This week’s environment and conservation news stories rolled into one.
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Ready to lose life, but not land for the bullet train
Mongabay-India travelled to Bhiwandi and Palghar districts of the Mumbai Metropolitan region, where villagers are protesting against the bullet train project.
India’s megacities, Mumbai and Delhi, sitting on a pile of waste
Mumbai and Delhi are not just India’s top two megacities in terms of population but also in terms of the solid waste generated every day.
The invisible victims of an unfinished city
Once touted as India’s first hill city, the Lavasa project near Pune in Maharashtra remains abandoned following years of regulatory and financial troubles.
Aarey “forest” has fired-up Mumbai’s poll scene
A metro car depot proposed at Aarey milk colony in Mumbai will wipe out 2,646 trees, which environmentalists say will destroy Mumbai’s “green lungs” and floodplains of Mithi river.
Politics in Maharashtra elections skirt around environmental issues
Environmental issues have blown hot and cold. In some areas, protests have led to the government shelving or shifting projects; but in others, the govt has been bulldozing its way through.
Future tense for ecologically sensitive Dahanu
Established over two decades ago, the Dahanu Taluka Environment Protection Authority faces an uncertain future as the environment ministry has appealed to the Supreme Court to dissolve it.
[Commentary] How elephants navigate fences
A researcher who works on Asian elephants discusses fences and barriers from an animal behaviour perspective: what makes conflict mitigation measures successful?
Drug-resistance in farm animals threatens human health in India
The highest levels of antimicrobial resistance in farm animals are currently found in China and India: an as-yer unmeasured burden on human health.
Turning to the skies for search and rescue during floods
Scientists from the Indian Institute for Human Settlements use the Assam and Bihar floods to make a case for using freely available satellite images and open-source analysis platforms to aid search and rescue missions during disasters.
Five unconventional issues to be addressed while developing the new CBD Strategic Plan
In this commentary, former chairperson of the National Biodiversity Authority Balakrishna Pisupati outlines the issues to be considered while formulating the new Plan.