This week’s environment and conservation news stories rolled into one.
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[Video] How does the new draft EIA affect the environment and us?
In March 2020, the union environment ministry unveiled the draft environment impact assessment notification 2020. The EIA notification governs the environment clearance process for industrial and infrastructural projects.
Odisha’s coastal migrants return to where they started
Economic vulnerability and mounting debts (exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic) leaves people in Odisha’s villages, confused and staring at an uncertain future.
How carbon cycles in Pichavaram mangroves
Changes in temperature, rainfall, salinity, and freshwater flow shape the carbon-storing potential of the mangroves.
Rail route through tiger reserve set to get busier, faster
The central government proposes to convert a metre-gauge line through Melghat tiger reserve to a broad-gauge line, which would mean faster, more frequent trains.
[Commentary] A fresh start for a green India
Over 50 youth unions from India have submitted a letter to the environment ministry to condemn the draft EIA Notification 2020 on account of how destructive it can be for India’s ecology.
Finn’s weaver faces a risk of extinction
The bird prefers the Terai grasslands (mainly Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh) but the landscape in these states has undergone changes due to conversion for agriculture and development.
The rare shark of the Ganga
The Ganges shark remains under-researched and with challenges like low population size, long gestation period and small litter sizes, that prevent deeper study about it.
Mines ministry seeks public hearing exemption for expansion
The union ministry of mines has sought public hearing exemption for non-coal mining projects. An expert panel of the environment ministry has asked the mines ministry to justify the exemption.
Why do indigenous communities persist with practising shifting cultivation?
Their land, due to remoteness, poor access to markets and undulating terrain, leaves them with few alternatives.
[Commentary] ‘Righting’ the wrong: Rights of rivers in India
Courts in India have been coming out with several orders declaring rivers, members of the animal kingdom and lakes as entities, granting them rights equivalent to a living person.
