More baby dolphins in Chilika

Mechanized boats and gillnets endanger rare species

Volte-face

Maharashtra plans industries in its tourist spots The Maharashtra government has invited companies to set up industries in a district, which it declared eco-sensitive 12 years ago.

Value lost in sea

Coastal erosion turns Puri's prime beachfront property to nothing

Lease and lose

Karnataka forest department critiques model to save lakes

Andaman takes measures to save Jarawas

though not in the near future, the Jarawa tribe in the Andaman and Nicobar islands may be in for some respite. Officials are planning to stop use of the first stretch of the Andaman Trunk Road (atr) that connects south Andaman with the north and middle Andaman islands while passing through the Jarawa Tribal Reserve.

Bangalore lakes leased out

privatization of lakes in Bangalore is a sore point. Environment Support Group, an ngo in Bangalore, filed a petition regarding this in the Karnataka High Court in January this year.

Tadoba tiger reserve An unsafe haven

Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, Vidarbha's star tourist attraction, is buzzing with activity. Inside the 625.40 sq km reserve, excavators are hard at work, digging up earth for an ambitious road-building project. Strips of forest, several metres wide, have been cleared alongside existing roads. Outside, along the fringes of the reserve, entrepreneurs are busy building a cluster of guesthouses and resorts. State forest officials too, are hard

Rescuing Buddha

Chinese authorities will give a facelift to the world's tallest stone-carved Buddha just six years after the last repairs as they struggle to mitigate the effects of pollution and crowding, state media reported. Carved from a cliff beside a river, the 71-metre image of the seated Buddha at Leshan in the southwestern province of Sichuan draws lots of tourists. But despite a 250-million-yuan (us $33.6-million) operation in 2001, the statue is already suffering a "blackened nose" and smears of dirt across its solemn face, Xinhua reported.

Illegal buildings trigger erosion, threaten Puri beach

people living in Sipasarubali near the coast in Puri, Orissa, are under threat. Waves have swept away parts of a beach in this popular tourist spot. While local residents are perturbed and visitors are avoiding the shore, officials seem to be in denial.

Neermahal: palace on shrinking lake

In 1930, the ruler of the then princely state of Tripura commissioned the British company Martin and Burns to construct a summer resort for him. The Maharaja got his palace nine years later: in the middle of a lake. It was aptly called Neermahal--water palace. Situated at Melaghar in West Tripura district, this magnificent palace at the centre of Rudrasagar lake is today a popular tourist destination. But unfortunately it is also in a dilapidated state.