Gujarat

MANGROL - From being hunted in hundreds for their liver oil till a decade ago, about 240 whale sharks have been rescued off Gujarat's coast since a conservation project was initiated in 2004, an official said Tuesday in this coastal fishing town.

DANDI - Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh Wednesday counselled Maharashtra to consult the Gujarat Ecological Commission (GEC) for conservation of mangroves likely to be destroyed by the construction of the proposed Navi Mumbai airport.

DANDI - A Rs.1,200-crore project for integrated coastal zone management has been initiated for the first time in the country, with Gujarat, West Bengal and Orissa getting the lion's share of the resource allocation in the first phase, Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh said here Wednesday.

SASAN GIR - The four-day head count of the Asiatic lions in the sprawling expanse of the greater Gir in Gujarat\'s Saurashtra region ended Tuesday, with hopes high of an increased number of the big cats in their only surviving habitat.