<p>Additional reply by Greater Mohali Area Development Authority in Original Application No 739 of 2023 in the matter of Environment Protection Society SAS Nagar & Others Vs Ministry of Environment,
The verdant Polo jungles of Vijaynagar in north Gujarat's Sabarkantha district have a substantial population of tribals, but unlike many other tribal areas in the country that reel under poverty, ma
The remote town of Tail
Landslides in Nilgiris are mainly due to rainfall, but human intervention in the form of deforestation and plantation has turned this into a calamity.
At a time when illegal felling of trees by timber traders with alleged help from forest officials in the forests of Asom have become the order of the day, a team of All Assam Students' Union (AASU) members and journalists of Sonari town in Sivasagar district visited the Abhaypur Reserve Forest in the district and was able to unearth a shocking picture of the destruction of forests going on inside the reserve. The visit of the AASU members and local journalists to the reserve forest yesterday was undertaken following a citizens' meet on killing of rhinos and destruction of forest land in the State, which was held at Kaziranga recently under the aegis of AASU and Asom Unnati Sabha (AUS). The team witnessed mass felling of valuable trees after they crossed the Nailong River, situated just 2 km from the Namtola Beat of the Reserve. Vast tracts of forest land at sector numbers 26, 27, 28 and 29 of Abhaypur Reserve Forest have become plain fields. The team also witnessed wheel marks of trucks at the area, used for transportation of the logs. Interestingly, the delegation also heard a few rounds of bullet fire inside the forests. According to theories, the bullets are fired to alert the timber traders and their accomplices
An evaluation of response of one disturbed, one rehabilitated and one mature forest soil in lower subtropic China to simulated acid rain (SAR) were studied using a controlled laboratory leaching experiment. Land use change is one of the important factors in controlling soil response to acid deposition.
More than a couple of lakh trees could be axed in the ecologically fragile Kandi area of the state with the Union Government giving Punjab the freedom to cut down five species of trees from cultivated fields in this area without taking any permission. Earlier, farmers from 400-odd villages in this area had to take permits to cut trees once in 10 years. Now, the Government has been given the licence to issue these permits every five years. According to the new felling policy of the state Government approved by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, the felling and sale of poplar, eucalyptus, bamboo, babul and mulberry trees from cultivated fields will no longer require any permission. All that the owner will have to do is to intimate the forest range officer and DFO concerned at least 15 days prior to the felling and obtain a receipt of this communication. The felling cycle, too, has been reduced from 10 years to five. Experts maintain that this will result in the felling of over one lakh trees in the light of the fact that there was virtually no tree cutting in many villages for over 19 years now. SK Sherawat, Conservator (Central), Northern Regional Office, Ministry of Environment and Forests, said they had reduced the cycle to address the growing resentment amongst people who could not sell their own produce (trees) on their land. All praise for this relief, Chief Conservator of Forests (Hills), Punjab, Jatindra Sharma said: "By reducing the felling cycle, we also hope to encourage villagers to grow more trees.' Flaying apprehensions about indiscriminate axing of trees, Sharma said the stringent marking rules would ensure that only 5 to 7 per cent of the trees were marked for felling. R C Nayar, Secretary of Forests, Punjab, also shrugged off the 1-lakh tree count and said it was cubic feet wood that counted and not trees as some were dead and had no wood. The new forest management policy has also made some changes in the lantana harvest rules wherein this deadly weed can be cut and stubbed in a careful manner besides being harvested for use instead of being burnt as earlier.
The Madras High Court has directed the authorities concerned not to fell trees or alienate any land, particularly from sanctuaries, national parks, bio-spheres (reserved area) by issuing pattas or by any other means of alienation. The First Bench comprising Chief Justice AP Shah and Justice FM Ibrahim Kalifulla gave the direction on Thursday while admitting and passing interim orders on a public interest writ petition seeking to declare the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, more particularly, chapter II, III and IV of the Act, as illegal, unconstitutional and null and void. The interim prayer was to restrain the authorities from giving effect to the provisions of the Act, which was notified on January 2, 2008. In his public interest writ petition, V Sambasivam, who retired as the Deputy Conservator of Forests, contended that the provisions in chapter II enabled the Central Government to provide for diversion of forest land for certain facilities provided by the Government, which involved felling of trees not exceeding 75 per hectare. This provision was repugnant to those in the Indian Forest Act, Forest Conservation Act and Wildlife (Protection) Act, the petitioner said.
Haveeru 2008-02-20 Residents file complaints about trimming of magoo trees in Hulhu-Male -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | DATE: 2008-02-20 | PRINT | BOOKMARK Some residents of Hulhu-Male' has filed complaints regarding the trimming and cutting down of magoo trees (Scaevola sericea or Goodeniacea) from the shores and other parts of the island. A resident of Hulhu-Male' said on Tuesday that the Hulhu-Male' Development Corporation was cutting down the magoo trees growing between Dhiraagu building and the inhabited areas of the island beginning yesterday. "There were a lot of magoo trees near the shore,' he said. "The trees had grown to a height of around eight to nine feet but now they are being cut down and trimmed. Even now when it gets windy it's impossible to stay indoors since our houses are very near the beach. Now that they've cut down the trees which provide shelter from the wind the sand and dust are blowing right into our houses. Some of the trees had been stripped of all the leaves and only the roots were left behind. It's going to be very difficult for some residents.' Another resident said that because the trees near the beach had been cut and trimmed, those residents living in houses near the beach will have a lot of problem with the salt water blowing into their house by the wind. "An area of around 390 metres has been destroyed,' the man said. "Our houses are almost next to the beach and the doors and windows are made of aluminium. There is bound to be problems. I even contacted the HDC regarding this. The person who answered said that the trees were being cut down due to security reasons. I think that you can enforce security measures without cutting down the trees.' The Director of HDC Suhail Ahmed said that the main reason the trees in the areas were being cut down was because they were growing wild and the areas were turning into jungles. "We just wanted to clear up the area because the trees were just growing wild now,' he said. "And there is the problem of people throwing their garbage into the areas. We can only look after the trees if they are at a manageable size and amount. However these trees will grow shoots and fill out very quickly. This is not a permanent thing.'
At a time when the State Government is blowing its own trumpet saying that it is serious about preserving the forest resources of the State and has implemented schemes like the Seuj Prakalpa, massive denudation of forest cover in the reserve forest in Dhubri district has made the State Government's so-called "intention' a mockery of sorts. According to sources, Dhubri district has become a safe haven for timber smugglers which has threatened the very existence of the forest resources in the district. Unabated felling of trees in the reserve forests and roadside areas is going on in spite a ban being imposed by the Supreme Court. Due to the rapid deforestation in the district, reserve forests like the Pabatjhara, Rupsi, Guma, Mahamaya are on the verge of being names only. Smugglers are illegally trading the timber varieties like gomari, newly-grown sal, segun, titasap, that too in broad daylight, in these reserve forests under Parbatjhora and Dhubri Forest divisions. Valuable small and medium-sized logs are being carried on thelas and bicycles to Tamarhat Guma Ferry Ghat and supplied to Bengal on horse carts, through Boxirhat and Chhotaguma areas crossing the Gangadhar (Sonkosh) river on boats. A huge quantity of logs are daily being ferried along the banks of the Gangadhar at Guma Ferry Ghat. It is worth mentioning here that valuable timber are also sold in the weekly markets of Tamarhat and Paglahat. People here blame the forest department officials and guards for an unprecedented increase in smuggling incidents in the area. They have alleged that it is due to an unholy nexus of the forest department officials and guards with the smugglers that these illegal acts are being carried out. The local people have alleged that these smugglers have been paying huge amounts of money to the forest officials on a monthly basis. Reacting sharply over the Forest Department's inaction to protect the forest cover from getting depleted, the people here have said that if the Government does not takes any step to stop this illegal practice with an iron hand, the whole forest cover in the district would soon vanish and hence, would also affect the ecological balance.
The Forest officials of Nagaon have been conducting surprised raids in illegal saw mills in Nagaon and has intensified its drive against timber smugglers.
