Is India Winning the War Against Pollution? The fight for cleaner air and water intensifies as the nation grapples with the escalating impacts of climate change. From the devastating floods in Assam to the alarming rise in air pollution levels in Delhi, environmental challenges demand urgent action. This week saw crucial discussions on sustainable agriculture and renewable energy sources at the India Climate Change Conference, highlighting the government's commitment to tackling deforestation and promoting biodiversity conservation. But are these efforts enough? Experts warn of looming water scarcity and the need for stricter regulations on industrial emissions. The future of India's environment hangs in the balance, demanding collective responsibility and innovative solutions. Explore Abtak.com for in-depth analysis and the latest updates on environmental policies, climate activism, and the ongoing struggle for a sustainable India. Discover how you can contribute to a greener tomorrow.
BENGALURU: Forest officials on Friday took into custody four persons for the death by poisoning of a tigress and her four cubs at the Gajanur beat of Hoogyam range in Male Mahadeshwara (MM) Hills wildlife sanctuary in Chamarajanagar district on Friday. The carcasses of tigress and her four cubs were discovered by patrolling personnel on Thursday. Among the arrested was Shivanna, a resident of Kallbedoddi, who used to let his cow to graze in the forest areas, and was upset after it was killed in a wild animal attack. In retaliation, officials said, Shivanna smeared pesticide on the carcass of the cow and left it in the sanctuary. The cow meat attracted the tigress and her four cubs, which consumed the meat and were poisoned. Forest officials were tight lipped on the detention of persons with regard to the death of tigers. A necropsy report on the death of the tigress and the four cubs was awaited by forest officials. It is suspected that the tigress allowed her cubs to feast on the kill first leading to the deaths of cubs while the tigress feasted on the kill later. The spot examination by forest officials discovered granules believed to be of the poison. "It looks like cubs died first and later the tigress," said the source stating that the carcass of tigress was fresh when it was discovered on Thursday at around 12.30 pm. Sanctuary DCF Y. Chakrapani, ACF Gajanna Hegde, RFO Madesh along with wildlife vets Wasim Mirza and Siddaraju came across the kill and upon examination, strongly suspected the tigress and her cubs had died after feasting on the treated injured cow. There are about 12 villages in the vicinity of Hoogyam range and an estimated 6,000 people reside in these villages. A villager of Hoogyam said villagers let their cattle graze illegally inside the sanctuary and many times grazing cattle become victims of tiger or leopard attacks but no reports on attacks on humans in sanctuary by leopards or tigers. Meanwhile, forest minister Eshwar Khandra on Friday inspected the area and said that action would be taken against erring persons.
KARUR: A two-year-old spotted deer which wandered off from a reserved forest near Vadacheri into Veeranampatti village was chased by stray dogs and took refuge inside a house on Saturday morning. According to sources, the reserved forest is situated close to the village and spotted deer frequently roam near the village border in search of food and water. On Saturday, the deer lost its way while grazing, wandered into Veeranampatti, and was chased by stray dogs. The panicked animal ran into a nearby house, and the owner, Selvakumar, immediately informed forest officials and fire and rescue se ...Read More >
Bengaluru, Jun 28 (PTI) Two people were arrested on Saturday in connection with the death of a tigress and her four cubs in the Hugyam forest range of Male Mahadeshwara Hills, police said. The big cats were found dead on Thursday, and subsequent investigation revealed they were poisoned. The breakthrough came after the carcass of a poisoned cow belonging to Maada alias Maaduraju was found. According to police, Maaduraju was reportedly enraged after his cow named 'Kenchi' was preyed upon by wild animals. To avenge the loss, he sprayed poison on the cow's carcass. His friend Nagaraju too is ...Read More >
Bhubaneswar: Nature lovers have a fresh reason to visit Nandankanan Zoological Park in Odisha's Bhubaneswar, as the famed wildlife sanctuary welcomed seven baby yellow anacondas into its reptilian fold on Sunday -- a rare and exciting addition that underscores the zoo's growing reputation as a haven for exotic species. The tiny hatchlings were born to a breeding pair of yellow anacondas brought to Nandankanan from the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust in Chennai in October 2019. With these new arrivals, the zoo now proudly houses a thriving family of 14 yellow anacondas -- two adult males, two adul ...Read More >
BENGALURU: Unidentified persons allegedly poisoned as many as 20 Bonnet Macaques and stuffed them into two gunny bags before dumping them on a roadside linking Kandegala-Kodasoge in Gundlupet taluk of Chamarajanagar district on Wednesday. Of the 20 poisoned macaques, 18 died while two survived. The surviving monkeys have been treated by veterinarians. A wildlife activist in Gundlupet suspects that some villagers might have poisoned the Bonnet Macaques due to their frequent crop raids and nuisance in the area. The dumping is believed to have occurred around 6:30 am on Wednesday, before being d ...Read More >
Bengaluru: Concerns have been raised following the report of another tigress' death in Karnataka on Saturday, coming close on the heels of the shocking incident involving the death of a tigress and her four cubs. According to forest officials, the latest death has been reported from the Gundre Forest Range in Bandipur, located in Chamarajanagar district. Authorities, based on preliminary investigation, have stated that the tigress, estimated to be between 4 and 5 years old, appears to have died of natural causes. However, the post-mortem report is awaited for confirmation. The carcass was d ...Read More >
Bengaluru: In an incident of concern, the unnatural death of a tigress and her three cubs, probably due to poisoning, came to light in the Male Mahadeshwara Hills Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka's Chamarajanagar district on Thursday. Addressing media persons in Bengaluru, Forests, Ecology, and Environment Minister Eshwar Khandre announced that an investigation has been ordered into the incident and officials have been directed to submit a detailed report within three days. The probe will be conducted by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF). "Karnataka stands second in the count ...Read More >
Patna, June 28: Amid intermittent monsoon rains, lightning strikes claimed the lives of two people and injured two others in Gaya district, Bihar, on Saturday. In the Guraru block, Dinesh Yadav (40), a resident of Daulata village, died after being struck by lightning near Bhaduki village while returning from Rafiganj in Aurangabad. His sudden death has left the family in shock. In a separate incident in Pandey Pokhar village of Guraru, Rohit Kumar (14), son of Ramesh Manjhi, died on the spot after being struck by lightning while grazing cattle in a barren field. "There is news of two people d ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jun 29 (PTI) The Congress on Sunday attacked the Centre and Rajasthan governments over the reported plan to redraw the boundaries of the Sariska Tiger Reserve for the reactivation of over 50 mining operations, saying the move would be "ecologically devastating". The opposition party also said that with the Rajasthan and Union environment ministers both being from Alwar, this "double engine" cannot be supporting such a move. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh shared on X a media report which claimed that a plan to redraw the boundaries of Rajasthan's ...Read More >
MADURAI: Likening the custodial murder of Ajith Kumar in Tiruppuvanam to an 'organised crime by police where the state kills its own citizens,' Madras high court lambasted the Tamil Nadu police and said the action against the perpetrators should be more stringent than in normal murder cases.A division bench of Justice S M Subramaniam and Justice A D Maria Clete pointed to 44 external injuries on the person of Ajith Kumar and said no part of the body was spared by the delinquent cops. "Even an ordinary murderer would not have inflicted such kind of injuries," the bench said on Tuesday.The natur ...Read More >
Dibrugarh (Assam) [India], July 2 (ANI): The Dibrugarh police arrested three accused during an operation against the sale of prohibited meat. A total of 15 kg raw beef and 5 kg of cooked meat was seized from their possession during the raid. According to Dibrugarh SP Shantanu Dutta, some hotels in the city were selling beef which is prohibited under the Assam Cattle Prevention Act 2021. The police have sealed the three hotels and have filed a case against their owners. Dutta stated that the crackdown against the sale of illegal beef will continue in the state. 'Based on the specific input, s ...Read More >
Bhubaneswar: A heartening chapter is unfolding deep within the emerald wilderness of Similipal Tiger Reserve in Odisha, where a Royal Bengal tigress named Zeenat, originally from Maharashtra, is believed to be carrying a new generation of cubs -- a milestone that could reshape the future of the region's famed tiger population. Brought to Similipal in 2023 as part of a bold genetic diversification project, Zeenat was tasked with an extraordinary mission: to infuse new bloodlines into a population long shadowed by the risks of inbreeding, particularly among Similipal's rare melanistic (black-co ...Read More >
Berhampur: Residents of Baghasala in Gajapati district are living in fear after forest officials found pug marks of a suspected Royal Bengal Tiger on the outskirts of the village in Paralakhemundi forest division on Tuesday. The villagers apparently sighted a big cat early in the morning and reported it to forest officials. A forest department team went to the village and collected the animal's pug marks. "After preliminary analysis, the pug marks have been identified as that of a tiger," said S Anand, divisional forest officer (DFO), Paralakhemundi. Camera traps will be installed in the are ...Read More >
Thane: The highly decomposed bodies of three men from Mumbai were found Thursday evening in a car that had veered off the Mumbai-Nashik highway, near Kasara, and landed into a drain, some 40 feet below at a turn sloping down. The three friends were on their way to the Trimbakeshwar temple near Nashik.The crash site between Kasara and Unbarmali showed telltale signs, the police said. Barks of trees lining the stretch showed signs of having borne the impact of the collision impact. Besides, the man ...Read More >
Bengaluru, Jun 27 (PTI) The discovery of a seemingly stale carcass of a cow in Hugyam forest range in Mahadeshwara Hills on Friday strengthens the doubt that the death of a tigress and her four cubs could be due to poisoning, officials said. These five tigers were found dead in this forest on Thursday. It is suspected that the miscreants had poisoned the cow, and after eating it, the tigress and its cubs might have died. "Either the bovine was poisoned before being left in the forest, or the owner of the cattle, after spotting the dead cow, would have spread poison on its body, which the ti ...Read More >
Munnar: The residential areas of Old Munnar are once again gripped by fear as leopard sightings have been reported near human settlements. An inspection by the Forest Department and the Rapid Response Team (RRT) confirmed the presence of a leopard through the discovery of pugmarks in the area. The animal was reportedly spotted by passersby on Thursday night and again on Friday morning near the KDH Club locality, an area where many tourists are also accommodated. Children playing outside their homes also claimed to have seen the leopard. It is suspected that the animal may have been drawn to t ...Read More >
Guwahati, Jul 2 (PTI) Nearly 200 people were arrested in connection with the alleged violation of the Assam Cattle Preservation Act and over 1.7 tonnes of suspected beef were seized across the state, a senior police officer said on Wednesday. According to Inspector General Police (Law and Order) Akhilesh Kumar Singh, a drive was launched across Assam on Tuesday to check reported incidents of illegal cattle slaughter and selling of beef in restaurants unauthorisedly. Also Read | Karnataka Shocker: Infosys Senior Employee Arrested for Filming Woman Colleague While She Was Using Ladies' Washroo ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jun 7 (PTI) Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Saturday dismissed Congress leader Jairam Ramesh's criticism regarding the Delhi Zoo's proposed agreement with the Reliance Group's Gujarat-based wildlife facility, saying such collaborations are routine and aimed at improving animal care and management practices. "Some people have made it a habit to create doubts in the mind of the public at every instance," Yadav said on X in response to Ramesh's remarks. He clarified that the National Zoological Park (NZP), also known as the Delhi Zoo, had signed a memorandum of understa ...Read More >
Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], June 8 (ANI): Several districts of Rajasthan witnessed an intense heatwave on Sunday, with the highest temperature of 47.4 degrees Celsius recorded in Sri Ganganagar. According to the India Meteorological Centre in Jaipur, the temperatures recorded across different districts were 47.4°C in Sri Ganganagar, 46°C in Bikaner, 45.9°C in Barmer, 45.6°C in Churu, 45.4°C in Phalodi, 45.2°C in Jaisalmer, and 45°C in Kota. Also Read | Anjali Varmora Suicide Case: Young Model Ends Life in Gujarat's Surat, Mental Stress Suspected. A June 8 yellow alert, for heatwave and dust ...Read More >
Haridwar: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Sakshi Maharaj on Sunday demanded that hotel, dhaba and eatery owners on the Kanwar Yatra routes should display their names and identities on boards outside their business establishments. The owners, who hide their identities under fake names, on the Kanwar Yatra routes should not be spared, he told reporters here. "Tampering with faith of the Hindu devotees during the Kanwar Yatra will not be tolerated," said the Unnao MP. The food shops on the Kanwar Yatra routes should have a board outside with the names of their owners clearly written on them, h ...Read More >
Bengaluru: Following the poisoning of five tigers at MM Hills Wildlife Sanctuary, forest minister Eshwar Khandre on Tuesday ordered an audit of tiger mortality in various tiger reserves (national parks) and wildlife sanctuaries of Karnataka. Delving into the activities of the wildlife wing, shortly after sending errant forest officials of MM Hills sanctuary on compulsory leave, the minister sought within 10 days a complete review of tiger deaths over the past five and a half years.As per the All-India Tiger Estimation report of 2022, Karnataka stood second in the country in tiger population, w ...Read More >
Bengaluru: Forest minister Eshwar Khandre's decision to initiate a departmental inquiry into the recent unnatural death of a leopard in the MM Hills wildlife sanctuary has triggered hopes among conservationists and wildlife enthusiasts about uncovering the truth behind such incidents.In the most recent case, the carcass of the big cat was found mutilated last month.Recollecting similar incidents in the past few years, the activists suspect an organised nexus of poachers could be behind such wildlife crime.A few days before the June 26 death of five tigers in the Hoogyam forest range of MM Hill ...Read More >
Jaipur: Chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma Friday flagged off the first air-conditioned 'Rajasthan Vahini Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train' from Durgapura railway station under the Devasthan department's Senior Citizens Pilgrimage Scheme-2025. This initiative marked the beginning of the pilgrimage to Rameshwaram, carrying around 800 passengers.Under the scheme, 50,000 senior citizens will travel to 13 different pilgrimage sites via AC trains for the first time this year. The eight-day journey is the longest among the Devasthan department's pilgrimages, including visits to the Ramanathaswamy Jyotirlin ...Read More >
Nagpur: Development without ecology is not development it is devastation in disguise, remarked, environmentalist and member of the State Board for Wildlife Shrikant Tekade while addressing a World Environment Day programme organised by RTO Nagpur in collaboration with the Institute of Environment, Ecology, Health & Management (IEEHM).Speaking on this year's theme 'Beat Plastic Pollution and Deforestation', Tekade painted a grim picture of plastic misuse and its growing impact on both urban and forest ecosystems. He pointed out that Nagpur generates over 1,100 tonnes of municipal waste daily, o ...Read More >
RANCHI/SILLI/PURULIA/KOLKATA: "Bhagwan Krishna ne aaj bacha liya (Lord Krishna has saved us today)," said farmer Puran Chand Mahto (55) of Mardu village in Ranchi district's Silli block, still unable to believe his luck at being alive to tell the tale of how he and his family - his three daughters and a relative, who is a minor - slept peacefully while a tiger silently crouched in a corner of the same room.Around 4.30am Wednesday, Puran was getting ready for the day. As he stepped out of his thre ...Read More >
Bengaluru, June 27 (SocialNews.XYZ) Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said an investigation has been launched into the death of a tigress and its four cubs in the state's Chamarajanagar district, and necessary orders have already been issued, even as two suspects have been held for questioning. Sources said that the authorities have taken two persons into custody on Friday and are questioning them in connection with the incident. Speaking to the media in Bengaluru, CM Siddaramaiah said that appropriate action would be taken once the investigation report is submitted. Minister ...Read More >
Puri: Despite travel uncertainties due to recent conflicts in some parts of the world, people from Europe and elsewhere have reached Puri to witness the annual Ratha Yatra of the sibling deities.As non-Hindus are not allowed inside the 12th-century Jagannath Temple, the Ratha Yatra provides a rare opportunity for devotees across the world to see the deities in their full glory atop their majestic wooden chariots."Back home, we are surrounded by uncertainty and fear. But here, I found peace. I came because this is my only chance to see Lord Jagannath. He comes out for the whole world. This is v ...Read More >
Bengaluru: Concerns have been raised following the report of another tigress' death in Karnataka on Saturday, coming close on the heels of the shocking incident involving the death of a tigress and her four cubs. According to forest officials, the latest death has been reported from the Gundre Forest Range in Bandipur, located in Chamarajanagar district. Authorities, based on preliminary investigation, have stated that the tigress, estimated to be between 4 and 5 years old, appears to have died of natural causes. However, the post-mortem report is awaited for confirmation. The carcass was d ...Read More >
Udhagamandalam: An injured leopard that was spotted roaming near human habitats within the Bitherkad range of the Gudalur forest division in the Nilgiris was captured by the forest department on Tuesday.The department had received several reports of leopard sighting, in and around Ayyankolli, Narikolli, and the Valadu Maha Vishnu temple. A search operation was initiated based on the alerts.A cage trap was strategically placed in the area, following the directives of the principal chief conservator of forests and the chief wildlife warden of Tamil Nadu," said Ravi, a forest range officer (FRO). ...Read More >
Pune: Passengers on board a Goa to Pune SpiceJet flight (SG-1080) had a scare on Tuesday evening when a window panel was found dislodged while the plane was mid-air.The airline played down the incident, saying the window part that had come off was "a non-structural trim component, fitted onto the window for the purpose of shade".But a person on board the plane -- a Bombardier Q400 -- told TOI the incident triggered anxiety among the passengers. "Two to three layers of the window panel just came off," said Aatish Mishra, the passenger."There was no depressurization, but this shouldn't have happ ...Read More >
Mysuru: After the death of five tigers, including four cubs, at MM Hills Wildlife Sanctuary, forest officials are closely monitoring conflict zones near forest borders. Field officers have been instructed to intensify patrolling in the border areas.Foresters, however, admit there is a shortage of staff for patrolling in tiger reserves across Karnataka. PCCF (wildlife) and chief wildlife warden of Karnataka, Prabhash Chandra Ray, said he will review the situation to check any slackness in patrolling practices.The death of five tigers in a single day has added to the tiger mortality in Karnataka ...Read More >