Nudged by the Delhi High Court and the Central Information Commission, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has finally made public the Gadgil panel report on ecology in the Western Ghats, but with a disclaimer.

The report, which was uploaded on the Ministry’s site on May 23, says: “The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel report has not been formally accepted by the Ministry and that the report is still being analysed and considered by the Ministry.’’

The report was submitted to the Ministry in August 2011. Public comments have been invited within 45 days.

The National Green Tribunal has agreed to hear a plea challenging the November 9, 2012 environment clearance (EC) granted to Lavasa Corporation Ltd for its $ 31 billion hillside township project in Pune district of Maharashtra.

The Tribunal directed Lavasa, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) and Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) to file their replies to the petition of a project-hit Pune native before July 24.

LUCKNOW: The Upper Ganga Canal Expressway, an ambitious projects of the Mayawati government, proposed during the fag end of the regime, has hit a roadblock. The Union ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) has sought a clarification from the state government on the project. And work on the project is yet to be started.

Close on the heels of rising poaching of big cats, National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in a strong advisory addressed to all the Chief Wildlife Wardens (CWW) has stated “every case of tiger and leopard death should henceforth be treated as case of poaching unless otherwise proved beyond reasonable doubt”.

The Bhojanchal Youth Association at a memorandum to Mr.Jayant Mallayya, Environment Minister of Madhya Pradesh, has urged that the guidelines given the Madhya Pradesh High Court about the prohibition on the use of polly bags were not implemented due to lack of control on it.

GUWAHATI: A workshop on ‘National Environment Awareness Campaign, 2011-2012’ on the theme ‘Forests for sustainable livelihood’ was organized by Environmental Watch and Management Institute (EWMI) very recently with support from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.

The workshop stressed the need of proper management of waste disposal near the banks of wetlands and other water bodies. The programme was held at Chakardeo Deshbhakta Tarunram Phukan ME School near Deepar Beel. The programme was inaugurated by Bhupen Chandra Thakuria, head master of Chakardeo Deshbhakta Tarunram Phukan ME School by planting a Neem sapling.

It asks company to carry out a fresh cumulative assessment study

The National Green Tribunal (NGT), New Delhi, has suspended the environment clearance (EC) granted by Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) for the proposed coal-based thermal power plant of IL& FS Tamil Nadu Power Company Ltd in Cuddalore district. The tribunal directed the company to carry out a cumulative assessment study afresh within a radius of 25 km from the project site and submit it to the MoEF for stipulating any additional conditions and safeguards required for the protection and preservation of the Pichavaram mangroves and marine environment.

New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) suspended clearance to a 3,600 MW project of IL&FS Tamil Nadu Power Company Ltd in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, ordering a cumulative impact assessment before the clearance is reactivated even though the laws do not require such a study.

Union environment and forest ministry has objected to former Uttar Pradesh CM Mayawati’s ambitious 147.8 km-long Upper Ganga Canal Expressway project, saying it involves 760 hectare of forest area. The ministry has questioned the purpose of the Rs 8,000 crore project. The Upper Ganga Canal has NH 58 parallel to it more than a km away. Besides, a road also exists on its left parallel to the canal. But the Mayawati government emphasized the need for the expressway saying the “roads get crowded during the movement of kawariyas’’.

Recommending scrapping of two controversial hydro-power projects in Karnataka and Kerala that had run into difficulty due to opposition from environmentalists, the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) has suggested setting up of a statutory authority to protect the Ghats.

The report of the panel, headed by Madhav Gadgil, formerly with the Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangalore, has called for cancellation of Karnataka's Gundia and Kerala's Athirapally hydro-projects, and gradual phasing out of mining activities in ecologically highly-sensitive areas of Goa by 2016.