Official connivance enabled rosewood felling
The Hindu
SIT has started collating information about illegal tree felling cases in Kerala in the past years
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the illegal felling of endangered trees on revenue land in Kerala has reportedly inferred that connivance at multiple levels of the administration had enabled the environmental crime. Officials said the illegal felling of centuries-old rosewood trees at South Muttil village in Wayanad was just the tip of the iceberg. It appeared the crime was old and widespread in Kerala. The SIT has started collating information about illegal tree felling cases, including complaints, registered by various agencies, including the Revenue Department, in Kerala in the past years.The election authorities are gearing up for the counting of votes cast in the simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, scheduled to be held on June 4. The Collectors and Election Officers of Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) districts said on May 23 (Thursday) that their teams were ready for the counting of votes.
Responding to the prolonged water scarcity, the residents of the area took to the streets in protest on Wednesday. The protest, which drew attention to their plight, stopped only after the intervention of the police. It was not until 1.30 p.m. that a 4000-litre tanker was finally delivered by BWSSB, providing relief to the water-starved residents.