaching. The worst years were 2001 and 2002, where 36 tigers were poached in each year. Two tigers have been poached already this year between January and March 17th. The ministry has not provided details of the action taken report for each case, … Read More
Immense Environmental Toll of Coal Mining in India
Coal mining threatens many of India’s sensitive wildlife habitats as the coal ministry is pressing the Ministry of Environment and Forests for access to even more forested areas. In 2009, the ministry had categorized 203 coal blocks as no-go areas. However, early this year it agreed to relax the no-go constraint on 53-percent of these areas, apparently under pressure from the coal ministry. Under a later meeting in April, this rose to 71-percent of the reserved areas and apparently, under … Read More
Eco-tourism Guidelines to Benefit Local Communities
The Union Environment Ministry has proposed Eco-tourism guidelines that will end up empowering and benefitting the local communities. All tourist facilities within 5 kms of any protected area will be monitored by local communities going forward. The activities of tour operators and resorts will be monitored to ensure that no disturbance is caused to animals while taking visitors into the protected areas. Also, the State Governments will impose a conservation cess on all privately run tourist facilities. The rate of … Read More
Molecular Ecology Article Calls Cheetah Reintroduction Project Genetically Flawed
An article in the esteemed journal Molecular Ecology has stated that African Cheetahs are genetically very different from their Asiatic Counterpart and hence has started a debate on the government’s ambitious Rs. 300 crore Cheetah reintroduction project. The article states that “Asiatic Cheetahs are unambiguously separated from African subspecies” with divergence estimates placing the split at “32,000 to 67,000 years ago”. The Asiatic subspecies is severely threatened with only 70-110 individuals existing in Iran. However, the African subspecies is present … Read More
Seeking Alliance with People, Government Launches Campaign for Elephants
New Delhi, May 24, 2011: Reaching out to the people, to improve conservation and welfare prospects of the elephant – India’s National Heritage Animal, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) in partnership with the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) has launched the nationwide “Haathi Mere Saathi” campaign.
“Elephants are so ingrained in Indian culture and traditions, that sometimes, we tend to take the elephant for granted. This public initiative is aimed at increasing awareness among people and developing not … Read More
Shared Concerns for Elephants Bring Together African and Asian countries at the E-8 Meet
New Delhi, May 24, 2011: An unprecedented initiative to mobilise global cooperation in elephant conservation and welfare began today with the Elephant – 8 Ministerial Meet (E-8) in New Delhi.
The E-8, hosted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, in collaboration with the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), brings together for the first time African and Asian nations to discuss conservation and welfare … Read More
Zoological Survey of India Revamp Concerns
Union Environment Minister Mr. Jairam Ramesh has voiced his concerns about the difficulties in revamping the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and the Botanical Survey of India (BSI). Mr. Ramesh says he has been frustrated at the inability of making these institutions autonomous. Both organizations are currently under the Environment Ministry. The ZSI has a 4:1 ratio of scientists to non-scientists. Both organizations are supposedly heavily unionized and attempts to revamp their structure is being resisted from within because of … Read More
MOEF creates new record — 40 clearances in 3 hours!
At a recent meeting of the national board of wildlife (NBWL) on 25 April, the energetic ministry of environment and forests (MOEF) cleared as many as 40 projects in three hours. The rush has left some members of the board gasping and fuming, since most of them got just 24-72 hours to study project proposals running into hundreds of pages.
One of the projects is permission for setting up the 330-megawatt Dholpur gas-based combined cycle thermal power project (stage II) … Read More
BR Hills and Kudremukh to Become Tiger Reserves
Union Minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh said that the government had approved two more tiger reserves in Karnataka. BR hills in Chamrajnagar district and Kudremukh in Chikmagalur district would become the country’s 40th and 41st tiger reserves. This takes the number of tiger reserves in Karnataka upto six.… Read More
Criticism of Jairam Ramesh’s Flip-flopping on Decisions on Environment
Union Minister of Environment and Forests, Mr. Jairam Ramesh is under criticism for his pseudo green crusader image and his frequent back tracking on decisions related to environment. RTI enquiries reveal that Jairam Ramesh actually clears projects faster than his predecessors. Between August 2009 and July 2010 only 6 projects were denied clearance, whereas 14 were shot down between 2006 and 2008. Of a total of 769 applications, his ministry has nodded at 535. … Read More
Jairam Ramesh lifts Stop-work Order on Maheshwar Hydel Project due to Pressure from PMO
The stop-work order on the Maheshwar Hydel Project in Madhya Pradesh which was put in place a year ago has been lifted by Union Minister Jairam Ramesh. The stop-work order was enforced as the promoters had not taken care of relief and rehabilitation of those affected by the project. Mr. Ramesh’s narrative on the lifting of the order cites multiple letters written to the PMO by MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan and former Chief Minister Digvijay Singh. The PMO … Read More
Jairam Ramesh Responds to Express Article on Moratorium Lift in Cuddalore
Responding to an Indian Express article titled, “TNPCB fudged data to push for moratorium lift in Cuddalore”, Mr. Jairam Ramesh said that moratorium was lifted solely based on an action plan submitted by the TNPCB. The express article was based on a report by the SIPCOT Area Community Environmental Monitors (SACEM) which claimed that TNPCB and CPCB had manipulated the data submitted to accelerate the lift of the moratorium. Mr. Ramesh says that the only formalities required for lifting the … Read More
Environment Ministry makes Environmental Compliance Report Mandatory for Large Projects
The environment ministry has made it mandatory for large projects to include environmental compliance in their corporate audits and report deviations to the company board of directors and the public. Without this procedure in place, the ministry will not give mandatory environmental clearance to the projects. The specified industries will have to put in place a Corporate Environment Policy (CEP) including adherence to environmental laws. The said procedures will be required of all central public sector units, coal based thermal … Read More
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