Sand Mining and Gharials

India's sandy river banks are as endangered as the wildlife that nests on them, thanks to illegal sand mining! Correspondent Gharial for Nature TV News, in my column with The Hindu Sunday Magazine. 

Railway Line through Meghat

A proposal by the Central Government t expand the Akola-Khandwa Railway Line through Melghat Tiger Reserve could pose a threat to endangered wildlife like tigers and Melghat's flagship icon, the Forest Owlet, which was rediscovered from this forest. Fortunately, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra seems firm in his resolve to push for alternatives instead of expanding the line through the reserve and fragmenting wildlife habitat.

Comic from my column with The Hindu.

Kakinada Mangroves

The Andhra Pradesh govt. is under fire for destroying ecologically sensitive mangrove forests in Kakinada for a housing scheme. Home not only to migratory and resident birds, fish, crustaceans but also the endangered Fishing Cat, Kakinada's mangroves are also a source of livelihood for coastal fishing communities. Students from the region have launched a Save Mangrove campaign to oppose the destruction of mangroves.

MoEF Concrete Plans

The MoEF Chairman and his 'concrete' environment conservation plans.

Green Turtle lays eggs on Maldives Runway

A Green Turtle in the Noonu Atoll of the Maldives returned to her nesting site recently, only to find a newly constructed runway. The helpless turtle, whose instinct guides her to the same nesting grounds year after year, was forced to lay her eggs on the runway.

The Great Indian Busted

The last Sunday, Green Humour appeared in three Indian newspapers: other than my two weekly columns with Sunday Mid-Day and The Hindu, in a wildlife special edition of Indian Express, where this very grumpy Great Indian Bustard greeted his readers. While Indian Express published the above version of the comic, I prefer the angrier version:

Lessons from Kerala

Kerala struggles to revive after a major environmental disaster and the North-East is on the brink of flooding. What lessons have our authorities learned from successive episodes of mass damage to lives and property?

Comic from my column with Sunday Mid-Day.

Deserts and Arid Ecosystems

Deserts and arid landscapes are fully functional ecosystems in themselves, not needing any kind of artificial reforestation. This is a fact, among many others that the National Forest Policy draft of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change overlooks. Other than proposing to turn 'degraded' land into commercial plantations, the draft inclines towards the privatization of government-owned forest land and shows a preference for commercial monoculture over natural forests, while sidelining the participation of  communities in conservation.

The draft is open for public review on the MoeF website here. I request you all to send in your comments on the draft to digfpolicy-mef@nic.in, jitesh.kumar@nic.in and toforestpolicy@gmail.com  before the 14th of April.

Flamingos of Sewri

(Not so) Magnetic Maharashtra. From my column with The Hindu BL-ink today.

World Wetland Day

As governments mould wetland conservation laws to suit the needs of 'development' initatives and real estate, let's hope for a better future for wetlands, one of our most valuable ecosystems. Happy World Wetland Day! 

Forests and Rivers

On deforestation, development and rivers from my column with Mid-Day today.

Conservation and Conservatives

The irony. From my column with The Hindu BL-ink.

The Environment Ministry

As the PMO calls for further 'relaxation' of environmental clearance laws, here's one from my column with The Hindu Blink.

Elephant Conflict in Orissa

Odisha's pachyderms are in trouble. In the outskirts of Bhuwaneshwar, habitat loss has driven a herd of elephants out of its shrunken forests, wandering through rural areas in search of forest patches for food and shelter. As the elephants move about, mobs of men emerge from these areas, harassing, abusing and provoking the herd with sticks, stones. First hand reports say that these men are not acting in self-defense or to protect crops from damage (as there are no standing crops or homesteads in the area), but for mere amusement. The adults in the herd are forced to stand guard for the young, often resulting in dangerous encounters. The situation is alarming, both for elephants and people.

Sanctuary Asia has initiated a campaign 'Giant Refugees' urging Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to intervene. You can join the campaign by doing the following-

Share the link to the campaign video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwfLDIcP7fE&feature=youtu.be) with Shri. Naveen Patnaik, the Chief Minister of Odisha. Ask him to take urgent action to protect the refugee elephants of Athgarh by:

* Directing police intervention to control mobs so that the elephants are allowed undisturbed passage.

* Setting up a task force to effect the restoration of the Chandaka-Dampara Wildlife Sanctuary, and to secure and revive its corridors to the Kapilas Wildlife Sanctuary and the Satkosia landscape in the state.

Send him an email at: cmo@nic.in

With a copy to: editorial@sanctuaryasia.com

And

Tweet to him @Naveen_Odisha with the hashtag #GiantRefugees.

Stone mining in Banerghatta National Park

Banerghatta National Park near Bangalore (Karnataka, South India) is under severe and imminent threat from illegal stone crushing and mining. Banerghatta offers sanctuary to elephants, leopards, sloth bears, a wide variety of bird life in addition to several reptiles and amphibians, which is now at stake, as most of these quarries operate within the notified eco-sensitive zone.

Conservation India has launched an online campaign to urge action to save Banerghatta. Add your voice by signing up for the campaign here. 

The comic appears on my column with The Hindu Bl-ink today.

Welcome to Clean India

On the Centre's recent clearing of a 370 acre forest land (in Gondia, Maharashtra) for Adani Group's thermal power plant, from my column with Mid-Day today.

The Lakes of Bangalore

On the plight of Bangalore's disappearing lakes from my column with The Hindu BLink today. 

Tiger numbers rise- Say Yay!

One from my column with The Hindu's BLink today.

Clearance Man

Our Environment Minister, in and as... Clearance Man! The comic strip appears in my Sunday column with Mid-Day.

Chhattisgarh under'mined'

National news aside, some extremely 'anti-national' developments are going unnoticed. Here is a cartoon on the violation of the Forest Rights Act by the government to facilitate mining in Chhatisgarh. I'm giving away print resolution files of the cartoon free of charge on request, which you may place on e-mail (rohanchakcartoonist@gmail.com)