Environment and Conservation News from India: JULY 16 - 31, 2015


JULY 16  
World Snakes Day: To learn more about snakes in India read http://indiansnakes.org/
 Flood situation in Assam grim following incessant rains: July 15
Over 155 villages across the State are affected in Dhemaji, Lakhimpur and Sonitpur districts. Jia Bharali is flowing above the danger mark in Sonitpur.
Torrential rains since last 24 hours have caused heavy landslides in various locations of the district headquarters of Seppa in East Kameng district. Continuous heavy rain on July 15 affects power supply to Itanagar. Pakke river  flowing above the danger level and flood waters gushed into many parts of Seijosa town: July 15

JULY 17
Poachers shoot down a young male tusker  with an arrow in the forests near Badkundar village, Sundergarh district: July 17
Western end of monsoon trough continues to run close to foothills of Himalayas bringing rain to hills of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand: July 16
Additionally, a western disturbance (WD) as an upper air cyclonic circulation exists over Jammu and Kashmir and the neighbourhood. Monsoon rains are all set to return to plains of the north from tomorrow.  Skymet has predicted “good to heavy amounts” of rain over northern and eastern parts of Punjab and “light to good amounts” across Haryana from July 17-20. Remaining parts of Punjab will observe light to moderate rain in this period, it says. Chandigarh and Patiala are expected to receive heavy rain and Delhi and NCR “light to good amounts”. Cloudbursts were reported from several areas of Kashmir during heavy rainfall witnessed in the Valley since last evening(July 16). Ganga water level in the river today reached the danger mark of 292 metre in Haridwar,following continuous rains in the region.
Two lions, have formed a pride of 25, new kings of GIR forest: July 17
No reprieve from elephant menace around Ranchi district: July 17
Puducherry government plans to set up a separate force to combat crimes against wildlife more effectively: July 17

JULY 18
Following incessant rain, the floodwaters of the major tributaries of the Brahmaputra including Gabharu, Sopia, Chatrang, Solengi, Brahmajan, Dipota, Jorashar, Jiabharali and Gorjuli in Sonitpur district have inundated many areas including roads & human habitations in several villages: July 17
 Series of cloudbursts in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh: July 17
Swan river in spate in Punjab: July 18

Heavy rain inundates Kangra:  July 17
Heavy rain in Bilaspur, Una and Kangra, Chamba, Hamirpur, Mandi, Shimla, Sirmaur and Solan districts:  July 17
Erosion of ancient practices devised by the hill people several years ago to overcome recurrent natural disasters in
Uttarakhand has made the people of the state more vulnerable to calamities: July 17
Heavy rains, thundershowers lash east UP,Sharda and Ghaghra rivers in spate: PTI | July 18
2014 was Earth's hottest year on record: IANS | July 18

JULY 19 (Sunday)
Rains lash Dakshina Kannada, Udupi districts again: July 18
Incessant rains lash Shivamogga district; Harangi reservoir in Kodagu almost full: July 19
Lone wild tiger  sighted early this month in the Bannerghatta continues to thrive in its new habitat in the southern part of the Bannerghatta National Park (BNP): July 19
Forest Department officials drive away a herd of eight elephants from Jabaghat, near Rourkela: July 19

JULY 20
Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) has joined hands with Elephant Family – the NGO headed by Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall – to develop a volunteer group of local youths – ‘Green Corridor Monitors’ – for ‘corridor monitoring’ in the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong landscape during floods: July 19
Rains intensified in Kodagu and Chikkamagaluru districts on Sunday. heavy rain with gusty wind has thrown normal life out of gear in Malnad. The plateau region (bayaluseeme) has also experienced moderate rain: July 19
Incessant rains continued to lash Dakshina Kannada district on Sunday: July 19
Landslides, artificial flood, and rise in water-level of rivers have been reported from various parts of the district.
Cloudburst at Nadigam in district Kulgam: July 20
Flash floods after a cloudburst hit Yousmarg area of central Kashmir’s Budgam district: July 19

Bird arrival  scarce these days at Jatinga and the number of birds being killed by villagers has also come down, says the
"Birdman of Assam": July 20
Heavy rain lashes Chandigarh, parts of Haryana, Punjab: July 20
CLIMATE CHANGE: PART I - Indications loud and clear in Kashmir Valley: Jul 20
Climate change in Himalayas making cloudbursts highly localised in J&K: July 20
Monsoon activity revives after a lull in Goa: TNN | July 20

JULY 21
Fluctuations in weather conditions to continue  in J&K: July 20
Rains in Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu districts recede;incessant rains continue to lash parts of Shivamogga district: July 21
Rains which have been lashing the three coastal districts for the last two days have risen the water levels to the brim in four reservoirs of the Cauvery basin: July 21
Heavy rain lashes Mumbai: July 21
CLIMATE CHANGE: PART II - Kashmir has highest black carbon concentration: July 21 
Karimbani elephant poaching case -key accused found dead: July 21
Study by Wildlife Conservation Society has pointed out that ‘aged’ tigers that cross over into the Wayanad WLS are the ones that often prey on cattle and human beings: July 21
Expanding Lion kingdom, shrinking manpower: TNN | July 21
Villagers urge forest dept to protect peacocks on hillock near Madurai: TNN | July 21

JULY 22
Papu Valley, 20 Km away from Seppa, known as rice bowl of East Kameng district damaged by the recent torrential rain: July 21
Many hectares of rice field in Lumdung village in Papu Valley were damaged due to landslide due to Trans- Arunachal Highway construction with the earth cutting going on in the hills above the village. 
 
Wet July to get wetter in Jharkhand - LP forms over NW Bay: July 22
The state has already received 470mm rain against a normal figure of 385 mm.
A survey has counted 50 river dolphins over an 80-km stretch of Ganga in U.P: July 20
Heavy Rain in Idukki district: July 22

JULY 23
Deodar trees count dwindling in Palampur due to unknown disease: July 23
A deodar tree takes 70 years to grow fully. Palampur and Massuri are the only hill stations in the country where deodar trees are grown within heights of 3,000 feet to 4,000 feet from MSL.
Moderate rain lashes parts of Himachal: July 22
Loktak's mythical Giant python lives on in wood: July 23
A herd of about 100 elephants assembled at Bhusi waterfall near Konkadasa in Dalma WLS triggering panic among the villagers: July 23
Heavy rain at many places in north Coastal Andhra and the neighbouring Godavari districts: July23
 A trough of low pressure runs from Chhattisgarh to South Tamil Nadu over coastal Andhra Pradesh
Guardians of the Wild by N A Naseer: July 21
Marayoor - for soul searchers: July 23
Marayoor is the home of prehistoric dolmens, cave paintings, home grown sugarcane and sandalwood forests. Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary is just about a couple of kilometers away from Marayoor.
A lone Great White Pelican seen amongst Spot-billed Pelicans in June-July in Pallikaranai/Perumbakkam wetlands:  July 23
CAG spills beans over tiger conservation in MP: July 23
The auditor points out only one tiger died due to poaching, 19 died in territorial fight.

JULY 24
Rains lashed Kashmir Valley in the morning today: July 23
Heavy rains and cloudbursts in Poonch, Kupwara and Rajouri: July 23
Heavy rains also lashed Kashmir and other parts of Jammu region since last night. Heavy rain overnight in the Chenab region has damaged the 60-km-long Doda-Kishtwar highway due to landslides and shooting stones.
Fruit trees to be planted in Rishikesh region in forests close to villages to restrict wild animals to forests: July 24
A man runs for cover as a herd of elephants chases him in the Kotdwar region
Man-crocodile conflict has reached alarming proportions in villages near  Bhitarkanika NP - farm worker survives crocodile attack: July 23
Wildlife activists oppose the proposed grid sub-station at Bhetanai, saying it would pose a serious threat to blackbucks in Ganjam district of Odisha: July 23
While the blackbuck, sighted earlier in Balukhanda in Puri district had vanished, the population of the animal increased to 3806 in Ganjam district by March 2015. Most of the animals were sighted in Balipadara-Bhetanai area under Buguda Forest Range (1239).
Langurs on the prowl  in villages in East Midnapore: July 23

JULY 25
Rainy weather conditions will prevail in Kashmir valley till the August 1 according to state meteorological department: July 24
Cloud burst and flash floods at Baltal last night (July 24) near Amarnath Yatra base camp, 3 piligrims killed. Heavy rain in Madhya Pradesh led to sudden increase in Yamuna and Ganga's water level in Sangam City: July 25
The flooded  Shipra river in Madhya Pradesh met river Chambal at Madhya Pradesh which in turn met Yamuna in Sangam Uttar Pradesh resulting in sudden increase in the water level.
Nandhaur WLS, Uttarakhand's seventh sanctuary is to be opened up for wildlife tourism from November 15: July 24
Elephant attack: Hosur struggles to mitigate man-animal conflict: July 25
MoEF decides to defer proposal for grant of scoping clearance to Kerala government's proposal to construct a new dam at Mullaperiyar: July 25

JULY 26 (Sunday)
Heavy rain over the last few days has led to flash floods in many parts of Cachar district. The rising waters of the Barak river overflowed the embankment at Raipur, inundating many areas: July 25
Jorhat recorded 122.9 mm rainfall on Friday, which was found to be the highest amount of rainfall on a single night during this monsoon. The poor drainage system on either sides of the NH-37 and NH-40 at Jorahat  leads to flash floods very often in the area and last night were pushed towards Guwahati  by the flow of waters from Meghalaya resulting in floods in parts of Guwahati
Camera traps in Orang NP help nab rhino poachers (by Syed Miraz Ahmed): July 23
60 camera traps were installed in the park in 2011 by Aaranyak, who are also assisting the Assam Forest Department in apprehending poachers involved in rhino poaching in Kaziranga NP by deploying two Belgian Malinois dogs from its dog squad.
  A moderate intensity earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale jolted Kashmir on Saturday at 2.29 AM. The epicenter of the earthquake was in Pakistan: July 25
Sparrows flee from concrete and glass jungle in Guwahati - study by an ecology student: July 25

Grass growing out of the Mithi river should terrify Mumbai; it is a grim reminder of the poor health of the river an indication of the amount of mud and silt that have accumulated within it: TNN | July 26
Bhopal has recorded around 350 mm of rain since July 18 - close to a monthly average of rain: July 26
Camera trap captures a leopard attacking a Nilgiri Tahr  on the grassland cliff of Rajamala in the Eravikulam NP: July 26
Man-animal conflict - Understand the elephant: July 26
Curlew sandpiper's early arrival at Point Calimere surprises ornithologists: July 26
South Indian Tree Planters - are championing the cause of planting trees: July 26

JULY 27
Mini-sanctuaries to protect wildlife in Tea Estates in Assam: July 26
Elephants in the villages of Anekal in Bengaluru district: July 27

Cloudbursts in Jammu and Kashmir becoming frequent now - July 2015, a month of cloudbursts: July 26
Met office has warned of 'heavy to very heavy rain' on Monday and Tuesday in Calcutta: July 27
A low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal, which was causing the rain over the past two days, has turned into a depression and may intensify further into a deep depression. 'Under the influence of the depression and a trough of low pressure (passing through the city), we expect heavy to very heavy rainfall in Calcutta and the rest of south Bengal over the next two days, mainly in the coastal areas,' said Gokul Chandra Debnath, director, India Meteorological department,
Flood affects 20 villages of Murshidabad following heavy rain: July 26
Opium cultivators willing to switch to cash crops in  Tirap, Longding districts in Arunachal: July 27
Saranda Mission - a book on the plight of Saranda's tribes written by activist-author Gladson Dungdung released: July 27
The book was released in Ranchi by Aanthropologist Felix Padel, the great-great grandson of Charles Darwin on Sunday.
Reminding that tribals have been living in harmony with nature for centuries, Padel recommended an economic model that took into consideration the ecology of the area. "Any development model concerning tribals must be evaluated through the eyes of tribals," he said. Priced at Rs 300, the 244-page tome has 15 chapters. "I have tried to paint real life in the erstwhile Maoist bastion," said Dungdung. "It is a paradox that West Singhbhum has the highest per capita income in the state, but also figures on the list of 100 worst districts of the country in terms of human development indices," said development economist Ramesh Sharan.
IML issues alert for heavy downpour in 5 north and adjoining coastal districts of Odisha over the next two days: July 27
Erode records high casualities in man-animal conflicts: July 27
12 deaths have occurred in 2014 and 2015 in attacks by wild animals in the forest divisions of Sathyamangalam, Hassanur and Erode.

JULY 28
Ankasamudra lake - a new haven for nesting birds near Tungabhadra reservoir: July 28
Rains resume in Kodagu, after a lull: July 28
Drought-like situation in some districts of north Karnataka: July 28
96 taluks of 20 districts of the total 30 districts are facing a drought-like situation. 
A cloudburst hit mountainous hamlet in Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir: July 27 (PTI)
Incessant rain during the last two weeks, landslides disrupt road connectivity in Poonch: July 27
 Ghansali resident has surprise visitor for 24 hrs - a leopard under his bed: July 27
MoEF &CC has issued an Eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) notification across 192 villages on the fringes of the Bhitarkanika NP: July 27
Melanistic tigers exhibited in Nandankanan zoo - the rare tigers might be a first: July 28

Artificial reefs deployed by CMFRI  in Andhra Pradesh have resulted in marginal increase in catch: July 28
Olive Ridley Turtles - Kalam's Special Bond With Odisha: July 28
Saurashtra receives 54 per cent of season's rainfall: TNN | Jul 27
Royal Bengal Tiger count falls rapidly in Bangladesh: July 28

JULY 29
International Tiger Day: The day is celebrated across the world to create awareness about and take measures to conserve tigers. The concept of celebrating the day started in 2010. There are 14 tiger countries, with India housing 70 per cent of the tiger population. Karnataka has 406 out of 2,226 tigers in India. Western Ghats states—Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Goa—house 776 tigers, making the region the richest and the most densely tiger populated landscape in the world.  In India, the big cat is called Royal Bengal Tiger. In other regions, its names are Caspian Tiger, Siberian Tiger, South China Tiger, Javan Tiger, Indochinese Tiger, Malayan Tiger, Sumatran Tiger and Balinese Tiger.
Depression over the North East Bay blocking rain in the NE region: July 28
Srinagar receives record rainfall in 3 months: July 28
In the past three months Srinagar received around 337.7 millimeters of rain which is a record rainfall in past many years.
The valley received 300 mm of rain this year in the month of March which was highest after 1980’s.
Trapped tigress recovering in Tirupati zoo: July 29
A tigress found to be 12 years old, that strayed into agricultural fields in Kurnool District a fortnight ago was tranquilised on July 17 and shifted to Tirupati Zoo.
Northern Odisha districts stared at flash floods after the depression, still stationary over the Bay , triggered heavy rains in the catchments of Baitarani and Subarnarekha rivers leaving them in spate: July 29
Two new species of spiders found at Mumbai"s Aarey Milk Colony: TNN | July 29
Tigers stray near Bhopal, 60km from Ratapani sanctuary, which awaits notification as a tiger reserve: TNN | Jul 29

JULY 30
Guwahati today recorded the highest July day temperature of 37.6° Celsius in a period of around 50 years since 1966 as the deep depression over the Bay preventing incursion of moisture to the NE: July 29
A deep depression over northeast Bay of Bengal has intensified into cyclonic storm 'Komen', and is set to make landfall in Bangladesh: July 30
A major tornado hits Haringhata block in West Bengal’s Nadia & North 24 Parganas  districts - 4,000 to 5,000 trees uprooted: July 30
Tiger corridors proposed  to ensure a sustainable tiger population in Karnataka: July 30
Ten tigers die till June-end, 2015 against 7 in 2014 in Karnataka: July 30
Karnataka has drafted a master plan for conservation of the elusive Great Indian Bustard: July 29
Idamalayar Elephant Poaching Case Key Accused Held: 30th July
A cloudburst hit mountainous hamlets of Kadrana, Manzgam Paithgam belts in Kishtwar district of J&K yesterday, trigerring mud-slides and flash-floods, and damaged houses, schools, and washing away huge tracts of the agriculture land: July 30

JULY 31  (Friday)
Cyclonic storm Komen makes landfall in Bangladesh on Thursday: July 31
Tree Fern' faces extinction threat due to mining in C'garh: PTI | July 31


ADDITIONS:
A cloudburst hit Gulistan forests area of Tral in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district today morning  triggering flash flood in a local stream: July 29
Rogue elephant kills three (From the archives - dated July 30, 1965): July 30
A nine-foot high rogue elephant, which has already killed three persons, is now at large in Bolampatti range areas near Siruvani, 20 miles from here [Coimbatore]. The latest victim of the tusker is a 19-year-old cowherd who was chased to some distance by the animal and crushed to death on July 16. Another victim of the animal is a woman. While the official sources have confirmed the deaths of three persons, villagers who have been watching the atrocities of the mad-tusker for some months past claim that the animal had killed at least seven persons and was still wandering about with unabated fury. According to some eye witnesses, this animal a few months ago ran after a boy, who, while fleeing for his life, dived into a small pond. But this cunning beast waited till the boy came out of water and pulled him out and crushed him to death.
Steps are now being taken to have this animal declared officially as a “rogue” by the District collector so that any shikari who meets it can shoot it down dead.
Heavy rain in the last two days, triggered by a deep depression over north Gujarat and Kutch regions, has created a
flood-like situation in various parts of Gujarat. Banaskantha district, in the north is the worst affected. Flood-like situation also continued for the third day in parts of Sirohi district, Rajasthan following the torrential rains: July 30
Tiger population in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will soon hit the century mark: July 30
More camera traps being installed in Sathyamangalam TR: July 31





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