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    In a decisive move aimed at preventing landslides and construction-related disasters, the Kerala government has mandated slope stability reports for all construction activities in hilly and steep terrains. The rule requires that the assessment be conducted only by government-notified agencies before any building permit is issued. The amendment follows judicial intervention, after concerns were raised over unscientific excavation and unchecked construction in ecologically fragile regions of the state. Court directive drives stricter safety norms The revised provision, introduced under the Kerala Minor Mineral Concession Rules, comes in response to a High Court directive issued during a public interest litigation. The court had flagged the absence of scientific e...

India has formally initiated construction of the Sawalkote Hydroelectric Project on the Chenab river in Jammu and Kashmir, marking the first major hydropower project to move forward after New Delhi paused participation in the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan. The Rs 5,129-crore project signals a decisive shift in India’s approach to river management on the western rivers. Documents issued by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation show that bids were invited earlier this month to begin construction in Udhampur and Ramban districts. The project will be developed in two stages, with a planned capacity of 1,406 MW in the first phase and 450 MW in the second. It is designed as a run-of-the-river project, located between the Baglihar and Salal hydropower stations. Fast-track clearan...

    Mangrove forests across the world are increasingly seen as frontline defenders against climate change, coastal erosion and extreme weather. Yet despite growing investments and global pledges, a large number of mangrove restoration projects continue to fail. New evidence from projects spanning Africa, Asia and the Americas shows that success often depends on an overlooked factor strong intermediary organisations that bridge the gap between local communities, science and funding. Across tropical and subtropical coastlines, mangroves protect shorelines from storm surges, store large amounts of carbon and support fisheries and livelihoods. However, experts estimate that up to 70% of mangrove restoration projects in some regions have low survival rates, with seedlings dyi...

    Nearly half of all shark and ray species in the Western Indian Ocean are now threatened with extinction, raising urgent concerns about marine biodiversity in one of the world’s most heavily fished regions. A new global study has revealed that the ocean areas most vital for the survival of these species remain largely unprotected, leaving them exposed to intense fishing pressure. The Western Indian Ocean, stretching from South Africa to the Indian subcontinent and encompassing island nations such as Seychelles and the Maldives, hosts around 270 species of sharks and rays. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Shark Specialist Group, 46 per cent of these species are facing a high risk of extinction due to rapid population declines driven pri...

    India has, for the first time, laid down a comprehensive framework to identify victims of mass fatality disasters, placing forensic dentistry at the heart of the process. Released recently by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) guidelines aim to ensure that human remains are accurately identified, documented and handed over to families with dignity after large-scale disasters. The move follows repeated challenges faced during recent disasters, including transport accidents, fires and natural calamities, where many victims could not be identified through conventional means such as visual recognition or fingerprints. Lessons from mass disasters shape a national framework Officials involved in drafting the gu...

    As climate change intensifies droughts and extreme weather events, countries across the world are struggling to secure enough clean water for drinking, farming and industry. In response, governments and utilities are increasingly turning to water reuse, desalination and wastewater treatment. But these solutions come with a growing challenge of their own: contaminated brine. Brine is the highly concentrated wastewater left behind after desalination, sewage treatment and water-intensive industrial processes such as mining and energy production. Globally, brine generation has reached staggering levels. The latest estimates suggest that more than 25 billion gallons of brine are produced every day, a figure that has likely increased further with the rapid expansion of des...

    The Union Budget 2026–27 has placed renewed emphasis on agriculture, livestock and fisheries, recognising their central role in sustaining small and marginal farmers’ livelihoods. Presented on February 1 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Budget seeks to raise farmer incomes by boosting productivity and encouraging entrepreneurship, with a notable focus on strengthening veterinary capacity across the country. Under the proposed measures, the government aims to increase the availability of veterinary professionals by more than 20,000 through the establishment of new veterinary and paraveterinary colleges, hospitals, diagnostic laboratories and breeding facilities. These institutions are expected to be developed largely through private-sector participation, su...

    Amphibians, among the most threatened groups of animals on Earth, have officially crossed a major scientific milestone. Researchers have now described more than 9,000 amphibian species worldwide, marking a significant achievement for taxonomy and biodiversity science. The finding comes from a new research paper that tracks global trends in amphibian discovery, while also warning that many species may go extinct before they are ever documented. The study, authored by Sky T Button, Franco Andreone and Amaël Borzée, describes the milestone as the result of decades of sustained research efforts across continents. According to the authors, the number of recognised amphibian species has more than doubled over the last 40 years, reflecting advances in field surveys, genetic...

    Once feared, hunted and butchered for oil and meat, whale sharks along India’s western coast are now being freed by the very fishing communities that once targeted them. Across the Arabian Sea coastline, fishers are cutting their own nets to rescue the world’s largest fish, transforming decades of exploitation into one of India’s most striking community-led conservation stories. Over the past two decades, more than a thousand whale sharks have been safely released from fishing nets along India’s west coast, thanks to sustained outreach by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and growing participation from coastal communities. On a calm March morning near Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, a group of fishers hauling a traditional kambavala net realised they had caught some...

    Some of Africa’s most iconic herbivores may be more exposed to toxic elements in soil than others, not because of what they eat, but because of how and where they feed. New research from South Africa’s Kalahari desert shows that grazing and digging animals ingest significantly more soil than tree-browsing species, increasing their potential exposure to harmful metals such as arsenic, lead and chromium. The study, led by Andrea Webster of the University of Pretoria examined 16 herbivore species at the Tswalu Kalahari Reserve. It highlights how feeding behaviour plays a crucial role in determining wildlife exposure to soil-borne toxins, with important implications for conservation, rewilding and habitat restoration projects. Feeding close to the ground increases exp...