PhD Scholar, Cambridge;
Fierce protector of the wild. Author of 'The Vanishing'; @home in the wilderness, misfit on twitter. A dog's best friend
Nov 6 • 21 tweets • 4 min read
🧵The #Forest (#Conservation) Aamendment Act comes into force on Dec 1. There is nothing ‘conservation’ in the amended Act, it is blatantly, unapologetically a law that facilitates diversion of #forest lands & into private hands 1/n onmanorama.com/news/kerala/20…
It changes the definition of #forests, it nullifies the Supreme Court’s 1996 Godavarman judgement, removing vast swathes of forest from protective legal cover, leaving every patch of #forest vulnerable for diversion, destruction. Read this for details sanctuarynaturefoundation.org/article/a-deat…
Jul 9 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Deathknell for #India's #forests - foundational to our survival, growth. watersheds, rain makers, #climate buffers, refuge for #wildlife, interwined with our culture, livlihood for milllions. Our national, natural #heritage
to be sold for a song 1/5 thehindu.com/sci-tech/energ…
The bill limits the scope & ambit of the original FCA (1980), removing crucial safeguards from a vast majority of India's #biodiverse rich #forests, opens the floodgates for diversion for other uses.
my #twitter thread on it here: 2/5
"In March 2023 the #Forest#Conservation Amendment bill was plaed before the LokSabha. Ms Prakriti Srivastava,IFS (PCCF #Kerala) & I jointly wrote a submission to the Joint Parliamentary Committee, link provided at the end of the (long) thread. 1/n
highlighting the imp pts:
Fundamental changes in the proposed bill:
a)Limits the scope & ambit of the original FCA (1980), removing crucial safeguards from a vast majority of India's #biodiverse rich #forests, thereby opens the floodgates for diversion for other uses
2/n
With the cacophony over #Elephant#Arikomban, lets understand how such #elephants are 'made', and #conflict created. As per a #Kerala cabinet decision taken in August 2002, 559 families of landless tribals were settled on 276 ha land in #Chinnakanal during 2003. The then 1/9
DFO (#Munnar) #PrakritiSrivastava objected: it was prime #elephant habitat & corridor, the consequences would be disasterous. Within a year, human-elephant conflict had escalated. Giving pattas wily-nily w/o w/o #forest dept inputs #wildlife consideration is best avoided 2/9
Mar 7 • 6 tweets • 5 min read
I have been researching relocation of people from #ProtectedAreas - v contentious – and also v nuanced. There r many issues/problems related to it, which I hope to discuss/address in my #PhD but here I share some good practices in #Wayanad#Kerala of people moving out from 1/6#forests outside PAs. The people apply & then are funded. Conflict with #elephants is acute. Most-not all-people esp the younger generation have aspirations for better #education, jobs etc when they move out but find themselves disadvantaged as they lived in remote #forests 2/6
Oct 11, 2021 • 8 tweets • 4 min read
So here is my @iamsrk story. As a journalist working with @TheDailyPioneer I was trying desperately to get in touch with #ShahRukhKhan for an indepth interview. It was IMPOSSIBLE and his agent/PR lady who would either not respond or kept putting me off with barely contained 1/n
exasperation (i am being polite)
After patiently,politely following up for days,I lost it. as it is,doing films & running after stars wasn't my thing,I got hold of SRK's no(no guys, I don't have it now-honest.I failed to transfer it to a new phone🙄). My first few msgs went -2/n
Aug 29, 2020 • 23 tweets • 15 min read
Thread
My piece in @MongabayIndia on relocation from #Wayanad#Wildlife Sanctuary based on my @MPhilCL@Cambridge_Uni research supervised by @EliaApos Ialso drew on my yrs of experience.Resettlement from #ProtectedAreas (PA) is contentious @csandbrook 1/22 bit.ly/3bjo3V7
& I discuss a largely ignored narrative:of people seeking support for relocation.Historically,resettlements have been poorly recorded; there have been evictions from PAs that have led to penury, isolation, further impoverishment, which I strongly condemn.There is NO room 2/22
Aug 12, 2020 • 9 tweets • 8 min read
On #WorldElephantDay horrified to see this regressive unempathetic report from @MoEFCC that fails to recognize the ecology & nature of #elephants, seeks to block their #RightOfPassage confine them to tiny slivers of #ProtectedAreas 1/n
It speaks of 'restricting #elephants in their natural habitat- Restricted by way of trenches , railway fences , cement structures and this is what such 'best management' practices do . 2/n