The illegal felling of trees and illegal operation of Sawmills in Meghalaya has assumed such wide and significant proportion that the said illegal operation of saw mills and also illegal felling of trees has resulted in severe public outcry in the State. The common conscious citizens of the country have reasons to be anxious in the face of gross mismanagement of the entire forest cover and resources of the State. The entire episode has now attained higher proportions in view of some recent developments which prima facie reveal the intention of the authorities manning the affairs of the State to help in achievement of undue gains to a few individuals at the cost of the Environment, depleting the Forest resources and Public Interest, and environmental safety.
A PIL was filed by Advocate Nayanjyoti Medhi on behalf of the Garo Students Union through the Khasi Hills Zone President Sanjeeb A Sangma and General Secretary Alex R Marak praying for urgent judicial intervention of the Gauhati High Court into the illegal operation of sawmills and also illegal felling of trees in the State of Meghalaya, more particularly in the Garo Hills region and the subsequent inaction by the department of forest and other authorities in the State of Meghalaya to ensure strict compliance of the Hon'ble Apex Court's orders passed in W.P 202 of 1995 [T.N. Godavarman Thirumulkpad versus Union of India]. It was prayed on behalf of the Garo Students Union that if Gauhati High Court does not urgently interfere to close down the illegal saw mills operating in the State of Meghalaya and monitor the entire conservation of natural forests, protection, forest rehabilitation, regeneration, afforestation, reforestation and new plantations, with a view to maintaining or restoring the ecological balance, the State will soon have depleted the entire forest cover leading to environmental imbalances of catastrophic proportions. The Division Bench comprising of Chief Justice Shri Jasti Chelameshwar and Justice Hrishikesh Roy has admitted the petition and issued notice to the Government of Meghalaya which was accepted by Government Advocate of Meghalaya Sri Ratul Goswami.
Further details may be had from Sanjeeb A Sangma at +91 98630 22587 or +91 94363 13284
PermalinkSubmitted by MD AFTAR HUSSAI... on Sat, 26/01/2008 - 17:10
Sir,
It is very nice that our people is now environment conscious. Sir in my locality (Doboka, Nagaon, Assam) there also many illegal saw mills running. But the Ranger takes monthly ransom money from the owner and they are now destroying our valuable forest.
After a brief halt, Dima Hasao erupts in an uneasy situation. A businessman died at an incident of miscreant attack on Tuesday. The incident took place at 8-30 in the evening when unidentified miscreants sprayed several rounds of bullets at a businessman at Convent Road in Haflong town. Identified as Panchadhar Chaudhury, the business man was on his way back to his residence from his firm. A seriously injured Chaudhury was taken to the hospital where he was declared brought dead. The miscreants vanished from the spot amid darkness. Policemen rushed to the spot. Investigation is going on.
Guwahati police on Tuesday arrested a person charging him with trying to outraging the modesty of a girl in the city on Monday. The arrested youth works with Amtron in Guwahati. The incident took place at GS Road in Guwahati where a group of miscreants stripped off a teen aged girl on Monday night in full view of the local residents.
Good news for Assam. Courtesy Asian Development Bank. It has extended loans worth Rs 1,462 cr to the Assam government to improve road infrastructure in the state. In three separate loan agreements signed between ADB and the government, Rs 374 crore to improve road connectivity in the north-eastern region. The loan to improve road connectivity in north-eastern region will be used to improve and upgrade 434 kilometres of road in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura. The project is expected to be completed by 2016.
A huge fund meant for uplift of the minority people went to the Centre because of some bunglings in Dispur.The allegation came from the Rajiv Bhawan where the party’s minority cell said that the central fund to the tune of Rs 137 crore remained idle during 2011-2012. The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee blames it all on a circle of bureaucrats. Addressing a press conference in Guwahati on Tuesday, APCC minority cell chairman said that they would from now on keep a watch on central and state government schemes for welfare of minorities and check utlisation of funds allocated for such purposes.
Caught in a string of anomalies and irregularities, the Assam Human Rights Commission has directed Dispur to form a high-level committee to investigate the allegations during the past five years. According to information, the decision was taken after the commission went through the media reports during recent weeks on 'massive embezzlement' of money in flood control and relief operations. It has directed the chief secretary NK Das to form a three-member panel to probe the allegations.
Local residents caught seven NDFB militants of the Ranjan Daimary faction and handed them over to the police at Udalguri district of Assam on Tuesday. According to police, seven, among whom five were NDFB(R) cadres and two linkwomen associated with the outfit, were caught by locals at Natun Basti area in the morning.
The seven had been involved in many incidents of extortion in the area. A huge cache of arms including one US made pistol, 15 rounds of catridges, six hand grenades and two denonators, besides some incriminating documents, were recovered from them. The five NDFB(R) cadres have been identified as Pranjal Basumatary, Bhagya Bodo, Sansuma Basumatary, Saila Basumatary and Nersun...
A seven member Central team is on a three days stock taking visit to the flood-hit areas. Divided into three groups, the committee will tour lower and upper Assam district apart from the Barak valley. The team is expected to prepare a report on the extent of damage by flood and erosion. They are also likely to meet state Chief Secretary Naba Kumar Das on Thursday and hold discussions on flood situations along with rescue and relief measures.
The flash flood has rendered around 250 families homeless in Cachar district. The worst-hit areas include Madhura in Udharbond. The river Madhura, which originates from the hills of the neighbouring Dima Hasao district, completely ravaged the village with 22 families losing their homes and belongings. Assam Sports and Excise Minister Ajit Singh has directed the authorities to provide relief to the affected villagers.
The flood wave that ravages 27 districts have left Kaziranga National Park worst-hit. The toll of animals in the UNESCO World Heritage has mounted to 595. These include 17 rhinos, 512 hog deers, 28 wild boar, 15 sambars, 10 swamp deers, five porcupines, elephants, hogbadgers and python and one each of buffalo and jackal respectively.
The overall flood situation remains grim on Monday. Vast tracts of land in both Brahmaputra and Barak valleys are still submerged. The death toll continues to mount till 125. According to information, an estimated 24 lakh people have been affected in the worst-ever flood in recent years causing large-scale devastation in 4,540 villages with more than 9.35 lakh hectares of land completely inundated. The water levels of the major rivers are refusing to recede even after the halt in the incessant rains. The agriculture sector has been severely affected by the current wave of flood with 2.55 lakh hectares of cropland under water.
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