
Mongabay series: Hewing The Regulatory Tree
India has multiple laws, rules, policies, and guidelines to protect its environment, forests, wildlife and biodiversity. These regulations together provide the legislative framework to authorities at the federal, state, district or village level to govern them. Taken together, all these regulations resemble a large tree that encompasses all sectors and issues directly or indirectly related to the environmental sector. Strict implementation of these regulations, however, is increasingly being considered a roadblock to industrial and developmental projects securing green clearances. In such a scenario, successive governments irrespective of their ideology, have consistently made efforts to streamline and simplify the procedures to make the process quicker. However, legal experts and those closely tracking the field note that simplifying the procedures is nothing but watering down of the green laws. They point out that the dilutions of the country’s green laws are akin to hewing the regulatory tree of India’s green laws. Every dilution in the laws is similar to an axe cutting the tree in the name of getting rid of deadwood. Through this series, Mongabay-India is documenting how the regulatory changes are being brought in and what the changes actually mean. Our stories from around the country string together the decisions made in closed rooms and their impact on the ground. Through this project, we also chronicle instances where governments attempt to undo the efforts of courts that quashed environmental policy dilutions.


[Analysis] Developers should pay a higher Net Present Value for cutting forests

Environment ministry pursues ‘ease of business’, one office order at a time

[Commentary] Green language of the Union Budget may result in net loss for the environment

[Video Explainer] What is the significance of the Biological Diversity Amendment Bill and why did it face opposition?

India’s ‘coal shortage’ could set stage for overhaul of laws

Compensatory afforestation unlikely to make up for the loss of carbon stocks

[Commentary] We know the problem of alien invasive species, but are we doing enough to solve it?

Government eases public hearing rules for legacy mining cases

Industries violating coastal zone law can now get away with paying compensation

Ecological degradation at Narmada’s origin in Amarkantak spells more trouble

Over 1,800 rainforest trees to be axed for hydropower project near proposed Athirapilly dam

Government’s crackdown renews interest in draft EIA 2020

Mines ministry seeks public hearing exemption for expansion of non-coal mining projects

[Video] How does the new draft EIA affect the environment and me?

Environment ministry unlocked many protected areas during the lockdown

Cheaper coal transport through water and sky could come at the cost of the environment

Etalin hydel plant’s future now hangs on its economic viability

Concern for birds grounds Mumbai’s marina project for now

Despite COVID lockdown, environment ministry’s expert panels race to clear projects
Special series
Wetland Champions
- [Commentary] India establishes the largest network of Ramsar Sites in South Asia
- [Commentary] Wetland champions: Promise from the grassroots
- The story of Jakkur lake sets an example for inclusive rejuvenation projects
- Welcome to Tsomgo lake: Please don’t litter

Environment And Health
- Industrial water pollution threatens residents in Haryana’s Kundli area
- [Photos] Maharashtra’s female farm workforce struggles in the shadows of floods
- Sewing their way to a sustainable menstruation
- Continued fluoride contamination of groundwater is a glaring public health issue in central India

India's Iconic Landscapes
- North India’s hills are feeling the heat too, but differently
- [Commentary] Is expansion of aquaculture in the Indian Sundarbans an ecological threat or a pathway to sustainable development?
- One year of Similipal forest fire: The hits and misses
- Grasses spur mangroves to grow in an erosion-riddled Sundarbans patch

Beyond Protected Areas
- West Africa’s illegal online bird trade finds most buyers in South Asia
- Habitat changes may be causing sarus cranes to form breeding trios
- New gharial hatchlings in Nepal a hopeful sign for the critically endangered reptile
- Plastic, glass and other waste materials found in elephant dung in Uttarakhand

Conserving Agro-biodiversity
- Farmers fear low fruit production as Kashmir records decline in precipitation
- Scientists sequence chickpea genome which could inform crop improvement efforts
- [Video Explainer] What is the significance of the Biological Diversity Amendment Bill and why did it face opposition?
- Tackling agrobiodiversity loss in Odisha’s Similipal protected area

Just Transitions
- Unaccounted deaths lay bare the dark side of sand mining
- In the midst of coal shortage reports, a coal mine extension is approved in pristine Hasdeo forests
- As India looks to shift to renewables, Jharkhand’s coal mine workers fear loss of jobs and social security
- Are power lines turning Kutch into a bird graveyard from a bird paradise?
