Chandigarh: SC orders bar on razing of any construction which has come up till May 21. In an immediate relief for those facing demolition of their buildings/ constructions in the Sukhna catchment area, the Supreme Court today ordered a stay on the demolition orders. Making it clear that the Administration authorities will not demolish any construction which has come up till May 21, a division bench of the Apex Court today also ruled that no further construction will be allowed to come up in the catchment area till further orders.

At least 141 incidents of forest fires have taken place in Uttarakhand since the beginning of March which has affected about 200 hectares of forest land. However, unofficial sources claim that nearly 1,000 hectares forest land has been affected by forest fires. While Forest Department officials avert that all necessary measures are being taken to tackle forest fires, environmentalists complain that the efforts are not enough to mitigate this phenomenon.

99,850 Hectares Of Green Cover Eroded Between ’07 & ’09: IISc Study. Going by the latest report on deforestation in India, we have lost forest area equivalent to more than half of New Delhi or as big as a tier two city between 2007 and 2009 alone. The study conducted by a team of forestry researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore for “Current Science” journal says that massive deforestation has been masked by Forest Survey of India’s afforestation data.

NEW DELHI: A panel set up to review norms for no-go areas that will protect certain areas from commercial activity is likely to recommend mining should be disallowed in all national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in the country. Sources in the government told TOI that the committee, headed by the Union environment and forests secretary, is likely to close the debate over no-go areas as it is not inclined to reassess protected areas in view of existing legal protection provided to national parks and sanctuaries that has been supplemented by orders of the Supreme Court.

NEW DELHI: A panel set up to review norms for no-go areas that will protect certain areas from commercial activity is likely to recommend mining should be disallowed in all national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in the country. Sources in the government told TOI that the committee, headed by the Union environment and forests secretary, is likely to close the debate over no-go areas as it is not inclined to reassess protected areas in view of existing legal protection provided to national parks and sanctuaries that has been supplemented by orders of the Supreme Court.

The government does. It says area under forests has been increasing for the last 13 years. M Rajshekhar finds this is the outcome of statistical jugglery and the use of flawed definitions by India’s forest bureaucracy. The bald truth is India’s forests are in serious decline, both in numbers and in health. In February, the latest instalment of a little environmental kabuki played out when the Forest Survey of India released its biennial report card of forests. It declared India’s forests were in fine fettle, with a net addition of 1,128 sq km, or 0.16%, in the last two years.

In order to decide the dispute pertaining to the catchment area of Sukhna Lake, the Chandigarh Administration has sought the original copy of the map of catchment area defined and revalidated by the Survey of India. The map was sought after a meeting recently held by officials of the Chandigarh Administration.
As per available information, it was in 1996 when the Survey of India had defined the catchment area and had revalidated the same in 2006. A coordination committee was constituted by the UT Administration following directions passed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The main reason for the rapid drop in green cover in Andhra Pradesh seems to be hidden in the Forest Survey of India's (FSI) latest data on forest fires. As per FSI, the state has witnessed 506 forest fires in the last 51 days alone, which is almost five times more than any other state in India. In fact, on February 20 itself, there were as many as 169 fires reported across AP mainly from Khammam, Mahbubnagar and Adilabad.

To negate the Punjab government’s claim that no part of the catchment area falls within the jurisdiction of Punjab, Advocate Tanu Bedi, amicus curiae in the public interest litigation (PIL) pertaining to Sukhna Lake, today produced photographs to prove that a total of 277 hectares of catchment area falls in Punjab. Bedi also raised the threat to Sukhna Lake over the construction of housing projects in the catchment area.

The green cover in the state has declined by 554 sq km. This was revealed on Wednesday in the report of the Forest Survey of India. The forest cover (sanctuaries and protected area) recorded a nominal decline of just one sq km while the trees outside the forest area recorded a decrease of 553 sq km. Additional principal chief conservator of forest, social forestry, H S Singh, said, "The data released in the report 2011 is for the year 2008-09.