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File picture of Ahaetulla longirostris from Valmiki Tiger Reserve | Photo Credit: Zeeshan A. Mirza via ResearchGate A rare long-snouted vine snake (Ahaetulla longirostris) has been rediscovered in the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh, marking its first documented sighting in the state and only the second recorded instance in India, forest officials … Read more

Representative image. | Photo Credit: LAKSHMI NARAYANAN E A group of environmental activists, concerned citizens, and the villagers have appealed to save more than one lakh trees and shrubs from being axed in the biodiversity-rich Shahbad forest situated in Rajasthan’s Baran district for the installation of a pumped storage project. The locals travelled to New … Read more

A building of the elephant interpretation centre ‘Vezham’ on Mettupalayam – Kotagiri Road. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement ‘Vezham’, the elephant interpretation centre at Mettupalayam, construction of which remained idle for three years, will be developed as a facility for human–elephant coexistence through community engagement. With ₹15 lakh allocated towards the project under the Tamil … Read more

Bioluminescence or sea sparkle, locally called ‘Kavaru’, at Chellanam | Photo Credit: THULASI KAKKAT It is that time of the year in Kochi, when the shrimp farms along the backwaters are sparkling in blue shimmer. ‘Kavaru’ or bioluminescence, the environmental phenomenon that gives the waters an electric blue backlight, is now a looked-forward to event … Read more

A file image of the Numaligarh refinery in Assam | Photo Credit: The Hindu GUWAHATI A refinery in eastern Assam’s Golaghat district has been discharging hazardous effluents into a tributary of the Brahmaputra River, endangering its fragile aquatic ecosystem, an environmental activist said. In a letter to the Member-Secretary of the Central Pollution Control Board … Read more

Coffee plant nurseries are reporting that they are getting queries from places such as Tumakuru, Chitradurga, Palakkad, and Hosur.  | Photo Credit: File Photo The record prices that coffee hit this year have spurred interest in its cultivation in newer destinations outside of the traditional coffee growing belt in Karnataka such as Kodagu and Chikmagalur. … Read more

A file photo of coconut trees. Whitefly disease has affected coconut yield in Chikkamagaluru, Mandya, Mysuru, Davanagere, Chitradurga, Shivamogga, Dakshina Kannada, Chamarajanagar, Ramanagara, Bengaluru Rural and Kolar districts. | Photo Credit: K BHAGYA PRAKASH Coconut trees on 1.48 lakh hectare in 14 districts across Karnataka are affected by whitefly disease, Minister for Industries M. B. Patil … Read more

Green Humour | Photo Credit: Rohan Chakravarty Green Humour | Photo Credit: Rohan Chakravarty Rohan Chakravarty is a cartoonist and illustrator from Nagpur. His series, ‘Green Humour’, consists of cartoons and comics on wildlife, nature conservation, environmental issues, sustainability, and all things green. Published – April 03, 2025 02:02 pm IST

Rapidly reducing aerosol emissions, which are part of air pollution, without concurrently reducing greenhouse gas emissions could expose a large fraction of the world’s most vulnerable people to a sudden acceleration of warming and extreme heat in highly polluted regions like India. Researchers warned as much in a study published in November 2024 in Geophysical … Read more

India’s air pollution crisis is not just a seasonal inconvenience. It’s a persistent, silent pandemic that chokes our lungs every winter and quietly lingers throughout the year. Hospitals overflow with respiratory cases, schools shut down, cities disappear under layers of smog, and Indian metros regularly top global pollution rankings. Given the scale of this crisis, … Read more

Some plants, like snapdragons, can produce a wide range of colourful flowers. The difference between two flowers of different colours can be elicited by comparing their genomes and spotting the differences there, according to Daria Shipilina, a researcher at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria. As an evolutionary biologist, Shipilina is fascinated by how … Read more

Over 13,000 sq km of forest area, more than the total geographical area of Delhi, Sikkim and Goa combined, is under encroachment in 25 States and Union Territories, according to data submitted by the Union Environment Ministry to the National Green Tribunal. Last year, the NGT took suo motu cognisance of a PTI report that … Read more

Flower waste usually falls through the composting cracks, usually due to the lack of volume. Representational image only Heavy-laden bags hanging down like gyves, from a motorcycle. And a man seated astride that vehicle hitting a meandering early-morning road he need not take, but did anyway. Those images were singular because of the regularity with … Read more

Representational file image. | Photo Credit: K.K. Mustafah The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has “ruled out” the possibility of an El Nino in the coming southwest  monsoon season this year. An El Nino, characterised by a warming of the central equatorial Pacific Ocean, is frequently associated with reduced monsoon rainfall in India. “Based on the … Read more

In Uganda’s Mbale district, famous for its production of arabica coffee, a plague of plastic bags locally known as buveera is creeping beyond the city. It’s a problem that has long littered the landscape in Kampala, the capital, where buveera are woven into the fabric of daily life. They show up in layers of excavated … Read more

A picture shows the dam at a station connecting the Sebou and Bou Regreg basins near Kentira city on January 20, 2025. Water from the Sebou river is held at a station near Kenitra, treated, and transported via a 67-km underground canal to Rabat, instead of flowing naturally into the Atlantic Ocean. | Photo Credit: … Read more

A firefighter works to control the Black Cove Fire on March 26 in North Carolina, US. Representative image. | Photo Credit: AP Inside a green orb planted in the German countryside is a high-tech aid to prevent wildfires that have grown more common and destructive with rising global temperatures. The installation, resembling a giant golf … Read more

The Karimpuzha Wildlife Sanctuary, Kerala’s youngest protected area, has emerged as a biodiversity hotspot. A recent faunal survey conducted by the Forest department, the first-such systematic exercise conducted since its inception, has reported 63 new species of odonates, butterflies and birds. The survey, conducted in association with the Society for Tropical Ecology and Research (STEAR) … Read more

India has pledged to reduce the health impacts of air pollution by 2040, aligning its actions with the National Clean Air Programme at the concluding session of the second World Health Organisation (WHO) conference on air pollution and health. Speaking at the conference organised in Colombian city of Cartagena, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s … Read more

Traffic density through highways cutting through Bandipur is a cause for concern given its impact on wildlife. | Photo Credit: SRIRAM MA Speculation is rife in Karnataka that the State government might eventually yield to pressure to lift the night traffic ban through Bandipur, setting off alarm among wildlife conservationists and activists. The ban, in … Read more

Supreme Court Judge Justice Vikram Nath and President Dropadi Murmu during the inaugural session of the two-day National Conference on ‘Environment – 2025’ organised by NGT, in New Delhi on March 29, 2025 | Photo Credit: ANI Supreme Court Judge Justice Vikram Nath on Saturday (March 29, 2025) laid stress on the need to regulate … Read more

River Ganga in Patna, Bihar. File | Photo Credit: The Hindu The Supreme Court has stayed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order that imposed a cost of ₹50,000 on the Bihar government for non-compliance of its directives and not properly assisting it in a matter relating to the prevention and control of pollution of river … Read more

Green Humour | Photo Credit: Rohan Chakravarty Rohan Chakravarty is a cartoonist and illustrator from Nagpur. His series, ‘Green Humour’, consists of cartoons and comics on wildlife, nature conservation, environmental issues, sustainability, and all things green. Published – March 27, 2025 01:17 pm IST

A mother covers her child to protect it from heat in Vellore on March 27, 2025. | Photo Credit: C. Venkatachalapathy The Central Government on Thursday (March 27, 2025) directed States to review their preparedness of health facilities for the management of heatstroke cases and heat-related illnesses.  The Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava in … Read more

The Forest Department radio-collared two tuskers in Hassan district on Thursday. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT The Forest Department radio-collared two tuskers in Hassan district on Thursday. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT The Forest Department on Thursday successfully radio-collared two tuskers that have been roaming alone in Hassan district. One was captured near Heggadde estate … Read more

An oran in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district. Orans are sacred forests which hold deep religious and cultural significance to local communities. Some communities have been establishing orans to serve an additional purpose — water conservation. Photo: Special Arrangement On March 22, World Water Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the need to conserve water for present … Read more

Representative image | Photo Credit: The Hindu A first-of-its-kind analysis of the District Mineral Foundations (DMF) shows that despite collecting about ₹1-lakh crore in the past decade, more than half the funds is unspent. Moreover, the funds are often diverted to activities that are not directly linked to the welfare of mining districts — a … Read more

From the grounds of a gas-fired power plant on the eastern shores of Canada, a little-known company is pumping a slurry of minerals into the ocean in the name of stopping climate change. Whether it’s pollution or a silver bullet that will save the planet may depend on whom you ask. From shore, a pipe … Read more