Skip to content Skip to navigation

PIL against illegal saw mills and felling of trees in Meghalaya

The illegal felling of trees and illegal operation of Sawmills in Meghalaya has assumed such wide and significant proportion that the said illegal operation of saw mills and also illegal felling of trees has resulted in severe public outcry in the State. The common conscious citizens of the country have reasons to be anxious in the face of gross mismanagement of the entire forest cover and resources of the State. The entire episode has now attained higher proportions in view of some recent developments which prima facie reveal the intention of the authorities manning the affairs of the State to help in achievement of undue gains to a few individuals at the cost of the Environment, depleting the Forest resources and Public Interest, and environmental safety.

A PIL was filed by Advocate Nayanjyoti Medhi on behalf of the Garo Students Union through the Khasi Hills Zone President Sanjeeb A Sangma and General Secretary Alex R Marak praying for urgent judicial intervention of the Gauhati High Court into the illegal operation of sawmills and also illegal felling of trees in the State of Meghalaya, more particularly in the Garo Hills region and the subsequent inaction by the department of forest and other authorities in the State of Meghalaya to ensure strict compliance of the Hon'ble Apex Court's orders passed in W.P 202 of 1995 [T.N. Godavarman Thirumulkpad versus Union of India]. It was prayed on behalf of the Garo Students Union that if Gauhati High Court does not urgently interfere to close down the illegal saw mills operating in the State of Meghalaya and monitor the entire conservation of natural forests, protection, forest rehabilitation, regeneration, afforestation, reforestation and new plantations, with a view to maintaining or restoring the ecological balance, the State will soon have depleted the entire forest cover leading to environmental imbalances of catastrophic proportions. The Division Bench comprising of Chief Justice Shri Jasti Chelameshwar and Justice Hrishikesh Roy has admitted the petition and issued notice to the Government of Meghalaya which was accepted by Government Advocate of Meghalaya Sri Ratul Goswami.

Further details may be had from Sanjeeb A Sangma at +91 98630 22587 or +91 94363 13284

Comments

MD AFTAR HUSSAIN CHOWDHURY's picture

Sir, It is very nice that our people is now environment conscious. Sir in my locality (Doboka, Nagaon, Assam) there also many illegal saw mills running. But the Ranger takes monthly ransom money from the owner and they are now destroying our valuable forest.

Pages

Add new comment

Random Stories

Ram Singh set to join pro talk faction

21 Nov 2008 - 1:46pm | editor
A Sivasagar court remanded dreaded ULFA leader Ram Singh to four days police custody on Thursday. According to information, soon after the end of all the legal formalities he would join the pro-talk...

Needed safeguard to Assam sovereignty for talk: ULFA to Govt

11 Jul 2008 - 3:34pm | editor
The United Liberation Front of Asom has said it is ready to hold talks with the Centre provided the government agrees to safeguard the sovereignty of Assam. In a statement released here on Thursday...

Delayed construction of Kalanadi bridge at Bamunjuli resented

25 Jul 2011 - 12:37am | Jayanta Kumar Das
The delay in the construction of an RCC bridge over Kalanodi at Bamunjuli in Bhergaon Sub-division of Udalguri district been a serious concern of several villages namely- Kalikhola, Bamunjuli,...

Assam’s first H1N1 patient released

24 Aug 2009 - 8:17am | editor
Assam’s first ever swine flu patient was released from hospital on Monday after a ten day long ‘successful’ treatment. According to the doctors at the Mohendra Mohan Chaudhury...

Other Contents by Author

Our Correspondent Guwahati: A war of word between Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and peace broker Mamoni Roisom Goswami may put the peace process in yet another logjam. Talking to a vernacular daily on its Monday issue, the award winning writer says she is not satisfied the way Mr Gogoi urges her to rush to Bangladesh. “If need be I am ready to leave for Bangladesh with Rebati but it must be a decent appeal.” “Let the Government make necessary arrangement to go to Bangladesh. I will do it tomorrow itself. But it will not be my personal initiative. The Chief Minister knows: how a top ranked leader of a banned outfit can be met.” She rues that she finds it...
From Our Correspondent GUWAHATI: Development in any form must ensure the well being of the people of all section. But what the Government does these days only to safeguard the interest of the multi national companies. A strong movement is neccessary to stop these style of exploitation in the name of development. These are more or less of what Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA)-pioneer Medha Patkar says at a function at Gauhati University on Sunday. She expressed grave concern over the environment of Assam saying the scenario is at stake due to unilateral action by the Government for construction of big dams and industrialization like steps for seismic survey on the Brahmaputra riverbed...
Our CorrespondentGUWAHATI: Caught in a controversy over the imposition of President’s Rule in Assam, former Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta ridicules that the sitting Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi does not know what is there in the provisions of Article 355 and 356 of the Constitution.Addressing a press conference in the city on Sunday, Mr Mahanta says, without undertanding the previsions of these Articles, Mr Gogoi is attacking me and my party time and again.”According to the AGP(P) supremo, the state’s law-and-order situation is totally dismal and now it is more serious then what it was during his tenure.Mr Gogoi has been failing to deal with the situation these days...
The legacy of Assam’s culture would be a lot less enriching if we overlook the contribution of the legendary Shri Jyotiprashad Agarwalla. Similarly there are many other non Assamese in Assam who are more Assamese than many Assamese themselves.Assam is not by the Assamese alone but it is a conglomeration of various communities, tribes, sects etc. It’s a melting pot of many cultures.. Assam’s present status its economy would not be what it is without the contribution of the entire society irrespective of what language they speak and which community they belong to. Therefore the recent spate of killings of non Assamese people comes as a shock to every Assamese and saddens him...
The President of India is elected by an electoral college, comprising the Members of both the Houses of Parliament as well as the MLAs of all state Assemblies. The total number of members in the Electoral College for the Presidential elections in 2007 is 4896 (233 Rajya Sabha MPs + 543 Lok Sabha MPs + 4,120 State MLAs). However, unlike any other election, the value of votes of the voters are different here. While the value of votes of each MP is the same, the strength of a vote of an MLA is determined by way of proportional representation. The MPs, too, have a specific value for each vote that is determined by dividing the total value of votes of all the states by the total number...
New Delhi: The Congress High Command sprung a surprise for the Presidential Elections in India scheduled on 19th of July 2007. Ms Pratibha Patil has been nominated by the Ruling UPA- Left combine as their nominee for the highest post in India. Pratibha Patil has formerly served as Deputy Chairperson of Rajya Sabha besides being the Governor of Rajasthan and a minister in Maharashtra. Ms Patil is married to Devisingh Shekhawat of Losal Chhoti, barely 30 km from the Vice-President's village Khachariawas in Rajasthan. This brought to an end the hectic parleys that have been taking place in the ruling coalition over the last few days. The decision was reached in a meeting between the...
Did you know that there was an Act banning sale of egg-bearing fishes? Ministers of Assam really seem to be looking into records and Acts. The Assam Fisheries Act, 1953 prohibits sale of egg-bearing fish during the breeding seasons i.e. between April 1 and July 15 every year. The Act was put in place to ensure that the fish production in the State goes up. According to an official press release here, Fisheries Minister Nurjamal Sarkar has directed the district and police administrations all over the State to strictly enforce the Act and to take ensure that it is fully implemented. The Minister is of the view that this would lay the foundation for a blue revolution in Assam And yes the...
Guwahati : The Assam United Democratic Front has distanced itself from its MLA Rasul Haque Bahadur who had demanded creation of an autonomous council for the minorities of Golapara, Barpeta, Dhubri, Bongaigaon and Darrang districts. Mr Badruddin Ajmal, President of AUDF has said that a Central Executive Meeting of the party would be convened where Haque would be asked to explain his statement. Ajmal further clarified that the party would never subscribe to these views as it did not believe in development of all the people in the State and not only of the minority community.
Some 28 candidates will apply for the top job at ONGC. A search panel headed by the Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB) Chairman, Mr N.K. Sinha, held interviews on June 5-6 to select the Chairman and Managing Director of the exploration giant. The interviews assume significance as the names of earlier candidates short-listed after interviews conducted by the PESB in August 2006 were returned by the PMO. Those in the race for the job include Mr R.S. Sharma, acting Chairman of ONGC; Mr A.K. Balyan, Director (HR); Mr A.K. Hazarika, Director (Onshore); Mr D.K. Pande, Director (Exploration); Mr U.N. Bose, Director (Technical Services); and Mr R.S. Butola, Managing Director, ONGC Videsh....
India's information technology sector would require nearly 500,000 professionals in the next five years to cater to the growing needs of this booming industry, Mr Kiran Karnik, president National Association of Software and Service Companies said. Currently, the industry required 300,000 professionals, however the number was expected to nearly double with the sector being poised for huge growth, he said during the inauguration of the country's first IT finishing school. Though the institutes churned out a huge number of engineering graduates, the industry was left with less than 300,000 professionals to hire from, since many of them turned entrepreneurs, some sought jobs overseas...