Environment India

  Meghalaya’s Living Root Bridges Find A Spot In Unesco’s Tentative List Known for its extensive cave system and its unique living root bridges, Meghalaya is a traveller’s paradise. The state has once again been put on a global map with the inclusion of the living roots in the tentative list of Unesco’s World Heritage Sites. The announcement was made by Meghalaya’s Chief Minister — Conrad K Sangma — on Twitter. “The living root bridges not only stand out for their exemplary human-environment symbiotic relationship but also focus on their pioneering use for connectivity and resilience, and the need to adopt sustainable measures to balance economy and ecology,” he said. Often used as a path across a stream or a river, the bridges famous in Meghalaya are found in many villages — currently about 100 bridges spread across nearly 70 villages. These bridges are built by the local tribal communities and take a few years before they are fully strengthened and ready for use. ...

  Haryana government killing the Aravallis and people: Mining Five people were killed in a landslide at a mining site in the Bhiwani district of Haryana in January 2022. The site, according to reports submitted in the National Green Tribunal, was illegal and unscientific but had still got a go-ahead for mining after a penalty was paid. According to the official  documents , nearly three reserved forests and three protected forests falls within a 10-kilometre radius of the mine lease area. It is alleged that the miners are drawing water from the ground below the permissible limits and extending their mining activities beyond the designated area to the protected areas in Aravallis. In the last 8 years, Gurugram’s Aravallis lost more than 10,000 acres of the Natural Conversation Zone (NCZ), which is considered to be the greenest area of the city’s forest cover, a recent report submitted to the NGT showed. According to a report, 3,676 square kilometres and 776...