The ministry of environment’s committee, headed by Dr Saroj, to look into sand mining in Gautam Budh Nagar has confirmed that “rampant, unscientific and illegal mining” is being carried out along the Yamuna river.

Another disaster is staring Uttarakhand in the face. The Tehri dam water levels have reached full reservoir levels (FRL) and the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC) is in the throes of a major quandary. If they start releasing large quantities of water, it can lead to massive flooding in Hardwar, Rishikesh and other parts of western Uttar Pradesh.

With only 34 per cent of Indian mothers breast feeding their babies within the first one hour of birth, Unicef has launched a major initiative to make community-workers carry this message to women li

Four species of animals which had apparently disappeared from the neglected Valmiki Tiger Reserve have been recently discovered there. These include the grey crab-eating mongoose, a yellow-throated marten, the Himalayan serow and the hoary-bellied squirrel.

The National Green Tribunal on Monday cracked the whip on sand mining, banning all such activity across the country till such time that sand mining operators got environmental clearance.

“We don’t want this to become a second Ayodhya,” said an ageing Nazar Mohammed squatting on a large chattai (matting) spread out in front of the wall of the mosque which is currently under construction.

Uttarakhand chief minister Vijay Bahuguna announced a slew of measures for the flood-affected victims.

Flood affected victims of the towns of Lambagarh, Vinayak Chatti, Pandukeshwar, Govindghat and Pinoli Ghat in Uttarakhand have written to a slew of ministers demanding compensation for the damages incurred by the failure of the engineers of Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd (JPVL), to open the reservoir gates of the Vishnuprayag Hydro Electric Power Project (VHEPP).

The killing of 52 -year old Paleram Chauhan from Noida, who dared to speak out against the nefarious sand mining mafia operating in the Yamuna and Hindon river belts, brings to the forefront just how blatant the activities of this underworld have become.

India’s top agricultural scientists blasted the Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) report which had asked for an indefinite moratorium on field trials of Bt Transgenics.