|
Dear Reader,
Extreme climate events in India have become increasingly common, with severe heatwaves, devastating floods, and debilitating droughts alternating within the same regions. One proven and effective strategy to mitigate this impact of climate change is to rapidly and intensely expand forest cover. Therefore, it was seen as a happy augury when the Forest Survey of India (FSI), under the Union Ministry of Environment, reported in 2021 that India’s forest cover in the decade between 2010-20 had increased by 2,660 sq km -- an area “nearly 80 per cent larger than Delhi”.
However, Article14 points out this is not how it has turned out. The data given out by the government has been contested by the findings of independent bodies like the Global Forest Watch, which finds that in almost the same period, India actually lost 23,300 sq km to deforestation —an area “larger than the state of Meghalaya”. This dissonance is attributed mainly to the questionable methodology the FSI employs to collect data and the loose criteria it has used to define ‘forest’ since 2001 -- to include private plantations, orchards, and urban parks under its definition.These aberrations call into question India’s ecological security and climate commitments under the Paris Agreement in 2016—COP21.
Open landfills have been the default mode for disposing of India’s urban waste, with scant attention paid to its adverse impacts—the toxic pollution and the overpowering stench. However, as the volumes have grown, with the NCR alone generating five times the waste it did just a decade ago, it has now become an issue that causes frequent public uproar but brings no results. This, The India Forum points out, is because the states do not have the capacity to find institutional solutions, nor does the political class have the incentive to intervene to find one, as the issue does not have any play in determining electoral outcomes.
In Kerala, the government recently ordered a three-fold increase in fishers’ contributions to their welfare fund, in addition to the hike in the registration fee of both small and mechanised boats. For the fishing community, the move comes at a time when they are already struggling with the downturn in catch due to the annual 52-day trawling ban, which just ended on July 31. This is on top of the delays in pensions, children’s scholarships, and medical assistance. TrueCopy Think reports on the travails and challenges of the fishing community from Beypore in the Kozhikode district.
The judges, led by the Chief Justice of India, have defined the character and work of the Supreme Court of India since the country’s birth as an independent nation. As part of its series marking '75 Years of the Supreme Court,' the Supreme Court Observer examines the life and work of the “original eight” judges who comprised the first batch of justices of the Apex Court of the newly established Indian republic.
For more such stories from the grantees this week, please read on.
Warmly,
Sunil Rajshekhar
IPSMF
|
