Environmental Issues

Residents of Joshimath, the Himalayan pilgrim town that appears to be sinking, are blaming major power and road infrastructure projects for their plight and are demanding that the government resettle and give new homes for all those who have lost their properties in the town. Members of the National Disaster …

Elephants winding their way up the rocky green hills in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBR) make for pretty photographs. But a recent article says the endangered Asian Elephant has lost most of its “optimal” habitat: flat terrain that is easily negotiable. A paper, ‘Fencing Can Alter Gene Flow of Asian …

The Municipal Corporation of Tirupati (MCT) is set to take a giant leap in water treatment by putting in place what is claimed to be the country’s largest liquid waste treatment plant to use phytorid technology. The plant coming up next to Vinayaka Sagar will treat 5 MLD (million litres …

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) predicted that Chennai would emit around 232 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) by 2040. Construction activities and operations of the buildings in the city could lead to as much as 231.9 million tonnes of CO2 emissions. The buildings consume around 75% …

A bird survey conducted at the Silent Valley National Park in Kerala in the last week of December identified 141 species, of which 17 were new. So far, 175 species of birds have been spotted in Silent Valley. The survey held on December 27, 28 and 29 marked the 30th …

Soon, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court of India will deliver its verdict on the validity of Tamil Nadu’s law permitting the practice of jallikattu in the State. Usually held during the Pongal season, jallikattu is a sport where men compete against each other to hold on to the …

An invertebrate survey undertaken in the Thiruvananthapuram Wildlife Division has reaffirmed the relevance of the region as a biodiversity hotspot. The four-day exercise to survey the invertebrates of Neyyar and Peppara wildlife sanctuaries and the Agasthyavanam Biological Park with emphasis on arachnids was jointly conducted by the Forest Department and …

In a five-year study, scientists of the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bengaluru have discovered secrets of a long evolutionary game through which butterflies come to warn, fool, and escape their predators using traits such as wing colour patterns and even flight behaviour. The study conducted by Ph.D. …

A lone Great White Pelican was spotted for a few fleeting moments at the Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary, located at the end of the Pulicat lake in Andhra Pradesh, on December 29. The sighting was documented by K.V.R.K. Thirunaranan, founder of The Nature Trust, and K. Hussainaiah, bird watcher and guide …

The State government has given administrative sanction for ₹52.83 crore towards the modernisation of the Tamil Nadu Forest Force for 2022-25. In the revised Budget Estimates (2021-22), the government had announced that special attention will be given to the forest force by providing it with modern equipment and technology, including …