World Bank loan for watershed projects THE TRIBUNE : January 20, 2006	The Himachal Pradesh government and the World Bank signed an agreement to enable the hill state to draw $60 million for watershed development projects in the mid-Himalayan region. The primary objective of the proposed project is to reverse the process of degradation of natural resource base and improve the productive potential of natural resources and the income of rural households in the project area. The Gram Panchayat Watershed Development Plans (GPWDP) have been prepared in an informed, participatory, and transparent process that they may be implemented with adequate technical backstopping and the project performance can be adequately monitored and evaluated.
Tehri dam has killed two rivers, says Bahuguna THE HINDU : January 23, 2006	The Tehri hydel power project had spelt doom to two rivers - the Ganga and the Bhagirathi, apart from wreaking havoc on the livelihoods of river-dependant villages, alleged environmental activist Sunderlal Bahuguna. According to the leader of legendary Chipko movement, ‘Despite of our protest for 15 years, the dam was allowed to come up by submerging over 22 villages along with 42 km2 of land holdings and over 1 lakh rendered destitute. Now, there is a plan to let the dam waters go beyond Haridwar upto Delhi. As Delhi had already killed the Yamuna, it makes for three dead rivers’. The Save Himalayas movement led by him was now advocating tree planting on the hill slopes to check soil erosion, as the siltation caused by the dam was very high. This would not only enable village communities to benefit from tree produce, but also to conserve water.
Diverting Sutlej could spell disaster : environmentalists TIMES OF INDIA : January 24, 2006	As Himachal Pradesh plans to tap its huge hydropower potential, environmentalists warn that diverting Sutlej, one of the fastest flowing rivers in the country, through tunnels could spell disaster in the event of an earthquake in the fragile Himalayan terrain. The state is planning 42 large and small projects to tap its hydropower potential of about 11,000 mw, which is more than a third of that of the entire country. If these projects were to be taken up, in about a decade's time the river could end up being diverted underground into various tunnels running over 150 km. While the government is excited about tapping the power potential and the huge revenue that will flow into the hill state's coffers, the greens disagree. They foresee disaster in the event of a major earthquake.
Move on cash valuation of forests opposed   THE ASSAM TRIBUNE : February 01, 2006	The Environment and indigenous people’s groups of the North East (NE) region have questioned the locus stand of the move to determine the cash value of the forest resources. They are of the opinion that the entire process to calculate the cash value of the forests is originated and dominated by those who are accustomed to putting a price on the priceless. Some of these groups also made arguments before the expert committee constituted by the Institute of Economic Growth (IEG) in pursuance of the Supreme Court of India directive in IA No 566 in Writ Petition (Civil) 202 of 1995. This Committee is an independent body authorized to determine the net present value (NPV) of the forests in the country and is also mandated to formulate its own procedure and methods for the purpose. These groups also expressed their concerns for the women in rural and backward area keeping in view that individualization and commercialization move. Levying NPV would simply eliminate the role of the women and would thus affect their interests. In case the NPV comes into existence, industries would continue with the deforestation spree by merely paying such values. Besides, the industries would also resort to trading in the forest items to augment their profits. But all these would have heavy adverse impacts on the civilization of the NE people, argued these NE organizations. Some of them also resented the moves made by the State Governments in the region to bring an end to the practice of Jhum cultivation without providing any alternative to it for the people engaged in such farming.
Himalayan yew faces extinction DAILY EXCELSIOR : February 12, 2006	Indian Himalayan Forests have a rich availability and diversity of biological resources, especially, the medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPS). This is perhaps largely due to extreme climatic and edaphic conditions conducive to the growth, development and diversity of these plants, which constitute raw material for pharmaceutical industries. Infact higher plants have served human kind as source of medicinal agents since its creation. The Himalayan yew/common yew, technically known as Taxus baccata Linn. (locally known as postol) of family Taxaceae is a slow growing evergreen tree 12-30m height, densely branched having long outspread or ascending shoots with needles of 1-3cm. length, flat, shining above and light green below with single median view having recurved margin, crown ovate or more globose. Since the extensive and reckless collection of taxus bark and leaves for the synthesis of taxol, all along the length and breadth in Himalayas and other regions have put it into the 2000 IUCN Red list of threatened species. It is therefore imperative that the threatened, fragile and over exploited Taxus species be preserved to the greatest extent possible for the future generations.
Rs 365-cr watershed project launched THE TRIBUNE : February 20, 2006	The Himachal Pradesh’s Chief Minister has launched the Rs 365 crore mid-Himalayan watershed development project at Parohi village in Kothipura of Bilaspur district. The Himachal Government had succeeded in winning the first-ever repeater Mid-Himalayan Watershed Development Project which would bring about economic rehabilitation in the rural area, especially the 545 identified Gram Panchayat of 42 blocks of the state. According to the Minister, the State happened to be an agricultural state, whose 90% population inhabited in the rural area and their livelihood depends upon agriculture-related activities. He also said the endeavor of the state government had been to provide better living conditions and improved economy.
The losing paradise THE ASSAM TRIBUNE : February 20, 2006	Manipur, the beautiful little Shangrila, is famous for the Loktak lake, the largest fresh water lake in the Northeast - a veritable miniature inland sea and the Keibul Lamjao National Park, the only floating National Park in the world, formed by run-off soil particles in the lake and getting bound by the roots of various species of aquatic plants and grasses. These floating mats locally called phumdi remain afloat due to its low specific gravity. But today, the lake is seriously threatened on account of damaging land use practices in its catchments, overexploitation of resources by a burgeoning population and its growing demand for land and food and also faulty and unsustainable economic development. Since the lake is included under Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international importance, many conservation works are going on to protect this amazing lake, but most of them are not so effective. The lake’s ecological character is deteriorating gradually due to lack of maintenance and management skills. Only a concerted effort on the part of official agencies, professionals, NGOs and the local communities themselves on this delicately balanced, biologically rich wetland ecosystem, can save the lake from its demise.
Tibetans vow not to use animal skins Vibhor Mohan for THE TRIBUNE : March 17, 2006	Hundreds of Tibetans vowed not to use skins of endangered wildlife species and donated scores of 'Chubas' (traditional Tibetan over coats) as part of a special campaign to save wildlife. Tibetans had been traditionally using tiger and snow leopard skin on their clothing but it was now the need of the hour to save these endangered species from extinction. There has been a sudden eruption of environmental activism ever since the Dalai Lama made a strong appeal to Tibetans. The initiative has been taken by the Tesi Environmental Awareness Movement (TEAM), an environmental NGO based at Dharamshala of Himachal Pradesh.
Development taking toll on forests Subhas Sharma for THE TRIBUNE : March 18, 2006	The adverse environmental impact of tourism and hydroelectric projects in Kulu-Manali in the north-western Himalayas has reached an alarming situation. More than 10,000 green trees have been cut during the past two years and about 30,000 are awaiting the axe of the so-called, development in this district. The Rs 2,000-crore project of the Rohtang tunnel would require felling of 684 fully grown and 350 small trees, just to make an approach road to the south portal of the tunnel, besides 20,000 trees would be cut to complete the 2051-MW Parbati hydroelectric project in the Manikaran and Sainj valleys of the district. A study carried out by the Himachal Unit of G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, reflected that the environmental situation arising at Kulu and Manali due to increasing pressure of tourism and deforestation has registered dangerous proportions of polluted air, water and an increase in suspended particulate matter (SPM). The study further reveals that the indiscriminate throwing of municipal solid waste into rivers is a common practice in this district which results in polluting of the river water. According to Shri Kishan Lal, an eminent environmentalist, the pace of destruction of forests due to the pressure caused by tourism, hydroelectric projects, construction of hotels and other developmental activities would convert this part of the Himalayas into a “desert” if not checked.
Unscientific mining on : Meghalaya PCB THE ASSAM TRIBUNE : March 20, 2006	Mining activities in mineral-rich Meghalaya were being done in an unscientific and unplanned manner without any measure for reclamation of mined areas, the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board has said. The main minerals are coal and limestone found in almost its entire southern belt of the state. Mining activities are mostly in private hands and such activities were causing severe water pollution and environmental degradation in the mining areas. As per information from the Directorate of Industries, the report said, there were about 3,800 industrial units or establishments in the state. Most of these were tiny units, non-polluting in nature, with some medium and small-scale cement plants, lime calcination plants, ingot manufacturing and steel rolling mills etc. However, a few of these were polluting and one of them was cement plant under large-scale industrial sector falling in the categories of highly polluting industries. While issuing consents, conditions were being imposed with regard to the effluent and the emission standards to which industries have to comply with. Conditions were also stipulated for setting up effluent treatment plants and/or installing of air pollution control systems whenever found necessary.
Upper Siang project likely to be relocated on Chinese concerns THE HINDU BUSINESS LINE : March 24, 2006	The 11,000-MW `Upper Siang' hydroelectric project in Arunachal Pradesh, which would have been the country's largest power project and the world's third largest - could be shifted to an alternative site, 49 km downstream of the original site mainly due to environmental concerns raised by China. The Chinese administration has raised objections to the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) project since the reservoir, if executed at the original location, would have led to submergence of territory in Tibet across the Arunachal border during the construction stage. According to the Government official, the project is likely to be re-christened as `Intermediate Siang' on account of its new location and a decision on the revised project size would be taken once a fresh feasibility report is completed. Investigations have been taken up for the preparation of the feasibility report for the project at the new site, the official said, adding that the new production capacity of the project can be established only once the report is completed.
Global warming swells Tibetan lakes D Radhakrishnan for THE SENTINEL : April 15, 2006	The pasture near the lake is flooded from time to time; in winter, it is often covered with ice according to the residents of Lhasa. In many lake areas, water springs out of formerly dry places, roads are flooded, and alkali is found no more in what used to be alkaline lakes. Many herders have also witnessed similar situations. The Remote Sensing Application Research Centre of the Tibet Autonomous Region conducted site surveys of five lakes in the prefecture and analyzed changes in the sizes of the lakes over the past two decades with remote sensing mapping. The study found rises in rainfall as well as in air and ground temperatures in lake areas but declines in water evaporation, exposure to sunlight, and thickness of snow and frozen earth which might cause the lakes to swell. The average water level in Naigri Puencog and two other inland lakes rose by 12.6 meters in the recent two decades, flooding an average 40.8 km2 of pasture, cropland and roads. Despite the damages to the pastures and roads, many people say the local climate is milder than before as it gets warmer and rains more often.
Development projects not wildlife-friendly THE HINDU : April 21, 2006	Environmentalists claimed that the development projects in Uttaranchal are not wildlife friendly and are especially causing harm to elephant population of the State. Raising concern about an elephantine problem as 90 elephants have been killed in the last five years, which was nearly 20% of the State's pachyderm population, according to Himalayan Chipko Foundation. After the formation of Uttaranchal state in November 2000 there had been a spurt in development activities in the State, dams, roads, bridges, transmission lines, canals were being constructed. Further, there was a proposal to build a four-lane highway from Dehradun to Tanakpur through Rajaji, Chilla and Corbett national park, posing danger to the wildlife and ecology of the area. Though development activities could not be stopped, however, such projects must have adequate planning to make them wildlife and eco-friendly, the wildlife activists believed.
Call to preserve Himalayan eco-system THE HINDU : April 24, 2006	After reports that global warming, higher pollution levels and deforestation would lead to "death" of major Himalayan rivers, particularly the Ganga, and cause irreparable damage to the Himalayan eco-system, those closely associated with the region including mountaineers, glaciologists, climatologists and ecologists have urged the Union Government to take immediate measures for conservation of the fragile eco-system of the region. Demanding immediate revival of the Planning Commission's Himalayan Region Task Force, the experts have asked the Union Government to undertake the conservation of the Himalayas as a Central project with active involvement of all the Himalayan States. Cooperation of the countries located astride the Himalayas and those sharing common borders should also be taken for evolving a joint strategy for management of the Himalayas, they opined. Experts have also stressed the need for setting up a monitoring network along the Indian Himalayan Arc for collection of scientific data on climate change impacts, pollutant transport, cryosphere (the frozen water part of the earth system), high altitude limnology, medical and physiological sciences, high altitude fauna and vegetation, and assessment of environmental impacts for improved territorial use by setting up pyramid laboratory observatories in the Himalayan glaciers.
Autonomous wildlife authority on cards THE TRIBUNE : April 27, 2006	The Himachal Pradesh state government is considering to setup an autonomous authority for the management of four major protected wildlife areas in the state. The State Forest Minister said the Great Himalayan Conservation Authority; the proposed organization would be responsible for the management of the Pin Valley National Park, the Rupi Bhaba Wildlife Sanctuary and the Kanawar Wildlife Sanctuary apart from managing the Great Himalayan National Park. He said the authority would have a flexible administrative procedure and governing board structure to help ensure continuity of funding across financial years and eliminate bureaucratic delays.
Tripura tribals face eviction THE HINDU : May 20, 2006	The land dispute between the Revenue and Forest Departments of Tripura poses an eviction threat to 60,000 forest dwellers, at a time when Parliament is all set to pass the Scheduled Tribes (Recognition of Forest Right) Bill. The families lost their right on the trees and timbers produced on the lands allotted to them by the Revenue Department, with the forest administration issuing a fresh ban order. The Revenue Department had allotted the land to the displaced, mostly tribals, about two decades ago. But now the forest official alleged that the Revenue Department cannot allot any forest land without the permission of the Forest Department and the dwellers are viewed as encroachers
Biological diversity of North East Moon Moon Sharma for THE ASSAM TRIBUNE : May 22, 2006	An appeal was shouted to strengthen people’s commitment and action for the conversation of biological diversity in the North-East on the eve of the International Day of Biological Diversity. The North East in India is a geographically distinct region and is well known for its unique bio-diversity. As an extension of the Himalayan range, the region is marked with hills, mountains, valleys, a range of elevations, platforms as well as depressions. It is one of the ten bio-geographical zones of the country. Sixty four per cent of total geographical area of the region is covered with various types of forests, especially, moist deciduous and alpine forests. Though the region embodies 7-8% of the total geographical area of the country it contributes about 26% to total forests cover of the nation. It is one of the major orchid habitats as nearly 50% of the total available 1300 species in the country are found in this region. The region is not only rich in floral wealth and endemic species of plants, but also habitat of many faunas including one horned rhino, greater adjutant stork, Gangetic river dolphin, vulture and many other mammals. Greater adjutant stork or Bortokola or Hargila is a very important globally endangered bird that is now on the verge of extinction.
Sanctuaries at Naina Devi, Norgu may be scrapped Rakesh Lohumi for THE TRIBUNE : May 22, 2006	The Naina Devi and the Norgu sanctuary are among the four protected wildlife areas proposed to be scrapped under the rationalization exercise carried out by the Forest Department of Himachal Pradesh. Besides, boundaries of 15 other protected areas are proposed to be redrawn by excluding inhabited and cultivated areas and including those important for wildlife conservation. Spread over an area of 278 km2, the Norgu sanctuary in Chuhar valley of Mandi district is the biggest protected area proposed to be de-notified. Naina Devi sanctuary (123 km2) in Bilaspur is also significant, while the Darlaghat (6.5 km2) and Sili (2 km2) are indeed small. The department maintains that these sanctuaries will not serve the purpose of providing a safe habitat for wildlife because of “too much human interference” or “very small area”. The Norgu and Naina Devi sanctuaries are dotted with human habitations, which is not conducive to proper management of protected areas as there is much biotic interference. However, environmentalists are not in favour of tinkering with protected areas frequently as it affects wildlife.
Attack of the wild worries Uttaranchal Swati R Sharma for THE STATESMAN : May 23, 2006	It’s not the fear of criminals or natural disasters but wild animal attacks that is the biggest worry for people of this hill state. In the last five years, more than 150 people have been killed by wild animals as the forest department remained a mute spectator. People of the state, especially those living on the fringes of forests, are facing the constant threat of animal attacks. Wild animals, especially leopards, tigers, elephants and the blue bull damage crops, and houses and also attacks animals and humans. According to records of the forest department, in the last five years, ex-gratia has been given to the next of kin of 131 people killed in wild animal attacks. Besides this, 5,459 cattle have been killed by wild animals and 3,558 incidents of animals going on rampage and damage to crops have been recorded. There have also been instances of humans being killed by wild animals in reserve forest areas or in national parks, in which cases there is no provision for compensation under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. It is not only the people who suffer loss; many wild animals also lose their lives. In order to save their crops from the onslaught of the wild animals, villagers either poison them or electrocute them

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