The Indian government informed Parliament that during its tenure from 2014 to 2024, forest area measuring 1,73,396.87 hectares has been diverted for various non-forestry purposes, including infrastructure projects under the provisions of Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980, reported HT.
The Centre said the National Forest Inventory programme of Forest Survey of India (FSI) is based on a robust statistical design under which every year, field inventory data is collected from about 20,000 sample plots spread over the entire country. To ensure scientific accuracy, transparency, reliable ground truthing and correct assessment of forest cover, FSI increased its ground truthing points from 3,414 in ISFR 2021 to 8,494 in ISFR 2023, reported the newspaper.
Environment minister Bhupender Yadav said assessment of forest cover includes all lands, more than 1 hectare in area, with a canopy of more than 10% irrespective of ownership and legal status.
“During the period from 2014-15 to 2023-24, the forest area measuring 1,73,396.87 hectares has been approved for various non-forestry purposes including infrastructure projects under the provisions of Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980,” he said.
India: Parliament passes disaster management amendment bill
India’s Upper House of Parliament passed amendments to India’s national disaster management law despite “numerous concerns” raised by activists and opposition parties, the Wire reported, adding that there is “fear that it gives more power to the government in tackling disasters while taking away the power of states”. According to the outlet, “many” members of the house called the bill “anti-federal” and asked that it be referred to a parliamentary committee “as it affects the lives, livelihood[s] and security of 1.4 billion of our countrymen”. It added that activists called it a “terrible development” that ignores issues raised by citizens “during these times of changing climate and extreme weather events such as cloudbursts, droughts and floods”.
Ritabrata Bannerjee, an MP from West Bengal, pointed out that 250,0000 Indians were ”displaced due to climate-induced disasters” in 2022. The Hindu quoted Home Minister Amit Shah saying: “The freebies distributed by [states] cannot be compensated from disaster management funds.”
Only 102 of over 200k wetlands notified in country, shows data
Out of estimated over 200,000 wetlands in India, only 102 have been notified and even these are concentrated in three states and one Union territory, data from the environment ministry revealed, HT reported citing official data. While Rajasthan notified 75 wetlands and Goa 25, both Uttar Pradesh and Chandigarh have notified one each, the ministry’s data, shared in response to an RTI and available on the ministry’s Wetlands of India Portal, showed.
Wetlands comprise approximately 4.8% of the total geographical area of the country; and 6% of the world’s surface at the global level, the report said, adding that at least 6% of India’s population relies directly on wetlands for their livelihood, according to the Wetlands For LiFE report of the environment ministry released last month.
Anand Arya, a Noida-based birder, challenged the 2017 wetland rules in the top court in 2018 in a bid to protect the Dhanauri wetlands in Greater Noida from conversion into a real estate project. The case led to a landmark order in December 2024, when the SC directed state wetland authorities to complete ground truthing and demarcation of boundaries of wetlands identified for State by Space Application Center Atlas (SAC Atlas), 2021.
Take workers’ inputs while making effective heat action plans: Harvard researchers
Harvard University researchers recommended establishing a dialogue with workers on formulating heat action plans in India, HT reported. The report said interventions should be tailor-made as per the needs of different sectors and their differentiated experience of extreme heat. The recommendations came after discussions with over 150 experts were held at a four-day conference from March 19 in Delhi.
The newspaper explained that different workers will have different needs for adaptation. Indoor workers in restaurants, warehouses, and industrial laundries face fundamentally serious but different challenges than outdoor construction workers or farm labourers. Delivery workers lacking a common workplace have entirely different sets of challenges, researchers from Harvard Law School concluded, following the interdisciplinary gathering in India, the report pointed out.
Auction for offshore mineral blocks met with resistance and delays
A proposal to auction off 13 offshore mineral blocks that were launched in November 2024, has been resisted by fishers in Kerala, who say it will adversely impact livelihoods, reported Mongabay.
A study from University of Kerala’s Department of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries found that the rocky reefs where offshore mining is proposed help sustain marine biodiversity and ensure fishery productivity. Apart from environmental considerations, bottlenecks in technology and regulation could impact industry
India raises gas prices from April
India raised domestic natural gas price by 25 cents to $6.75 per mmbtu (million British thermal unit) for April after the previously decided annual increase kicked in, according to an oil ministry notification. The news was covered by Reuters, ET and other media.
The increase will marginally push up cooking costs for households using piped natural gas. Running costs of CNG vehicles may go up, while city gas distributors and fertiliser makers will also be affected. The price ceiling for natural gas from difficult fields barely changed to $10.04 per mmbtu for the next six months from $10.16.
China: Climate fight will advance even without US
China’s top climate envoy Liu Zhenmin said the world’s transition to clean energy will continue, even as the US’ second withdrawal from the Paris Agreement puts unprecedented stress on the fight against global warming, reported Bloomberg. Liu’s remark came during the Boao Forum for Asia – an influential conference attended by Asian leaders, according to the news outlet. It added that “developed countries have promised to pony up $300 billion a year for the effort, and Liu said it was incumbent on those that remain to meet that goal even without Washington”.
The Strait Times reported that China and France will “hold three high-level dialogues” in 2025. The newspaper added that both sides “commended their countries’ joint efforts towards addressing climate challenges” and agreed to “deepen cooperation” in fields, including nuclear energy, “intelligent connected vehicles” and green hydrogen. A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, Guo Jiakun, said the Trump administration’s fresh 25% auto tariffs move “violates WTO regulations” and “undermines the rule-based multilateral trading system”, Xinhua reported. Chinese president Xi Jinping is expected to meet heads of German automakers BMW and Mercedes on Friday this week in Beijing, Reuters reported.
Authorities mull intelligent green monitoring system
China is advancing an “intelligent environmental monitoring system” that integrates space, air, ground and sea, with a focus on addressing environmental issues that directly affect people, reported China Daily. Jiang Huohua, director of environmental monitoring at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said authorities are embracing rapid technological advances to enhance monitoring capabilities.
China issued guidelines to promote high-quality development in the environmental protection equipment industry, the outlet added. The guidelines call for expanding the development of robots and remote-operation equipment, particularly for environmental monitoring. They also promote the use of advanced technologies such as virtual reality and digital twins to improve monitoring efforts, Jiang said.
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