'Community rights must figure in the Forest Bill'
The raging controversy over the regressive draft Forest Bill has dumped the onus of defending it on minister of state for environment and forests …
How Bellary was laid waste
Karnataka’s Lokayukta Santosh Hegde’s report is a sordid story on the rise of India’s mining poster boy, Bellary. The …
Logjam
Whenever the Supreme Court pulls the trigger, why does it miss the target? Because governments like those of the seven Northeast states work …
A forest of controls
ALL ABOUT FOREST BILL AND FOREST LANDS Edited by S R Hiremath, S Kanwali and S Kulkarni Publishers: Samaj Parivartan Samudaya, Dharwad, and …
Forests of fortune
By allowing industrial plantations on forest land, the ministry of environment and forests has become profiteering industry's captive
Bickering to conserve
A continual tug of war between various agencies helped the Forest Conservation Act to evolve to its present form.
Clean drive in Himachal
Proposed amendments to this pristine state's Forest Act-make a fresh draft blow envisaged over ecological developments
Legislating green inequity
The government's proposed revision of the Indian Forest Act does little for community participation and only serves to vest more powers with the …
Revising an antiquated legislation
The environment ministry is updating the Indian Forest Act, but getting all the states to agree to it may prove to be tricky.
The woods are lovely
The conservation of forests and Natural Ecosystems Bill, sponsored by the ministry of environment and forests, seeks to weed out an obsolete …
What happened in Wayanad
It is not the first time that tribals of the Wayanad district in Kerala have rebelled against the state. In fact, the recent incident at the …
Dictionary-defined ‘forests’ will be out of forest laws?
Government proposes amendments to the Forest Conservation Act reasoning current laws not encouraging plantation, forest creation and mounting …
Odisha tribal department writes to collectors on FRA rejected claim review
The letter gives detailed instructions to district collectors about how to take up appeals and reviews of all rejected Individual Forest Right …
Tribal farmers to harvest second bamboo crop after earning right to sell
Here’s the success story of people in 16 villages of Rajasthan who put up a fight against the district administration to be able to sell …
Fall of the paragon
Century-old teak plantation business loses ground in India because of poor management and short-sighted policies
What Aarey case means for forest land classification
The question of classification of the land as forest or revenue isn’t relevant in the matter due to the SC order in the TN Godavarman …
Chaos in reforms
The TSR Subramanian Committee report, meant to suggest environmental governance reforms, creates more confusion
Colonial hangover persists
Forest Act Amendment Bill maintains the forest department as the supreme controlling agency
Adivasis account for 13% of total convicts, 10% of total under-trials, shows data
This number did reduce by a small margin, compared to data from 2001, but the disproportionate percentage of Adivasis in prison is just the tip …
Villagers unaware of forest rights find it ‘too good to be true’
Odisha village applies for forest rights title 15 years later; many villages still unaware, says NGO
Lafarge’s fait accompli
SC allows French giant to mine in forest; asks Centre to set up a green regulator for projects
Constitutional violations in amended Forest (Conservation and Augmentation) Act, say experts
‘Centre absolving itself from its constitutional responsibility of protecting the environment by enacting the law’
Right of forest inhabitants for claims against eviction not limited to Adivasi, backward communities: Supreme Court
Forest communities do not only consist of people from recognised Adivasi and other backward communities, but also other groups residing in the …
Does Bill amending Forest Conservation Act boost India’s green legacy or put it at risk?
Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023 was passed by both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha without much discussion