A swami and sand mafia

Just a few days before Swami Nigamanand died while on a fast to protest state-sponsored sand mining and stone crushing along the Ganga near Haridwar, the Uttarakhand government ordered a ban on mining activities in the region considered sacred. Millions of pilgrims visit the place to take a dip in the Ganga during Kumbh Mela. But the ban came too late for the comatose ascetic and ecology of the river.

Vanishing deer

Court ruling on forest rights cheers Van Gujjars

the forest department of Uttarakhand has started ascertaining the population of Van Gujjars in the Rajaji National Park. They started the exercise on July 18, 2007, after the four-week period given to the Van Gujjars for filing their representations to the forest department expired. The officials are now trying to wrap up the exercise in the next four months.

Supreme Court says yes to road through sanctuary near Uttarakhand

the Supreme Court (sc) gave the green light to construct a road through a wildlife sanctuary near Uttarakhand's border with Nepal and China on March 16, 2007. This comes after the Uttarakhand government, and Union ministries of defence and environment and forests agreed to the recommendations put forward by the sc-appointed Central Empowered Committee (cec).

BIG CAT CONUNDRUM

There are two things that attract people to India -- Taj Mahal and the tigers. Shouldn't we really care for them? -- Belinda Wright, Wildlife Protection Society of India www.hindusthantimes.com, May 4, 2005

Proposals put on hold

more than 15 proposals to de-notify protected forests across the country were put on hold when the standing committee of the National Wildlife Board (nwb) requested for detailed information on each of them during its second meeting on December 25, 2003, at Delhi.

Jumbo problem

two incidents uncannily marked the commencement and conclusion of the 'National Symposium on Elephant Conservation, Management and Research'. On December 6, 2001, two tuskers were killed by poachers in Rajaji National Park, Uttaranchal. Then, on December 20, an elephant herd trampled four persons to death in West Bengal. The elephant conference at Hardwar in Uttaranchal was held from December 16-20. It was inferred that:

Wildlife mismanaged

The death of wild animals in a zoo is, indeed a shocking phenomenon. On one hand the government and international agencies spend crores of rupees to save the tiger and on the other we murder 12 tigers due to gross negligence. The highly qualified doctors who vaccinated the tigers at Nandan Kanan zoo should be severely punished. The Nandan Kanan zoo has a history of reported deaths. Fifty newborn cubs have died since 1995.

A question of rights

on May 8, 1999, the Rural Litigation & Entitlement Kendra ( rlek ), a Dehradun-based non-governmental organisation ( ngo), moved an application with the National Human Rights Commission ( nhrc), saying that the Uttar Pradesh ( up ) government is not complying with nhrc 's orders which had

The green guards

in a few weeks' time, one might come across colourfully attired Van Gujjars -- the pastoral tribe residing in the Rajaji forest in the Shivalik hills of Uttar Pradesh -- talking on wireless sets as they patrol the forests.